Rides It Out Communication can be defined as “a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior” (Merriam-Webster, n. d. ).
For communication to be considered effective information shWhen this occurs, the organizations can only measure the effectiveness by analyzing consumers’ actions. Some companies have a thorough understanding of their customers and excel with effective communication. One such company is Johnson & Johnson. The purpose of this paper is to present a case study analysis on Tylenol’s crisis management plan and analyze how effective they were with communicating to their publics. Case Overview In 1982 several people died unexpectedly in the Chicago area for unknown reasons (Center & Jackson, 2003).
Generally, occurrences such as these would not be considered abnormal for such a large area, however; three of the victims were from the same family and they all died during the same period (Bell, n. d. ).
After a physician at the hospital where the family members had been taken became suspicious, it was discovered that all three family members died of cyanide poisoning (Bell, n. d. ).
Further research uncovered evidence the three members of the family had ingested Extra Strength Tylenol shortly before their deaths.
A search of the home revealed a bottle of Extra Strength Tylenol, which upon testing, revealed cyanide had been added into the capsules (Bell, n. d. ).
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One of the deaths prior to the three family members was also quickly linked to Extra Strength Tylenol. At this point it was determined not to be an isolated incident and was more widespread (Bell, n. d. ).
In all, there were seven known victims that had died from the Extra Strength Tylenol capsules that were laced with 65 milligrams of cyanide (Bell, n. d. ).
It was determined this large quantity of cyanide found in each capsule was enough cyanide to kill 10,000 people (Bell, n. . ).
When Johnson & Johnson received the news that their product was the cause of all the deaths, the organization was faced with a very serious crisis management situation. Public Relations Tools Upon learning of the connection between their product and the cyanide poisonings, Johnson & Johnson reacted very quickly to the crisis. The company began by sending out nationwide alerts to all doctors, distributors and the public. Although it was determined the bottles had been tampered with after they left the manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson still issued a massive recall of 31 million bottles of Tylenol (Susi, 2002).
This public relations approach showed the public the company was socially responsible and the protection of the people was more important than any effect to Johnson & Johnson’s bottom line. The decision to recall so many bottles of Tylenol is estimated to have cost the company over $100 million (Susi, 2002).
On the other hand the benefit to the company was increased consumer trust which was far more valuable to Johnson & Johnson because it was a positive reflection to their reputation. During the crisis the community was not only notified by Johnson & Johnson of the situation.
In the Chicago area, the local police drove through the neighborhoods announcing the danger of the pain medicine (Bell, n. d. ).
In addition, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also played a pivotal role in educating and calming the public. The FDA held several press conferences which helped alleviate some of the hysteria that was occurring throughout communities (Center and Jackson, 2003).
Johnson & Johnson also used the news media to get the message out to the public. This could have been a risky endeavor, however; Johnson & Johnson was able to effectively use the news media to make it clear the company was not to blame for the deaths.
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They were able to make it clear the act was done by a terrorist outside of the company who used their product as a tool to take the life of innocent people (Bell, n. d. ).
Two months after the Tylenol recall, Johnson & Johnson was ready to reintroduce their products to consumers (Susi, 2002).
To alleviate fears over the safety of the product the bottles had a new triple seal tamper resistant packaging (Susi, 2002).
Johnson & Johnson was the first company to comply with the new FDA regulations on tamper-resistant packaging that is now required on all over the counter drugs (Susi, 2002).
Through media releases and commercial advertisements, Johnson & Johnson motivated consumers to buy only over the counter drugs that had the new safety measures. As proof of Johnson & Johnson’s successful public relations tactics, within five months of the crisis, the company had regained 70% of its’ market share (Mallenbaker, n. d. ).
Their success continued to grow and there is some findings that would suggest consumers have rewarded Johnson & Johnson’s positive handling of this crisis by switching from other pain relievers to Tylenol (Mallenbaker, n. . ).
Publics There were many publics Johnson & Johnson had to communicate with. One of those was the internal publics of Johnson & Johnson which consisted of all the employees and stakeholders. The company did an exceptional job of keeping their employees and stakeholders informed throughout the crisis. To keep the internal publics aware of the steps being taken, Johnson & Johnson issued several publications explaining how the company was responding to the crisis (Center & Jackson, 2003).
There were also several external publics such as doctors, distributors, customers, communities, and the media that Johnson & Johnson had to be concerned with. Considering the period when this crisis took place, the communication to these publics was exceptional. As mentioned earlier, between all the news conferences, third party involvement and company recalls, the external publics of Johnson & Johnson were kept well informed. Johnson & Johnson also made known their company credo which had been written and followed since the mid 1940s (Center & Jackson, 2003)).
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The credo was well publicized and it offered an explanation to why the company acted as they did. The credo begins with “We believe our first responsibility is to doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and service” (Center & Jackson, 2003).
The company did an excellent job with this communication and along with their actions the public knew these were not just words on paper. Public Relations Today If the same crisis happened today, a company such as Johnson & Johnson would have to act very quickly to the situation and would need to be concerned with more media outlets.
With 24-hour news coverage and the unlimited boundaries of the internet, news is disseminated more rapidly and across the globe. The public relations practitioners at Johnson & Johnson would need to be aware of the target publics and be able to respond without hesitation. I believe as long as Johnson & Johnson reacted quickly and continued to provide open and honest communications the same success could be achieved today. An advantage that a company has now over previous years is the ability to get information out to more people in less time.
More people have access to numerous media outlets which only increases the likelihood of the message being received in a timely manner. If Johnson & Johnson effectively used the numerous different outlets to get the message out and continued to maintain their high ethical standards the results would be the same as they were in 1982. References Bell, R. (n. d. ).
Death in a bottle. Retrieved online November 11, 2007 from http://www. crimelibrary. com/terrorists_spies/terrorists/tylenol_murders/ index. html Center, A. H. , & Jackson, P. (2003).
Public relations practices: managerial case Studies and problems, 6ed.
Prentice-Hall, Inc. Retrieved online November 11, 2007 from https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/content/eBookLibrary/content/eReader. Mallenbaker, M. (n. d. ).
Companies in crisis – what to do when it all goes wrong. Retrieved November 12, 2007 from http://www. mallenbaker. net/csr/CSRfiles/crisis02. html Merriam-Webster Online (n. d. ).
Communication. Retrieved online November 11, 2007 from http://www. m-w. com/dictionary/communication. Susi, R. (2002).
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The tylenol crisis, 1982. Effective Crisis Management. Retrieved online November 11, 2007 from http://iml. jou. ufl. edu/projects/Fall02/Susi/index. htm.
