Take the conversation to your customers
The Toyota recall of 2010 was perhaps one of the most devastating crises in terms of sheer logistics and media pressure that we’ve seen in recent history. The media pressure was made especially powerful because social media users latched onto the story, with bad news and negative commentary about the brand popping up 24/7.
Besides the physical recall of vehicles and research into why they malfunctioned, Toyota knew its crisis management had to reach stakeholders where the conversation was, and that meant social media. It chose the (as of now, formerly) popular Digg as the platform.
On February 8, Toyota served up Jim Lentz, president of Toyota’s North American sales operation, to the masses in the form of a Digg Dialogg. In many ways, the appearance was a stroke of genius. For one thing, Lentz didn’t actually appear on Digg, but on a dedicated video site. The questions, which were voted on by fans (the ones with the most votes rose to the top) also wound up being pretty softball. “They were mostly general questions, like ‘What kind of car does Mr. Lentz drive?’” says Florence Drakton, social media manager. (“That’s a great question,” a clearly relieved Lentz answers.) Lentz’s interview, which ran 28 minutes, is still available on YouTube:
It was hard to beat the reach Toyota got from the appearance. Within a week, the Dialogg had received 1.2 million views. “Probably the biggest indicator of interest was there were 3,200 questions,” says Drakton. “Only celebrities have gotten that much.” In addition to reaching a fairly big audience, the Dialogg gave Toyota the appearance of achieving social media branding nirvana: Transparency.
The Digg interview definitely had the opportunity to be a difficult one, especially with the questions being voted on by the public, but it was also a brilliant move because of the inherent honesty in the process.
Toyota knew it had messed up and offered up its leader for what was essentially an open Q&A session. THAT is giving the public the type of transparency that it desires, then I don’t know what is.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/