Published 2015-09-11

Joining forces to help the refugees

The human crisis in Europe is engaging all of us and we have seen many great initiatives during the last weeks. Now we are joining forces in all of Schibsted to help out! 

We partner up with the Red Cross and put our inventory into action to help them get their message out and the funds needed to support the fleeing families and children who hope to find a new life in Europe.

“I am truly impressed and proud of how fast we can move to help! The commitment and energy around this initiative is very strong,” says Lena K Samuelsson EVP Communications and CSR in Schibsted Media Group.

During the last weeks we have seen some great efforts throughout Schibsted, both from companies and individuals.  Now we are leveraging on our common strength to launch advertising campaigns on our sites in Europe. We will give Red Cross the power of our inventory and thereby, together with our users, help the people caught in the middle of this human crisis.

“I hope the Red Cross will start getting results already in the coming days, comments Lena K Samuelsson, EVP Communications and responsible for the groups social responsibility work. With many big sites throughout Europe we are in a uniquely strong position to do something, it is a great thing that we can use some of our inventory in cases like this. All of us in Schibsted can really make a difference together with our users, this joint initiative is hard proof of that.”

All in all some 40 sites in Scandinavia and Europe are engaged in this project, several of them were already in contact with aid organizations and that made us really quick.

“All the SCM companies in Europe have embraced this initiative. With our portals in big European markets in Spain, Italy, France and in many other countries we believe that can we can help in this difficult situation. Several of them are already in contact with aid organizations and we see concrete results. To do this as a true ‘Glocal’ initiative was perfect for our sites, there is great engagement locally and proudness that we can do it together,” says Arild Nilsen VP Sales & Monetization, SCM.

In Sweden the first ads came up quickly, but the real impact will come next week.

“Through joint forces and the engaged people in Schibsted we are glad to help the Red Cross and will hopefully contribute to a substantial difference for the refugees,” comments Anders Nylander Sales Director Sweden.

In Norway we have many strong sites, both nationally and locally. Now they all join in this. One example that is already in action is Finn and their donation campaign with the Red Cross and Nerd Aid (driven by a former FINN employee) that has generated more than 1 million NOK during the last week.

The Red Cross now sees many efforts taken, by Schibsted and others:

”Seeing so many actions – from companies, authorities and organizations as well as individuals – creates security and it gives hope that we really can change this situation. It’s a defining moment for Europe.

There are more than 60 million refugees in the world. That’s why campaigns like this are so important,” says Morgan Olofsson from the Red Cross.