Toyota: Moving Forward – In the Right Direction…

The new Toyota commercials are finally a step in the right direction for Toyota’s PR.  They feature actual Toyota owners taking their cars in for recall.

When I first saw these commercials, I thought they were a little predictable. After thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that they were better than continuing to run regular Toyota commercials without addressing the issue.

These commercials show a real perspective from customers that trust the brand, and believe in the company so much, that they are willing to drive even during the recall. It’s a great way to help consumers feel good about the product again.

One positive thing that has come from so much recall press coverage is that they don’t even have to mention the recall in the commercial. It is understood by viewers that these people are purchasing and driving Toyota vehicles despite the recent events.

This has been a great move for the company, but has come pretty late in the game. I still urge Jim Lentz to bring Joan Gladstone in to help out, because he needs to be better prepared for next time (hopefully there won’t be a next time, but they probably said that before this time so…)

Just for fun, I LOVE this Toyota commercial. It shows that it’s common knowledge that Toyota’s don’t break down:

Toyota: Moving Forward – The Timeline

MSNBC has a great timeline that covers exactly what happened, for those of you who haven’t been following. Here is what has happened:

AUG 29, 2009 – Lexus Crash

911 is called when the owner of a Lexus ES 350 discovers his accelerator is stuck. He crashed while still on the phone, and all four people in the car were killed.

SEP 29, 2009 – First Recall

Toyota recalls 3.8 million floor-mats in U.S. vehicles because they may have caused the accelerator to get stuck. The company insists there is no “vehicle-based cause” for the problems.

JAN 21, 2010 – REAL Recall

Toyota recalls millions of vehicles to fix a problem that “could have caused the accelerator pedals to stick even without the presence of floor mats.” Recall includes the Rav4, Corolla, Camry and Highlander.

JAN 26, 2010 – Sales and Production Suspended

Sales are were suspended of popular models like the Corolla and Camry to fix the sticking pedal problem. Toyota also said it would stop production at five manufacturing facilities for the week of Feb. 1.

JAN 27, 2010 – Competitors React

General Motors offers incentives to Toyota owners who want to swap their car for a GM model.

FEB 2 and 3 , 2010 – Government Criticisms

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sharply criticizes Toyota’s response to the gas pedal concerns, saying Toyota may be “a little safety deaf.” The next day, he warns Americans not to drive the recalled cars, but later says that was a misstatement and that concerned drivers should take their cars to the dealer.

FEB 5, 2010 – Toyoda Apologises

President and CEO Akio Toyoda apologizes for the car recalls and promises to beef up quality control. “I apologize from the bottom of my heart for all the concern that we have given to so many customers.”

FEB 23, 2010 – Congressional Testimony

Jim Lentz, top U.S. executive for Toyota, testified before a House committee and said that the company is still investigating whether electronics of the gas pedal system may be at fault.

Toyota: Moving Forward – Better Than My Last Car….

Over the three and a half years that I have had my Rav4, I have gotten a lot of slack for not “buying American.” Granted, this has mostly come from people like my grandpa from Illinois, who will drive his 1971 Buick for the rest of his life, despite the fact that he has to fix it every five minutes. In my defense, I used to have an American made car, and it was, for lack of a better description, a piece of shit.

My other grandparents gave me a 2000 Pontiac GrandAm when I got my license in 2005. Naturally, I was excited to drive anything with an engine, but quickly came to hate my little silver sports car. Here are just a few things that were wrong with the car when I got it:

• The air-conditioning worked on two speeds: off and hurricane
• The driver-side window did not roll down (which gave me an unwanted break from fast-food for a while)
• The speedometer worked until about 70 mph, then freaked out
• The clock and radio display occasionally showed the time and station, but usually just displayed random hieroglyphics.
• The fuel gage would only hit empty for about two seconds, then would hop back to ¼ tank, so unless I happened to look in those two seconds, I had no idea that I needed to get myself to a gas station immediately (which resulted in running completely out of gas a number of times)
• The summer after I got the car it overheated four times, which often left me stranded in random parking lots all over Orange County

A few of these problems all worked together one morning to provide me with one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.

My best friend and I were in the carpool lane heading to school, when I realized I was getting pulled over. I figured, since Jenny is just as short as I am, that the officer in the car couldn’t see her head over the headrest and thought I was driving alone.

While waiting for the yellow lines to clear in the carpool lane so I could pull over (I wasn’t about to break that law right in front of a cop), the female officer announced over the loud speaker that I was to pull over immediately.

I then proceeded to pull over seven freeway lanes as quickly as possible as to not upset the already aggravated officer. Once on the side of the road, I began to crack my door open because, as I mentioned, my driver-side window did not roll down. The officer immediately pulled her gun on me and yelled at me to stay in the car. Needless to say, I was slightly jarred at this point. After attempting to mime to the cop that I in-fact could not roll down my window, she finally understood that I had to open my door. She then proceeded to look over at Jenny, and said “Oh, well you were going 85, so I am going to give you a speeding ticket.”

Wanna know how I know I wasn’t speeding? I never went over 70 in that car because the speedometer would freak out. By now I just wanted to get out of there, but left with a $485 ticket.

SO, that may help explain why I love my Rav4 so much. I have not had a single mechanical problem, nor have I been pulled over in it. That’s good enough for me, Toyota.

Don't buy this American car...

Toyota: Moving Forward – ‘Cause They Can’t Go Back Now…

So, Jim, I have said it earlier, and I still believe you could use a hand with your crisis management at this time. Crisis management is defined as:

“The process by which an organization deals with a major unpredictable event that threatens to harm the organization, its stakeholders, or the general public.”

Most Public Relations practitioners will tell you that the bulk of good crisis management happens BEFORE an actual crisis occurs. It is clear to me that either Toyota did not have effective contingency plans prior to the recall, or that the company didn’t follow them.

Since it is too late for Toyota to go back now, I highly recommend bringing in crisis management expert Joan Gladstone. President and CEO of Gladstone International and professor at Chapman University, where I am in my third year studying Public Relations, Gladstone is probably best known for managing all media coverage for the 1994 Orange County bankruptcy.

I am confident that Joan Gladstone can help Toyota to develop a contingency plan based on the recent events, and that it will greatly help the company in future crisis’.

It is harder to critique Toyota’s apologies, or lack of apologies, during this recall. How a company handles apologies in a crisis has been debated over by practitioners for years. Some say that apologies mean that the company is admitting that it is at fault. In some cases, however, I think that owning up to a mistake and taking responsibility is the smartest thing a company can do. Toyota’s initial response to the criticism of the recall in the L.A. Times articles was defensive. I think this is where they took their first wrong turn.

Since then, they have eased up a little and have begun the apologies (it’s about time…). The point is that Toyota owners are proud of their cars, and I know I will not jump up and sell my car because of this recall, and it was reassuring to see Toyota take a little responsibility.