Customer Speak – A Marketing Blog from Bridgz Marketing Group

More than ever before brands are built on trust, not image. Trust is an emotional state, founded not just on the products but on the integrity of companies that produce them, and the CEOs who lead them. In a consumer-driven marketplace, where public trust has been rocked by numerous incidents of corporate greed and situational ethics in a brutal economic recession, even seemingly invincible brands have become volatile.

Such is the case with Toyota, the crown jewel of automotive brands and the standard of quality for so many years, as it deals with repercussions from safety issues relating to reports of involuntary acceleration and now problems with braking systems.  President Akio Toyoda, grandson of the founding father, appears today before the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to answer questions about how responsive and forthcoming the company has been in dealing with these issues. It should be interesting to see how the consumer public responds and what kind of damage is done to the brand in this, one of Toyota’s largest and most important markets.

The thing that makes this case more interesting than past public relations crises, like Tylenol and Firestone Tires, is the cultural factor. It has to be excruciating for them. Japanese companies are extremely product-centric, often to the point of arrogance. Once trust in those products has been compromised, it comes down to how well the company can engage with the consumer public and restore faith. In companies where the CEO serves as more a figurehead than a true business leader this becomes exponentially more difficult, especially for Mr. Toyoda who is known to be reclusive by nature. This may well be the most daunting challenge of his career.

Could it be that a changing world has caught up to Toyota, which has failed to adapt to a contracted, customer-centric market environment and lost its competitive dominance? There are a couple of US auto manufacturers who are looking on with great interest; let’s hope they’re learning something.