Posted By Industrial Web Solutions Marketing Team on March 2, 2010

If you ever doubted the power of effective branding then look to Toyota and cast off all doubts now! Despite the “largest auto recall in U.S. history after incidents of random acceleration resulting in fatalities”, according to Industry Week Toyota achieved a 15.3% increase in global sales. At a time when manufacturers like GM are selling off their assets (just finalized sale of Saab to Dutch sports car maker Spyker), Toyota continues to thrive because of their ongoing efforts to manage and promote their brand among consumers.

Radio station 1010wins reported recently that “professionals who have waged major damage-control struggles say the best strategy for Toyota mixes apology, openness, details about a specific fix – plus a little help from friends on Capitol Hill.” Well, Toyota’s cross-channel strategy seems to be working: apologetic television ads, a public apology from the CEO, “moving forward” slogan, an entire section of their website dedicated to Recall Information, to name a few. Essentially, Toyota is achieving damage control success because they have spent years building a strong brand. Now they can “cash in their chips,” as it were, to appeal to their loyal customers for forgiveness and understanding. And they have – to the tune of a 15.3% increase in global sales. Wow!! And in this economic climate! Pretty impressive, I’d say.

Even if you do not have access to the branding budget of a Toyota there are still plenty of effective strategies you can implement that will establish, support and promote your brand among your desired target audience groups. And hopefully you will never have to experience the need for such damage control.

For instance, you can start with basic public relations:

1. If you don’t have one yet, get a News module on your site and write about every significant thing you have done or are doing that has had or continues to have a positive impact on a client.
2. Don’t just write a boring case study and bury it somewhere on your website. Construct the story to demonstrate how you really made a difference. Archive case studies on your site so prospective clients can easily find the ones that apply to their need – by industry, application, product, etc.
3. Write a news story that points to the case study and summarizes what you achieved for your client.
4. Be sure to include a quote from your client that expresses his views about what you helped him to achieve.
5. Post client comments in your testimonials and on Twitter.
6. If you sell products, enhance your website application (or get one) that allows customers to rate your products and post comments that help other customers to make a decision.
7. Find a way to win awards and win them. “Top Supplier” “Best New Product”. They are out there.
8. Demonstrate your integrity and generosity by hosting a charity event or supporting a charity you believe in.
9. Reach out to customers in an email to thank them and offer them something that will help them today – discount, white paper, case study, something for free, etc.
10. Send out press releases that attract journalists who will want to write about your successes or challenges

Branding is an ongoing endeavor. Keep communicating with your target audience groups. Build trust and loyalty through quality, consistency, and communication. And by all means represent your brand with integrity and accountability.

Categories: Websites, email marketing, industrial marketing, mobile web marketing, online marketing, professional networking, social networking
Tags: branding, online branding, Toyota recall