Toyota: The Risk of a One-Dimensional Brand Image
Photo: Toyota.com
Mired in a messy second and massive worldwide recall and facing a significant loss in sales, Toyota is losing significant brand reputation. This should be a time at Toyota for a critical re-evaluation of their brand strategy and a time to not only restore their image for quality and reliability, but also expand their brand image into other, more emotional areas as well.
Toyota’s once sterling reputation for quality and reliability was carefully and painstakingly built up over the past few decades. Those of us old enough to remember the first few model years of Toyotas (and Hondas) remember their poor quality. Clearly, Toyota had come a long way in quality and reliability since those early products, continuously improving with unwavering commitment and dedication. So much so that competitors went to Toyota to learn their methods.
Toyota’s dedication to quality and reliability was a significant factor in their ascendancy to the top of the automotive hierarchy. But now, as Toyota deals with this massive blow to its reputation, it should be asking itself whether it focused its brand strategy too narrowly on quality and reliability. A significant negative event that calls that image into question is much more difficult to overcome if that’s the extent of the brand’s image.
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Yeah, they are really paying the price for being all about reliability. It’s a lot like Volvo getting knocked for turning out not to be safe for familes!