4 February 2010
Whither Toyota’s PR Team
We’ve all seen the news … and some of us received the letters from our dealerships … telling us about the recall. Now there’s another question about manufacturing safety – this time with the noble Prius. Uh oh … what’s going on at Toyota … and what is happening with their PR team?
There is an excellent blog post by Elissa Freeman, Director of Public Relations and Public Affairs for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and self-proclaimed Twitter-Chick on the Jules Zunigh::Z Group PR site today. (disclosure note: Elissa is a client of our at FH) called Pity Toyota PR.
She makes an excellent point about the challenges that the PR team at Toyota is facing, but emphasizes that there must be something more going on … since it’s pretty clear that this is no way to manage a crisis.
I completely agree with Elissa’s perspective on this. Unsurprising mind you … I often agree with Elissa on things.
In my view, all of the pundits and Monday morning quarterbacks who are crowing about how *they* would have done things differently are missing the point. Good PR can’t be manufactured out of thin air and crisis communications doesn’t get you out of a crisis on its own. You have to have a good story to tell. That’s what we do … we help our clients tell stories. And it’s pretty clear that the PR team for Toyota doesn’t have all of the story, let alone a good one.
The other thing to think about here is we’re not talking about a fly-by-night company. This isn’t Bruno’s Garage that got caught doing things on the cheap. This is a company with several decades of history, track record and demonstrable evidence of a brand proposition that is grounded in safety, quality and honesty. And yet … in the span of three short weeks, we’ve all been willing to throw that out the window and accuse them of being lying, incompetent buffoons. I don’t know about the rest of you, but something just doesn’t sit right with me about that.
But … such is the power of modern media (social, digital and mainstream) and such is the power of corporate reputation. It may take 40 years to build, but it can be lost in just a moment.
3 Responses to “Whither Toyota’s PR Team”
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4 February 2010 at 12:30 PM
Interesting perspective, Ron, thanks for sharing it.
As an owner of a new-to-me 2007 Prius, I’m one of the former true-believers who feel let down by the firm’s behaviour. I just want to be treated honestly and with respect but, instead, feel deceived. Now I’m wondering if I should even trust the hastily rolled-out “fixes” from Toyota.
I think Toyota has missed an opportunity to engage their community in diagnosing and solving its technical problems. Using online technologies, they could have invited clients to submit any problems they’d experienced, along with the car serial number. That would have strengthened clients’ perceptions that they had been listened-to. People could also sign-up for news updates so Toyota could communicate with them in real-time, dispelling myths and giving them clear instructions.
Thanks, again. We’ll see how the situation unfolds over the coming weeks…
4 February 2010 at 5:23 PM
Hi Ellis,
I completely understand your feeling of being let down and disappointed in the company … especially given that you went out of your way to purchase a vehicle that is supposed to be more than a car, but also a statement about you as a person.
I think your idea about the use of digital tools to manage these kinds of issues is very interesting. I can understand why it didn’t occur to Toyota to go that route, however … one of the key characteristics with digital engagement is that you open yourself up to scrutiny in a big way … which makes a lot of companies feel vulnerable. But in this case, you’re absolutely right that if Toyota were more transparent and allowed its customers (many of whom are brand evangelists) to help solve the problem, they could have identified problems earlier and allowed people to be invested in their solutions … particularly since so many of their customers invest a part of their own identity in the cars that they purchase; the Prius being the most notable example.
Who know … maybe they’ll read this blog and take your advice
15 February 2010 at 11:11 AM
Was the public *that* silent when companies mis-stepped as they did twenty and more years ago? I think we were all as dissatisfied and that echoed around the water cooler. I wonder how many people go to the water cooler any more since they don’t have to leave their desks to voice approval or disgust.
What you’ve hit on, Ron, is the digital world as an amplifier of public opinion. Even more concerning is how even after case studies like Dell, United Airlines and Motrin (to name just a few of the most known case studies), there are so many companies that don’t recognize the role of the digital world in defining, influencing and owning the brands the companies believe they have exclusive claim to.