Far from curbing P & G’ s enthusiasm for social media, this incident helped the company hone its approach. It plans to use greater prelaunch engagement through these channels in future to clarify expectations and enable an even faster and more effective response to any unexpected backlash.
Toyota, too, deftly used social media as part of its crisis management during the sudden-acceleration recall. It set up a team to monitor and respond with facts to rumors on Facebook and elsewhere, and created a Twitter presence for COO Jim Lentz. The team identified online fans and sought permission to distribute their statements through Toyota channels. Drawing on the company’ s brand reputation— the reservoir of goodwill earned over decades of delivering on its promise of quality, reliability, and durability— it used social and other new media effectively to neutralize much of the hostility. By March 2010, when the recall was in full swing, Toyota sales were rebounding, with Camry and Corolla topping the list of all passenger-car sales.
Enhance the Playbook
Although any company’ s decision about whether and how to use a new tool is situationspecific, all companies should incorporate social media into their marketing playbooks. But what’ s the best approach? Our analysis of the strategies and performance of a diverse range of companies suggests that great brands share four fundamental qualities:
� They offer and communicate a clear, relevant customer promise. � They build trust by delivering on that promise. � They drive the market by continually improving the promise. � They seek further advantage by innovating beyond the familiar.
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