6 divided by 2 ways to start the fixing process.

I don’t know how it happened, but last night I was watching CSPAN while the president and CEO of Toyota defended the Toyota brand in front of congress. While I was emphatically un-impressed by some of the representatives of congress and their professionalism towards the matter, I must say that I felt quite the opposite of Akio Tayoda, president and CEO of Toyota. IMO, he was very poised and professional while addressing what I thought were disrespectful and despicable “I am running for re-election” questioning from some member of the congressional panel. As a “marketer” who so often deals with PR issues our clients face, it begs the question of how do companies get themselves out of a PR mess.

The way I look at it, your brand is like being married…as a guy, sometimes you are just going to forget a birthday or a valentines day, unless you are one of “those guys”. There are times when you may have to work your way back off the couch.

#1 . Gain empathy

Like many [insert number here] step programs, the first and foremost step is to gain the empathy of your audience by recognizing that you are aware of the problem at hand. What this does is establish an emotional connection with your audience that helps you to gain their attention for what you have to say next. Usually, depending on the audience, people want to know that you care about their feelings and “admitting guilt” is a way of saying “I don’t want to bullshit you.” However, don’t be all negative, highlight the good of your brand without being obnoxious.

#2. Road map to regaining trust

Now that people know you are aware of the problem, the next step is to patch things up. This can be done by establishing a road map to making things better. “Over the next [insert realistic period here], we will address your concerns by [insert steps here].” This establishes a clear goal for your audience on which to measure your performance. People consciously and subconsciously love to compare so playing to that tendency will be in your benefit. The pressure here comes with hitting those goals and this leads me to my last point…

#3. Be transparent with your actions

Fixing the issues you are having in a black box may fix the issue, but it will not fix your audience’s perception. With this in mind, if you become transparent with the steps you are taking to fix the issues, then your audience will see that you are committed to regaining their trust which will in turn play on their empathy.

Of course, in PR there are many steps to helping a brand in mayday, and each solution may have its own approach. Can anyone say Tiger Woods?

Don’t just read… contribute. What’s your take on the matter?