Toyota’s
attempt to restore credibility after 8m vehicles were recalled worldwide with
mechanical problems is to roll out a £20m
pan-European ad campaign that places emphasis on the role of its employees
and their commitment to quality.
This
week’s Marketing magazine (12th
May) quotes Toyota GB Marketing Director John Thomson as he sets out the vision
for the new ads:
‘One
of the strengths of Toyota is the strength of the team, and there is a feeling
that during this period our people should be our voice.
‘It’s
a personal commitment to quality by all our team members. It’s a very human approach, and a very
confident tone about what Toyota stands for.’
It
strikes me that this could be too little too late. Where was the ‘personal commitment’ when the
story broke and millions of owners were left questioning the reliability and
safety of their cars? When press ads did
finally appear, several days had passed with barely a murmur from the Toyota
executive. And did they have the desired
effect? Were they really reassuring to
customers?
The
new ads might be a step in the right direction but I can’t help but think that the
thousands of workers who take pride in ‘their Toyota’ have been left to pick up
the pieces by a distant, silent executive.
Toyota should have embraced online video, Facebook, Twitter and personalised
email messages to customers right from the outset to explain the situation in a
calm and understanding fashion and set out their response to the safety issues.
If the
accelerator pedal breaks on your brand, do you have a crisis communication strategy
in place?
"One of the strengths of Toyota is the strength of the team" - as apposed to what? Their products brakes?!
Totally agree Russ. I didn't follow the story in whole but from what I heard on the radio and occasionally read online and when I picked up a newspaper their communication was very poor leaving customers stranded (not the best of puns!) and with no understanding of what was going on or whether their thousands of pounds worth of car was going to be put right.
I know http://www.ford.com had a similar problem not too long ago with a recall on Ford Focus' albeit this wasn't nearly as public as I cant find much about it online. A friend of mine was simply sent to his nearest http://www.halfords.co.uk to get the problem fixed so he wasn't bothered by it at all.
What am I going to do if the pedals fail on my business? Get in touch with my clients would be the first thing...
Posted by: Pjstudio | 05/15/2010 at 11:23 AM