Once again, I am going to date myself as a child of the ‘80s. When I was a sophomore in high school, my English teacher, Mrs. Blum, was ready to boycott Toyota over their use of Ernest P. Worrell (of “Ernest Goes to Camp” fame) as a company spokesperson. While intended to poke fun at his clownish, good ol’ boy ways, his mispronunciation of epitome (“the epi-TOME of excellence”) totally unnerved her. She was concerned that young people watching television would follow in the footsteps of his mispronunciation. Even though I was in my prime “adults are clueless” years, I appreciated and never forgot her passionate take on the subject.

Fast forward to 2011 (I am now probably about the same age Mrs. Blum was back in my 10th grade classroom) and I am feeling the same kind of frustration. Last month, there was a mayoral election in North Bergen, NJ, a town near where I live. The winning (and incumbent!) mayor’s campaign slogan was, “I don’t know where you be from, but I be from North Bergen, son.” Seriously? I understand that some rules of grammar don’t apply in advertising. I can support ending a sentence with a preposition. Or even a one- or two-word sentence with no verb (like this one!). But, in my opinion, his campaign’s approach takes creative license way too far.

Just yesterday, I was driving out of Hoboken to take my son to the doctor in Wayne when I saw a billboard advertising a radio show. Its headline: “We be killin’ it.” Perhaps Mrs. Blum was right: We need to consider the impact these kinds of messages have on how children learn the language. As a marketing professional, I also think such butchering is potentially detrimental to the brands that allow it into their advertising.

I like music. I enjoy watching music videos. I even enjoy watching some commercials. But what about when the line between entertainment and advertising is blurred?

On a recent morning while at the gym, I was watching VH1 and the VJ introduced the next video – courtesy of Toyota. But the video wasn’t from a pop artist or hot rapper. “Swagger Wagon” was a commercial for Toyota’s Sienna minivan. I was entertained by the rapping parents; the beat was decent and the lyrics comical. But I was also thoroughly confused by the placement.

Had the “Swagger Wagon” video simply followed an ad for toothpaste or a fast food restaurant, I would have thought great commercial.  I appreciate that networks have to think differently to appeal to advertisers these days, but I was left wondering if playing an ad off as just another music video would really do anything for Toyota.

The beauty of viral videos – like “Tea Partay” and “New Dork” is that consumers drive the interest; not the marketers behind the effort. I’d much prefer a colleague to email me a “can’t miss” video or have a friend post one on my Facebook page than watch it on TV. The buzz created by and surrounding viral videos has to be earned and authentic, not solely a media buy.

“That will never happen.”

It’s human nature to avoid thinking about anything negative happening down the road.  While there is a myriad of bad things that can happen on any given day, it’s unproductive and even unhealthy to dwell too much on the “what ifs” of life.

But when it comes to a company’s reputation, preparing for the seemingly unthinkable is vital to maintaining good relationships with all the constituents an organization values.

Toyota’s situation is an excellent example of this, as my colleague Tracey explained in her recent blog post about the company’s current woes.  I imagine that Toyota, with its heretofore stellar reputation for quality products and outstanding customer service, considered the extent of their cars’ technical problems a “never event.”

Similarly, pharmaceutical company sanofi-aventis likely didn’t count on the fury of a very vocal woman who used Facebook to vent about hair loss she alleged was caused by the company’s chemotherapy drug Taxotere.

We counsel clients to contemplate “never events” – whether it’s an accident, a faulty product, a security breach or an errant employee – and be prepared to respond to all the various audiences who may be affected by (or at least interested in) the incident.

When crisis strikes, unprepared companies scramble to assess the situation, track down contact information, craft thoughtful statements, assign an appropriate spokesperson and proceed with an agreed-upon plan of action.  All the while, the clock is ticking away – and the delay alone may irrevocably damage the company’s reputation in the eyes of the public, even before any remedies are implemented. Tiger Woods demonstrated what happens when you wait too long before addressing a crisis.

We advise developing a crisis communications plan that includes possible scenarios with action steps for each, a key party contact list (with office, home and mobile phone numbers), media list (which today must include social networking sites and bloggers), statement template, company backgrounders and fact sheets, among other items.  The company’s executive team should review the plan carefully so everyone is onboard and on point.  In some cases, we suggest conducting drills to test the efficacy of the plan.

When we speak with clients about crisis communications planning, they sometimes say they want to shelve such preparations until later and deal with current issues at hand. It’s true we can’t control our destinies, but there is much a company can do upfront to save precious time if and when a crisis hits. 

Why not be prepared?

Most communications experts agree that having a cohesive crisis communications plan in place can help companies of all sizes and statures navigate challenging terrain.

If Toyota did indeed have a plan, it didn’t adhere to the core principles for communicating during a crisis. Once synonymous with safety, Toyota has backed its way into a corner in which company executives are being reactive rather than proactive.

The crisis began with a lack of responsiveness to consumer complaints. In an age where conversations on social media channels can cause irreparable damage to a brand, Toyota drivers first learned about the potential mechanical/safety issues from other irate Toyota owners. From the start, Toyota didn’t take control of the message.

Toyota drivers also seem to be waiting for the other shoe to drop. Just this week, the recall expanded to 436,000 hybrid models including the popular Prius because of a malfunction in the braking system.

So what core communications virtues did company executives ostensibly ignore?

1. Honesty: The company should have publicly acknowledged the situation long before it did. The delayed response caused consumers to believe executives were being dishonest. Even if they didn’t know the extent of the problem they should have communicated potential issues about other Toyota makes and models.
2. Explanation: It took executives too long to offer up an explanation.  And when one was presented it seemed to point fingers at part makers and manufacturers, looking to place blame elsewhere.
3. Apology: Toyota’s CEO,Akio Toyoda, has been widely criticized for not being sincere in his initial apology in late January. He continued to participate in the World Economic Forum in Davos despite the fact that his company was facing the worst crisis in its history. His driving off in an Audi also didn’t inspire confidence in the Toyota brand.
4. Learning: We’ve yet to hear the company’s learnings from this incident and the policies and procedures it has created (or will) to ensure that this never happens again. The company still needs to reassure consumers that future models aren’t impacted.

The company’s handling of this crisis will shape perception of the brand for months and years to come. According to a PRWeek blog, consumer opinion of Toyota has dropped below the Hummer, arguably the most vilified gas-guzzler on the market. Significant damage is already done, but there’s no time like the present to get the brand back on track.