Why is this work relevant for Integrated?

OYO’s social media handle was plagued with crude remarks on women. We blocked the trolls, reported them but the social media platforms’ free speech policy failed to police this. So we took matters into our hands and did something unheard for a brand — called out each of these trolls. We asked everyone to join us in the cause via print and called out social media platforms for their unwillingness to take action. We ended the loop by releasing a video calling out the problem and how one simple but sincere step made a big difference.

Background

Be it a woman, a guy and a girl out on a date, or just the mention of 'space for couples' in a hotel; it made some people feel they had the right to pass leary comments. Social media platforms do not take a stance and the perpetrator goes unchecked. This leads to women getting silenced or self-censoring their opinions because of a fear of a backlash. Safety, respect, and 'Bias for Action’ are important pillars for OYO. Social Media plays an important role for OYO, it contributes most towards building OYO's reputation, given the majority of our audience lives on social media. Like any other brand, OYO has an Online Response Team that receives over 4000 comments every week, where the response time is less than 5 minutes on average. How might we improve our reputation especially among our women audience on social media?

Describe the creative idea

For a brand providing safe stays for all, our social media had become a not-so-safe space. We blocked the trolls, reported them. But the social media platforms’ free speech policy fails to police this. So we took matters into our hands. We didn't need a marketing campaign but a change in our ORM strategy. And for this, we did something unheard for a brand — we called out each of these trolls. With every reply, we transformed ORM and made this policy - see a troll, school it. To announce the impact on social media, we put the trolls where they truly belonged — gutter, loo, trash. We asked everyone to join us in the cause via a print ad and called out social media platforms for their unwillingness to take action. To end the loop, we released a video calling out the problem.

Describe the strategy

According to a Nielsen Report, 40% of Indian women fear online trolls as they access the Internet. As per another recent report, 55% of women said they experienced stress, anxiety, and panic attacks as a result of online abuse. What does this lead to? It virtually silences women from posting or actively engaging on social media. These episodes of trolling had been going on for a while now. When we took a closer look at our brand metrics, we realised our positive sentiment had fallen down to a low 10%. We knew we had to do something about it — something that makes OYO’s online space a safe place for women. For once, do something that let alone brands, even social media platforms shun — make noise against trolls.

Describe the execution

Schooling is a continuous process that happens every day. So far, 190,000 WOMEN (AND COUNTING) HAVE BEEN REASSURED OF A SAFE SPACE ONLINE AND OFFLINE. A year into the campaign, we have schooled over 3500+ trolls leaving smutty or unpleasant comments against women across our social media platforms. We addressed 3300+ gaalis (swear words) or abusive language over the past year. With around 1030+ “Ladki milegi” (can we get the girl) trolls, unfortunately, it was one of the most used phrases against women on our platforms. And we took the liberty to school them. While our campaign resulted in 8500+ engagements, what makes us truly happy is that some trolls had a change of heart and chose to delete their comments, while 300+ trolls also apologized for their behaviour. That’s almost one every day — one person who is hopefully chastened and won’t repeat this, we hope.

List the results

While we thought we were at the risk of losing followers, we actually ended up adding them, 7K. All women. This meant a jump in overall brand consideration with a spike in positive sentiment to 35.7%. But more rewarding was to become an equal, safe space for women online. One post at a time.