Another day, another recall for General Motors, which will result in Congressional subpoenas, an impact in profits and, most importantly, damage to its brand, which may take years to rebuild. Although GM is not out of the woods yet, it has to start thinking about how to regain the American consumer's trust, and it may want to start by looking at how companies like BP and Toyota handled their crises.
As expected, most companies' immediate responses range from denial to downplaying. When news of cars mysteriously self-accelerating began to emerge, Toyota did not immediately address them. It deflected, using excuses until it was too late. BP's initial response to calm public outcry over the enormous oil spill in the Gulf was to downplay the seriousness of the situation. For GM and its new CEO Mary Barra, an apology was issued with a promise to solve the problem. Unfortunately, shortly after that apology, another recall was ordered.
What GM—and other companies—can learn from past crises is the importance of having a clear, long-term and short-term communications strategy to address problems, reassure the American public and salvage and rebuild the brand.