Many brands plan how to deal with a crisis. This planning can be invaluable, as it allows them to quickly activate the organization to respond appropriately, and minimize damage. Toyota most likely had plans like this in place, but it’s what they’ve done more spontaneously with social media that is getting them attention from the marketing community. Most recently, The Washington Post blog reports that they have launched an innovative new site, Toyota Conversations.
The Toyota Conversations site is powered by Tweetmeme, and Toyota worked closely with Federated Media to launch the branded channel. The site allows Toyota to aggregate tweets that link to or mention news, images, video related to Toyota and the recall. While some of the tweets are negative, there’s a decidedly positive tone to the effort, as Toyota is prominently featuring their own tweets, videos, ads and links to other social media properties. They’re both embracing and controlling the conversation. So in addition to seeing a retweet where someone says they’ll “never buy a Toyota again”, we also see news stories being tweeted about that reference Toyota’s contribution to new safety rules, their March sales event announcement, and more. They’re also including what Tweetmeme refers to as “AdTweets“, which are essentially ads that include a “retweet” functionality.
This branded Tweetmeme channel is only one of many digital touchpoints Toyota is leveraging for the recall. The “hub” of the digital recall campaign, and the site you’re sent to from the homepage of Toyota is Toyota.com/recall. It’s a kind of recall “dashboard” (no pun intended), that includes important recall information for owners, news, announcements, videos and more.
Yet Toyota has also used a number of social media channels as well. Realizing the importance of news stories and social sharing, they have a partnership with Digg.com. In addition, they are using corporate social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. Toyota has certainly jumped feet first into a number of different social and digital touchpoints, but what are the lessons to be had for other marketers? Here are a few thoughts:
1.) Social Shapes Conversation AND Media
We know that social media has become more important to customers, but it’s also become standard for media as well. Toyota seems to have recognized that sharing news is a big part of the conversation online, and that social media has to become a core part of any public relations effort, rather than an add-on.
2.) If You Build It, They Might Come
One of Toyota’s biggest blunders in these digital campaigns is that they don’t consistently cross-promote these social channels. Take, for instance, the fact that on the digital “hub” for the campaign, Toyota.com/recall, there’s no link to the ToyotaConversations.com website. In fact, there’s not even a link for Facebook or Twitter, only a link to the YouTube channel. Even in social media, once you get to the Facebook Page, you can find a link to the ToyotaConversations.com website, but there’s not a link on Twitter.
3.) The World is Still Flat
One of the more interesting dilemmas is the global presence of Toyota, and how small decisions have the potential to complicate things. Take, for instance, that the URL for Toyota in the US is Toyota.com. The Worldwide URL is Toyota.co.jp. The recall clearly hasn’t just affected the US, and the coverage has certainly been worldwide, yet there doesn’t seem to be much consideration taken to make sure the approach is coordinated globally.
Perhaps the most important takeaway is one Toyota has taken to heart… That a willingness to adapt to the changing media environment may be the best crisis planning tool.
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