Let me start by saying it’s very, very easy to sit on the sidelines and critique Toyota for their bungling of their accelerator and brake problems. I’m sure they’re working around the clock to solve the problem, both from a technical point-of-view and a branding/PR point-of-view. But they seem to be stumbling badly on the branding/PR side of the equation.

So far, in all the news reports I’ve seen, I’ve never seen anyone from corporate headquarters who directly addressed the problem with a news anchor or other journalist. Zero. Zip. Nada. (I’m not saying they haven’t had someone from headquarters on the news, I’m saying that I haven’t seen a face-to-face interview with someone from corporate — and I’m a 24-hour-a-day news junkie. Not good.)

The one gentleman I did see was a Toyota dealer from outside of Boston who did his best to answer questions on CNN. But someone who is untrained in PR crisis management shouldn’t be on national TV trying to put out the fire.

Here are several lessons that can be learned from Toyota’s mishandling of the situation:

1. Get out ahead of the story: If you wait until the news networks are reporting on the story around the clock, you’re too late. Get out ahead of the story — address issues before they make headlines so you’re being proactive instead of reactive.
2. Put a face on the corporation: Don’t hide behind press releases and statements from headquarters. Get a well-trained, well-spoken representative to address the issues.
3. Put your crisis management team into action: My friends in PR tell me that the most valuable (and expensive) team members in their arsenal are the crisis management people. Why? Because they’re good. And they’re worth every penny.
4. Practice as much transparency as possible: I know it’s hard to be 100% transparent when you don’t even know the full extent of the problem, but if you come across as stonewalling, you’re in trouble. If you don’t know the answer, tell people that. And then get started trying to find the answer.
5. Turn on your social media after-burners: If I were Toyota, I’d have 150 to 250 people working around the clock visiting blogs, forums, chat rooms, YouTube channels and other venues with explanations on how to deal with the problem. Identify yourself and let people know you’re from corporate. Then give them the information that they’re looking for. It’s a new world and it’s time to jump into the fray.

Those are just a few ideas off the top of my head. What are some other ideas? What would you do if you were in Toyota’s shoes? Do you agree with what I’ve written above?

Friday, February 5th, 2010, 4:27 pm   |   General Marketing, Public Relations  |  RSS feed |  Respond  |  Trackback