Pierce Mattie Public Relations New York

First and foremost, with a recall of this magnitude and recent reports of faulty brakes in the Prius, Akio Toyoda should've been visibly present from the beginning. I would strongly advise Toyoda to not pass the buck onto his Vice President or any other mouthpiece. Toyota consumers, their employees and shareholders need to feel that the situation is under control and is quickly being rectified. The only way to re-instill this confidence is via Toyoda himself. He needs to be present at all future press conferences, the one quoted in all press releases and available for comment to the press.

Toyota executives need to be seen at their manufacturing plants and showrooms. There is no question that issuing statements from behind a desk at Toyota City alone will have little impact. The world wants to see Toyota execs are involved in the process and care about what is going on in their facilities.

Only hold sales and discounts on other Toyota models once the crisis is over. I recall seeing a tweet last week from a current Toyota consumer receiving a notice about a sale at their local Toyota retailer. When consumer confidence is already at a low point, a sale gives off an impression of desperation to move other models. Once the recall issue has been resolved and Toyota can give 100% certainty that their cars are safe, launch a PR campaign to draw the consumer back into the showrooms.

Now some may disagree with me on my next point, but I would suggest one aspect of this PR strategy to be done via social media with the mom blogosphere driving that campaign. Now why would I suggest moms? Because a mother would never in her right mind put her children in a vehicle that they do not consider safe. As a mother myself, I am more likely to trust another parent's viewpoint than I would a generic ad campaign. If you are a parent, do you agree? Again, only if Toyota can guarantee that the vehicles recalled are now 100% safe would I recommend this.

I think Toyota can recover from this crisis, but they certainly need better guidance then they have been given thus far to do so. What are your thoughts?