On Friday, the Washington Post sent out an early morning news alert to report Toyota has formed a committee to examine problems that led to two safety recalls relating to accelerator pedals on some Toyota models.
Huh?
Other news reports said much the same. After a two-week silence, a public battering by the media, and a recall that affects 8.1 million vehicles worldwide and could cost the company $2 billion in repairs and lost sales, Akio Toyoda (grandson of the company’s founder) said, “I feel we are in stormy weather… (we) must regain customer trust.”
My first thought was along the lines of, “No, ----, Sherlock.”
My second: “Where is his public relations counsel?”
Of course, not even the best PR counsel can reverse time and undo the damage caused by inaction or the head-in-sand, hope-it-will-go-away syndrome. But what good PR advice can do is help a company navigate tricky communications channels to lessen the severity and length of negative publicity and, in some cases, keep an issue from becoming a crisis.
So, what’s the difference between an issue and a crisis? Timing.
There are almost always warning signs that companies have an issue. Inspections show standards aren’t being met, weak spots in protocols are ignored, problems aren’t decisively addressed. For example, the Blakely, Ga., plant of the now-bankrupt Peanut Corp of America, responsible for a 2008 salmonella outbreak in peanut butter that sickened 700 people and was linked to nine deaths, had a history of rodents, roaches, and sanitation issues according to a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution story.
Worst of all, records show the company had found salmonella in its products, but still sold them “a dozen times over two years.”
Similar scenarios may or may not have played out in other recalls, including Toyota’s, but many post-crisis reports or investigations reveal issues that were ignored or purposefully dismissed.
A communications crisis happens when issues become publicly known either because of accidents or outbreaks. When that happens, a company must address the internal problems and face the scrutiny of media, governments, consumers and employees. In an age of instant communications, a company often has hours—not days or weeks—to take decisive action and communicate that action if it hopes to minimize damage to its reputation and bottom line.
Preventive and proactive actions are your best course of action. Address issues as they arise, and if the worst happens, have a plan in place so you can respond in hours—not weeks.
This advice may seem obvious, but if a global company such as Toyota lacked a proactive plan, which others do, too?
Keena D. Lykins is a senior account supervisor for Public Relations at R+K.