Reputation: Hard won, easily lost
Toyota has spent years building up its reputation as a manufacturer of reliable cars, yet the media has the ability to destroy that reputation within a day. What I am hoping Toyota will have done is to protect their existing customer base as a first priority. Toyota have the ability to manage the expectations and response of those customers by communicating quickly. Whether they thave the resources and capaibility to do it is another matter completely.

When Bernard Matthews under went the same media frenzy when his turkey farms were subject to a bird flu scare, the company did the worst thing possible which was to remain quiet. With no statement or press interviews for 12 days, the public were left to think the worst and the company’s reputation was left permanently damaged.

Communication with Customers Quickly is Vital
Those companies who respond quickly with press statements are far more likely to get the truth out to the wider the world, than those who let the media run away with a ‘good story’.

Rapid Notification the best solution
One of the best ways of communicating with individual customers within a consumer market following such damaging circumstances as Toyota has found itself in, is by email or SMS text: the perfect vehicle for getting the information you want out there, in the hands of potential or exisitng customers who could easily be swayed by media reporting. Rapid Notification solutions are the fastest and most reliable way of communicating your message to the people who matter.

Reputation is hard won and easily lost, and can equate to millions of pounds of value being written off your company unless it can be managed under the most damaging of circumstances. Customers are key, and reassuring them quickly before the chinese whispers in the media get out of control is the first priority in reputation damage limitation.

Let’s hope that Toyota have had the foresight to cut the media off at the pass and manage their customer expectations in a timely and effective manner…