Ideas Made Well

Toyota cars have never had a long list of brand values, and have never managed to create a huge amount of excitement when they launch a new car. Safe, dependable and super reliable are what Toyota has always been about.

That was until very recently, when it was forced to recall 6 million cars in the US and 1.8 million cars in Europe. Brake problems, steering problems and accelerator pedal problems have all surfaced. There is much speculation that Toyota knew about the problems well before they hit the headlines and, like a burglar in the dock, have then asked for several other offences to be taken into consideration.

A lesson in crisis PR it is not, and for many previously loyal Toyota drivers, it is the end of the road for the brand.

Toyota will probably survive but it will be stuck in first gear for some considerable time. Its value as a brand has plummeted and it will take a very long to rebuild it. Strangely, it is not the faults themselves that have caused the most damage.

Imagine if a brand like TVR or Aston Martin, with their reputation for speed and cutting-edge motoring had the same problems. There is a strong chance that people would have forgiven them because they at least were trying to stretch the art of the possible.

Toyota however were just trying to be as safe,dependable and reliable as ever and failed. So there was little good will to sustain them when the going got tough. And it seems that their values weren’t delivered. And they were rubbish at crisis PR.

So what next for Toyota? A long, long uphill struggle to regain anything like their previous reputation. All the benefits of creating the eco-pioneering Prius have disappeared overnight and it will take a huge effort and much cash to rebuild the brand.

It is a stark reminder that if you communicate a set of brand values to the public, you had better live up to them. Disingenuous marketing has never been a great idea (cf Dunsani water) – the only way forward is for everyone in a company to live and breathe the values and to ensure the values are delivered day after day. If the marketing strategy is treated as an addendum to the core business, then you will get found out sooner or later.

Did you know that the fuel efficiency of the Virgin Galactic spacecraft is 60% greater than a commercial airplane? Or that the cost of launching traditional spacecraft into space is eye-wateringly expensive and uses an incredible amount of energy? The thinking that has gone into the technology to enable Virgin Galactic to be a viable business proposition is revealed in the talk that Will Whitehorn, President of Virgin Galactic, gave at Start’s London offices earlier this month. The video reveals the answers to the questions above and gives some fascinating insights into the whole project. Will’s talk is the first in a series entitled Start Talk Tuesdays, where clients, prospective clients and friends of Start are treated to some mental stimulation for an hour or so. We then turn it into a 5 minute video, so that people who weren’t able to make it, can still see the best bits.

Next up we have the retail design guru and ex-boss of Mike Curtis and Darren Whittingham, Rodney Fitch. Enjoy.