Toyota ponders PR and marketing response as Prius crisis spreads to Australia
Toyota Motor Corporation is considering whether or not to launch a marketing and PR campaign in response to the recall of 2,378 Prius vehicles in Australia.
The global recall prompted by safety concerns related to its braking systems, now sees a total of about 400,000 vehicles recalled in Japan, the United States, Europe and in other regions.
It comes as Toyota launches its new Hybrid Camry in the Australian market, supported by a heavy-weight advertising campaign.
A Toyota spokesman said the Camry is not affected by the recall and will be available to customers later this month as originally planned.
may i suggest a social media campaign?
Given this http://www.google.com/insights.....038;cmpt=q
You would think they would have something up on Google. Instead, people are left to read all the lovely “real-time” (twitter) search results and the plethora of news articles both from Australia and abroad.
And there they are wondering if they need to do anything…
I’d suggest it’s more a question of what, how and how quickly, not whether.
Engage.
Don’t panic Toyota. Your brand still has a quality reputation and your strategy needs to be carefully considered. I can’t remember any Toyota recall ever, but I sure can for your competitors and even the prestige marques. Toyota and reliability go hand-in- hand and don’t think that one recall on one model will destroy that brand. It only will if you panic and don’t think strategically about the messages you deliver.
given that you’ve got to get the facts and the messaging right first, social media ranks after after an immediate mainstream media/PR campaign for the mea culpa, but somewhere before the restorative TVC/online effort.
I agree sven. Mainstream is the way to go with this one. I think a clever agency could pick this up and make light of the whole fiasco. Envision a TVC, Japanese electical engineers, the ‘oh shit’ moment… in no way am I implying that the mass recall is humorous, I just think this might be a strategy Toyota could employ to penetrate their target market.
As they say; shit happens.
I really would have thought that Toyota and or its PR agency would have had an issues and crisis management plan that clearly highlighted large-scale product recalls as a part of it. To be discussing whether it is a job for social media or not is miniscule when it comes to a plan that specifically lays out specific messages and responses to identified audiences inclusing owners, dealers, suppliers, employees, head office, mororing writers, general media, etc. Maybe they do have such a plan. Has anyone asked them, or are we just presuming that they don’t?
Is it just the Prius in Australia? I’m watching this issue from the States at the moment, where the recall (and production halt) is on the majority of the range, and the situation is dire. Of the 2000+ cases of runaway cars reported, more than 60 have apparently been SINCE the company said they’d fixed the problem. I believe the death toll’s at 16.
I really can’t imagine a worse situation for a company, and will be watching the US marketing response closely. Sounds like Toyota Australia have been very lucky.
I’d go for the environmental angle.
After all the Prius does charge the car’s battery every time you brake and now according to Toyota you “may have to brake harder”. I can imagine the press release right now: “Toyota reduces carbon footprint by getting Prius drivers to brake harder”.
I’m with Rachel.
The issue is not ‘just’ a safety recall, it’s that Toyota is alleged to have known about sticky accelerator pedals for 2 years…and then tried to cover it up, which doesn’t say much about the integrity of the brand.
To say Toyota has been lucky in Australia is an understatement. Toyota’s media spend is obviously big enough to keep the wolves at bay. Other manufacturers may not have been so lucky…
The following opinion from The Guardian in the Uk is worth a look:
Accelerating towards a crisis: a PR view of Toyota’s recall
http://www.guardian.co.uk/busi.....management