Toyota: Pulling Together…

Against a background of possible US criminal action and an undeniable dent to its reputation, Toyota continue to recover their position with consumers with the start of a national press charm offensive.
With the headline “We’re pulling together to put things right” the ads aims to reassure consumers they’re working hard to ensure safer cars in the future. The promise follows recalls affecting eight million vehicles worldwide. The ad goes on to say, “History shows that great companies learn from their mistakes. That’s why all 9,800 people working for Toyota and our dealers in the UK, are doing more than ever to make things right for our customers today and for the future.”
The ad further reassures that Toyota has mobilised all its technicians to deal with the recall problems and engineers are working hard to resolve these issues. It also expresses thanks to customers and authorities for help and patience during the recall process.
Given the scale of Toyota’s problems they recently confirmed the closure of one of its UK factories for an extra week over Easter, citing the recall as the reason.
In an attempt to minimise the negative affect of the recall on future car sales, Toyota have recently announced a new marketing approach involving consumer incentives and enhanced warranties.