Toyota’s Crisis Communication Still Running on All Cylinders

I’ve been resisting the urge to jump into the ring on the Toyota recall. There seem to be more people commenting on the PR response than on the mechanical issues which caused the problems in the first place. One more voice probably won’t add much more to the conversation, but maybe I can add some “halftime commentary” at this point in the game.

What’s going right:

1) Toyota entered the crisis with a strong, positive reputation for customer service and quality.  They invested in their brand through performance, not just advertising.

2) Toyota came out strong, admitted they had a problem, and put their reputation on the line promising to make things right.

3) Toyota mounted an aggressive, multi-faceted campaign to communicate directly with their key audiences. They didn’t circle the wagons and “go dark” as I imagine their legal team advised them to do.

What’s going/gone wrong:

1) Toyota’s CEO should have been out front in the US market much earlier, then handed the responsibility over to his US leadership.  His staying in Japan only fuels the fires against foreign companies. His first appearance should have been a remote interview from one of his US auto plants.  The Wall Street Journal reports that ‘Toyota’s secretive culture may have contributed to this posture.

2) Toyota didn’t put out much in the way of their own “visual aids” when the crisis broke, leaving networks to develop their own, often inaccurate, computer graphics.

3) Toyota dealers are now “tossing their Teddys in the corner” as the Brits might say, by pulling ads from ABC. They are protesting the volume of negative news stories. Pulling ads only gets you more bad press and makes you look childish.

I’m still in a wait-and-see position on Toyota. If I were a betting man, I’d bet the brand will survive. They started from a position of strength.

Time will tell, of course.  Most consumers and investors will forgive mistakes; though few will forgive lying or hiding safety information, as some are now charging.  Toyota needs to be on-guard against these negative charges, counter-attacking them wherever they appear, combining truth with integrity and performance.