Any business person knows that for each product, the Brand trust and brand equity are important. Brand equity comes with a lot of benefits to companies, the biggest being that it adds to the financial valuation of a product. This shows that the higher the rating of equity of a brand, the more its financial value will be. Brand extensions also benefit from brand equity. Thus, a brand can merge with other new products by extending its brand name into their categories. Brand equity and brand trust are correlated. The level of brand trust that a brand enjoys is what determines its brand equity. Brand trust is achieved if the consumers repeatedly talk of positive experience with the brand. This results in brand loyalty. This in turn, contributes openly to brand equity (Delgado-Bellester & Munuera-Aleman, 2005). The Toyota Company has taken both brand equity and brand trust very seriously. It has always been geared toward improving its brand.
In the stir of the recall by Toyota, a certain car brands owned by Toyota were faced by the issue of consumer distrust. The recall happened because of problems to do with acceleration, brakes and floor mat of the cars. Although all this affected the branding of the Toyota, it has taken many steps to protect its brands from consumer distrust (Brooks, 2010). Since the problems started, it has always released press releases to keep the public in the know. The company has also sent letters to the owners of affected car brands. This has been done with the aim of retaining their customers by taking them into confidence. Thus, these affected customers get the feeling that Toyota has their safety in mind. A website that provides updated information about the recall has also been opened and can be accessed by all its customers. These steps are aimed at protecting its brand’s equity.
Innumerable news channels all over the world were covering this recall and it looked like it might affect the company’s...