The power of the visual image
Toyota did itself no favours by allowing an executive wearing a surgical mask to make a statement about its product recall on television. It is actually not uncommon in some countries to wear these masks, but for most countries it is, and wearers communicate a powerful message of disease, contamination and attempts at distance.
There are two related reminders for the public relations professional. First, if you provide a powerful visual image then it will up the amount of coverage you get. Bad news in a crisis, good when you are talking about more positive things than product recalls. Secondly, when you are a business serving international markets, you do need to take on board different national attitudes to appropriate attire and the related images dress conjures up.
I still remember, many years ago, as a ‘baby’ PR, rushing out to meet the directors of a major Italian company that was embroiled, unfairly, in a bribery scandal. They were heading into a press conference all wearing near identikit overcoats with the collars up and, despite the winter gloom, sunglasses. Any photographs would have made them look like Mafia and a quick change was required.
Sometimes, even the imagery public relations people provide to support positive news stories come back to bite them when there is a crisis. The images of ice skaters and powerful geysers exploding through the ice were manna from heaven for picture desks when my team launched Icesave. Two years later, when the banking industry hit metaphorical icebergs, the powerful imagery undoubtedly increased the number of times Icesave was referenced in the context of banks that faced problems. It wasn’t what sunk Icesave, but it certainly didn’t help.
