June 3 - 6, 2024
beyond the press release
Commentary
Sayonara, So Long, Goodbye!
- by Vanessa Horwell , March 17, 2010
Cultural nuances and traditions have a direct impact on management and leadership styles, affecting workforce attitudes and performance, from the top down and bottom up. Toyota's spectacular fall from grace puts the spotlight on how a number of Japanese cultural traits -- things like gokuhi, uchi-soto, gaijin -- helped propel its PR nightmare. In English, these terms roughly translate to secrecy, suspicion of foreignness, pride and insecurity -- none of which are particularly PR friendly or conducive to reputation-building, nor endearing to a nation consumed by transparency and openness.
Our way is not always the right way
One
of the first things a marketer is supposed to learn is to know thy customer. Barring its first American flop in 1958, Toyota seemed to know its customers very well. The company pioneered
just-in-time manufacturing, became the darling of the auto industry, and was embraced by American consumers wholeheartedly. At the same time, Toyota's reserve and intense pride seemed to reinforce the
image (correctly or not) of the Japanese -- always striving for perfection - which up until a few years ago served the carmaker very well.
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But alas, that pride -- and arrogance I would add -- is what finally got in the way of Toyota understanding its customers. In an era where customers control so much of the conversation, Toyota forgot the golden rule of know thy customers.
In Japan, where something negative or dishonorable can be met with terminal consequences, a policy of hush and secrecy might be advisable. In the United States, and other western countries, the exact opposite is true. Putting aside the big question of why the gas pedal problems happened, where were the leadership teams that had taken Toyota to such heights when the news of deaths and recalls leaked into the mainstream? Where were the crisis comms teams when Ray LeHood told Americans not to drive their Toyotas? Why were they so silent? I put it down to cultural differences.
Too little, too late
Catharine Taylor's outstanding post on "Toyota's Crisis" discusses
the carmaker's serious failure to address its shortcomings in the public domain, that is, through social media. It would never do so on home turf, so why anywhere else? Toyota's ignorance of and
arrogance as to the power of social media to mobilize, or in this case immobilize its brand, combined with a DNA entrenched with privacy proved to be the final straw.
Which brings us to PR. If social media is PR's newest chum, brand behemoths must not only understand and engage billions of their customers on a level playing field, they also need to understand that social media or managing media is not the same everywhere, because neither are social norms nor media's influence. What is acceptable in some parts of the world is intolerable in others -- media notwithstanding.
Shoulda, woulda, coulda
Sure, Toyota should have been more vocal. It should have been more responsible. It should have been more responsive. It could have done many
things differently. Would the American public have reacted differently had Toyota said sorry sooner?
I don't think so. It's not that Toyota didn't converse with us fast enough (which they didn't). Just like some of their customers, they would have been slaughtered anyhow. It's what their words revealed about them, when they finally spoke.
What we learned is that Toyota's business and management values come from a different place and time, a place where social media and PR have a different voice. It is a culture that is controlled, controlling and private.
So regardless of Toyota's efforts to speak our language now -- we can talk about what are the best PR and social media strategies going forward until we are blue in the face -- nothing much will change unless the (transparent) effort comes from the top down.
They can bring in the best PR teams, they can bring on the best social media "experts" available, but cultural differences might just continue to keep them and us a world apart.
And that's called brand suicide in any language.
With all due respect to the author (sadly, there seems very little due), that's the flattest, least revealing, most xenophobic analysis of the Toyota recall fiasco I've read to date. It sounds as if her extensive research centered on a quick skim of Wikipedia' entry for Japan before sitting down to write.
I mean, I agree that Toyota's troubles stem in part -- but only in part -- from a lack of transparency and communication with the public. But how can the author blame Toyota's problems in America entirely on Japanese culture without taking into account the fact that Toyota Motor Sales USA is staffed and led primarily by non-Japanese individuals, like President Jim Lentz? It's a sloppy, irresponsible, offensive answer to a highly nuanced and complex problem.
come now- when the product is broken, PR cannot fix it, no matter the culture.
Granted, Toyota management made some serious missteps in addressing its recall issues--primarily by stalling in the early going. But 'killing America's love affair'? Sounds more than a bit hyperbolic.
Toyota's #1 asset remains its base of loyal customers. And the company's most recent moves seem to have rallied them to support the brand. Exhibit #1: sales last month were up 48%, thanks to pent-up demand and generous incentives (if car buyers were really turned off by the brand, no form of incentive would attract them). Exhibit #2: the public (and media) now seem to be supporting Toyota in the case of the San Diego realtor who is apparently trying to scam the company in a "balloon boy" type of media episode.
Bottom line, Toyota still makes and markets an outstanding product. This isn't like GM of the 70's & 80's. As I'm sure you'll agree, Vanessa, great PR begins with a great product.
http://www.quisenblog .com
Ok, let's clarify a few things...
1. PR and/or social media won't necessarily fix a problem - Len is correct when he says that PR can't fix faulty products.
2. What R Read disregarded is that companies DO handle things differently in different countries. If you have worked in Asia, Eastern Europe or Latin America, you will understand this.
Much has been written about how Toyota's crisis should have been handled this way or that way, but we're assuming that there was just the one way - ours and by that I am generalizing, yes. But I'm certainly not being xenophobic. I have lived and worked on 4 continents, have worked with Japanese companies and have clients dotted on 6 time zones. I can assure you that cultural nuances and different business values need to be considered. Absolutely, yes.
I am not blaming Japanese for a faulty product, I am simply comparing a company's actions and responses to a major crisis when differences in business cultures do exist. Because a company has a subsidiary in a certain country, does it become homogenized? I don't believe it does.
As for "killing the love affair", indeed there may be a hardcore, loyal fan base, but Toyota's brand has been so heavily trashed and beaten by media that the damage will last for a very long time.