The recent Toyota recalls have placed doubt and anxiety where quality assurance and reliability once resided in consumer’s minds. This, in part, has much to do with the way Toyota initially handled the recall crisis—opting to keep quiet, blame others, and deny when they should have immediately stepped up, taken responsibility, and addressed consumers.

Time after time, the value of a public relations crisis management strategy has proven to be critically important for both companies and celebrities to have in place. An article in Fortune compared Toyota’s crisis management to the way Tiger Woods handled his scandal, making statements such as, “Like Toyota, Woods refused to make a public appearance to apologize for his misdeeds (and still hasn’t), preferring to issue press releases instead.” And, “Like Toyota, the news about Woods’ missteps was allowed to trickle out day by day without being effectively refuted.”

Thankfully, Toyota has finally sprung into action, releasing TV, print and radio ads, posting updates on the company web site, leveraging social media, putting the president of U.S. sales, Jim Lentz, on the Today Show, and issuing a news conference in Japan where Toyota’s CEO apologized for the safety problems and vowed to regain consumer trust. But is it too late?

If there’s one lesson we can learn from the now famous Tylenol recall, it’s that quick action and transparency can go a long way in repairing and reestablishing trust in a brand. While Toyota’s actions were slow to start, how they handle the crisis going forward will determine whether their reputation has been irreparably damaged.

Will you buy a Toyota after the crisis is over?

-Mary Nhotsavang

Trackback this Post | Feed on comments to this Post