Over the last few weeks, I have been monitoring the Toyota recall and subsequent Congressional hearings as well as reading some commentary and articles on the subject. It is all very interesting to me for a number of reasons. Not only did I grow up in Motor City with family members working in all aspects of the auto industry, but I also directed the grassroots and public affairs efforts for the American International Automobile Dealers Association for a few years and we have a Lexus RX in the household fleet. I feel close to this situation and know firsthand how this crisis is creating a serious economic and confidence challenge to Toyota's numerous stakeholders.
This case will certainly be discussed and analyzed for years to come by MBA professors and communications professionals – but here is my quick take on the crisis from a social media and digital advocacy perspective:
I think one of the biggest problems that Toyota believed was social doesn't matter – which is beyond foolish. Just from a listening and monitoring situations, social media is an unprecedented tool. Twitter alone is unparalleled and provides real time search – check out www.search.twitter.com and type in any word or public policy debate right now and you can see what people are thinking – amazing – an instant focus group at your desk.
Second, Toyota seemed not to engage their most loyal fans and supporters until they needed them. From what I have read it appears social wasn't a major priority until it was a priority. This is short sighted and doesn't appreciate the necessary care and feeding to keep a band of loyalists engaged. A quick look on Facebook reveals that Toyota USA has 83,000 followers and doesn't appear to have been updated once today. Toyota has nothing to say? No updates? Question for Team Toyota PR: wasn't CNBC broadcasting live from your Torrance, CA headquarters today? Wouldn't you want to share this with a quick text update and post video from the tv segment? Just one idea.
Third, across the world, organizations of all sizes are experiencing a shift from mass broadcasts to many to conversations with a few, from customer relations to customer relationships, and from corporate lingo and burdensome paperwork to simplicity and authenticity. It is essential for any serious organization to understand and appreciate how new social media and digital advocacy tools are making this new environment happen. This is fact and needs to be appreciated. Consider that the director of digital media for Obama's campaign reported directly to the campaign manager – who does the social media director report to at Toyota? Who does the social media/new media/digital advocacy person in your organization report to?
Fourth, in today's segmented communications environment that is increasingly being influenced by social media and digital engagements, much of any organization's best planned communication efforts are simply out of their control. Today the message is not coming from you, but is coming from what your target audience is saying about your organization. I believe what really matters for an organization's brand today is not what you, the official voice of the organization says, but what your target audience is saying about your organization to their friends, colleagues, business network and social media connections. Consider that Toyota was a punch line to a joke last night in the Oscar telecast – what is Toyota doing to overcome their current joke status? Certainly social media, being accessible and communicating directly to key stakeholders will be essential to overcome this status – but so will being opportunistic of major cultural American inflection points.
The company missed a major opportunity last night. Toyota not only should have ran an ad during the Oscar telecast (TheWrap.com reports that Sunday's Oscar telecast attracted 41.3 million viewers, the best since 2005 and a roughly 15% gain from 2009's show) with a call to action directed back to a social media platform but should have posted pictures of celebrities driving their products to the event.
Fifth, today's communications environment is a place where brands and causes cannot simply push messages anymore. Brands and causes must do and act. They must engage, connect and interact with their target audience across every platform, channel and device. As brands and causes seek to do and not just push, the end users and message recipients should not be able to differentiate between online and offline activity – this is the place your client's need to be. See examples above.
Finally, Toyota didn't start off strong and didn't have the most robust social presence – it is clear that social media was not a serious tool for Toyota in any fashion (sales, marketing, advertising, public relations and public affairs) until they had a problem - but I will give the company one solid grade to show where it has responded quickly by engaging their most loyal supporters as well as seeking new ways to communicate directly with the public by using Digg. A month ago, Jim Lentz, Toyota's President and Chief Operating Officer of Toyota Motor Sales, USA answered questions about the Toyota recall in a live forum. Using Digg was ingenious and spectacular and should be commended.
However, as you can see, there is more for Toyota to do. I know that engineering is not simple and that there are on average 14,000 working parts that make a car work; and certainly how a driver operates a vehicle in various weather conditions is important. But, Toyota is in a fight for their life. I drive one of their products and haven't been engaged once from the company – not by mail, email, phone or social and that is a mistake. Secondly, Toyota needs to communicate, communicate and communicate again – not having even one post on their Facebook fan page today is inexcusable.
Social media is a measurable and real-time activity that clearly shows if you care, if you are listening and if you are engaged – Toyota would be well served to remember this concept on an hourly, daily, weekly and monthly basis. Social media is the new customer relations scoreboard that is on display to everyone.
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