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Should Toyota change its name?
Read more at In Defense of Public Relations.
The automaker continues to take a beating in the press over its recall, despite a PR campaign — led by ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi — that includes TV, print, and social media. News broke Wednesday that the Toyota Prius may have a brake pedal problem (which may explain why Toyota's stock price tumbled nearly 5 percent after Japan's Nikkei opened Thursday), while Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, and later retracted, that people should “stop driving” their Toyotas. Yeah, tough week — and it’s only half over. Amidst the bad news, one PR pro has suggested Toyota consider changing its name. “Is the Toyota name done?” This PR blogger wrote. “After decades of developing a carefully crafted message that Toyota vehicles were safe and superior to American cars, this recall can destroy all that.” Is a name change too extreme? Or should it be an option at this point? Related Consumer Reports Safety recommendations for Toyota drivers.
The automaker continues to take a beating in the press over its recall, despite a PR campaign — led by ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi — that includes TV, print, and social media. News broke Wednesday that the Toyota Prius may have a brake pedal problem (which may explain why Toyota's stock price tumbled nearly 5 percent after Japan's Nikkei opened Thursday), while Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, and later retracted, that people should “stop driving” their Toyotas. Yeah, tough week — and it’s only half over. Amidst the bad news, one PR pro has suggested Toyota consider changing its name. “Is the Toyota name done?” This PR blogger wrote. “After decades of developing a carefully crafted message that Toyota vehicles were safe and superior to American cars, this recall can destroy all that.” Is a name change too extreme? Or should it be an option at this point? Related Consumer Reports Safety recommendations for Toyota drivers.
When I drove by that same hangar a couple of hours later, I saw the "handling"...a crew was busily daubing paint over the plane's readily-identifiable name.
Bottom line...changing (or painting over) the name doesn't change the issue at hand. Carefully thought out and implemented communication and remedial action does.
Toyota has had some serious communication stumbles over the past week or so, providing me much fodder for my Crisis Communication class at Curry College. But the company also is taking some very real steps to address the problem, including regular and ongoing communication with its many publics.
They'll be ok.