I.
Company Background
Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886 by three brothers Robert Wood
Johnson, James Wood Johnson and Edward Mead Johnson. It was founded in and
still headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It has more than 250 operating
companies in 60 countries and employees approximately 116,000 people. Johnson
& Johnson has been continuously ranked as the world’s most respected company
due to their family oriented structure.
“We believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses and
patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and
services.” - Our Credo
This statement is apart of the company philosophy entitled “Our Credo.” It is what
each person at Johnson & Johnson believes in, is guided by, and demonstrates. It
was written in 1943 by former chairmen Robert Wood Johnson.
The Johnson & Johnson public relations department has played an important part
in establishing the family oriented structure as well as the company’s reputation.
II.
Proactive Techniques
The PR department for Johnson & Johnson are very effective when it comes
to proactive techniques. Some they have done included a company blog, starting
campaigns, and monitor their eco-footprint. All of their proactive PR techniques
are designed to exemplify “Our Credo.” This was good execution so the public
would know that the company does stay true to their values.
A. Campaigns
Currently Johnson & Johnson is sponsoring the Campaign for Nursing’s
Future. “The Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future is a multi-year,
$50-million national initiative designed to enhance the image of the nursing
profession, recruit new nurses and nurse faculty, and help retain nurses currently in
the profession. Launched in February 2002, the Campaign works in cooperation
with professional nursing organizations, schools, hospitals and other health care
groups to promote opportunities in nursing and increase awareness of the value of
the nursing profession to our society and America’s health care community
(campaignfornursing.com)”
The public relations department is promoting this campaign through print,
television, and interactive media. “Their 2007 promotion, saluted American nurses
and their contributions to health care, as well as enhance the image of the
profession and recruit new nurses (campaignfornursing.com).” Their campaigns
feature real nurses and has helped stimulate the career. “A 2002 Harris poll found
that 46 percent of young people age 18-24 say they recall the advertising. 24
percent of those who have discussed going into a nursing career said the
commercials were a factor in their consideration (campaignfornursing.com).”
The Campaign for Nursing’s Future has raised more than $12 million for
undergraduate students in nursing scholarships, nurse educator fellowships, and
grants for nursing schools to expand. “The Johnson & Johnson Campaign for
Nursing’s Future joins with local health care partners to host The Promise of
Nursing galas in cities and regions where the nursing shortage is most acute. Todate, more than 27 Promise of Nursing events have been held across the country.
(campaignfornursing.com).”
The website has information about becoming a nurse, scholarships available,
press releases, and schedules for events being held around the United States.
B.
Environment
One of Johnson & Johnson’s aspirations is to be the most environmentally
responsible company in the world. To attain this, every five years since 1990, the
company has established long-term goals to help the environment. Our Healthy
Planet 2010 was introduced in 2006. While developing them, Johnson & Johnson
sought counsel from environmentalist, government officials, and other companies
in order to make them attainable. Some of their goals included: carbon dioxide
reduction, waste reduction, environmental literacy, transparency, biodiversity, and
compliance. With the formation of the goals, Johnson & Johnson’s has been able
to “reduced waste, water and energy use, raw material and packaging. Nearly all
of their manufacturing sites and research and development facilities have ISO
14001 certification, a standard for strong environmental management systems.
Their environmental improvement projects consistently result in more efficient
manufacturing processes, increased product yields and cost savings. (jnj.com).”
C.
Child Safety
Johnson & Johnson is the founding sponsor of Safe Kids Worldwide. It is an
organization that now promotes child safety in the United States and 18 other
countries. Safe Kids teaches children and adults how to prevent unintentional
injury and death. “The organization’s efforts have been hugely successful.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the U.S. has seen a 45 percent drop
in the childhood death rate from accidents since 1987. That translates into 38,000
lives saved (jnj.com).”
“During Safe Kids Week, participating retailers feature the Safe Kids logo
alongside Johnson & Johnson Consumer brands in their publicity. Other customers
have created direct-mail pieces tied to the campaign, as well as point-of-purchase
displays showcasing our brands and Safe Kids materials. The event also includes a
newspaper insert with coupons that goes to more than 40 million households
(jnj.com).”
III. Crisis Management
Johnson & Johnson public relations department has had to deal with their
share of crisis. Some crisis they have handled better than others. But Johnson &
Johnson has had the reputation of bouncing back after each one.
A. Baby Shampoo
1. The Problem
Johnson & Johnson public relations department recently had to deal with an
issue concerning their baby shampoo. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics reported
on November 1, 2011 that Johnson & Johnson was selling “toxic baby shampoo”
in the United States, Canada, China, Australia and Indonesia. The shampoo
contained quaternium-15, which releases formaldehyde a preservative that kills
bacteria and 1,4-dioxane, which makes chemicals gentle on the skin.
Formaldehyde was determined to be a human carcinogen in June by the U.S.
National Toxicology Program, and 1,4-dioxane is being considered now to be a
likely carcinogen, too. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics also said that the baby
shampoo from Denmark, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa,
Sweden and the U.K. did not contain the chemicals. Their argument was that
Johnson & Johnson has removed ingredients that release formaldehyde before in
other products, and they should ensure that with all of their products in all
countries. The campaign asked for Johnson & Johnson to publicly say by
November 15 that they will remove the chemicals from all of their products
worldwide.
2. The Response
Immediately after the letter from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics was
released, the PR department released a statement responding to it. They started by
saying parents already know that the ingredients in their baby products meet and
sometimes exceed government safety standards in every country they are
marketed. They then reassured that their products were safe. Johnson & Johnson
then went further and said,
“We understand that trust sometimes means going beyond safety alone.
That's why we are continually improving our products to contain purer,
milder and gentler ingredients that parents can use with complete
confidence and peace of mind (johnsonsbaby.com).”
Next they stated the steps they were taking to ensure peace of mind for the
parents. They said they are phasing out the use of preservatives that release
formaldehyde, guaranteeing the traces of 1,4 dioxane released during the
manufacturing process is below the U.S. Food and Drug Administration safety
level, and have introduced a natural product line. They finished the statement by
telling their standards and ensuring their safety.
On November 16, the day after the campaign asked for Johnson & Johnson
to make a public statement, the PR department responded with a statement from
Jay Kosminsky, the Vice President of Worldwide Communication and Public
Affairs. In his statement, he acknowledged The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics as
the one bringing forth the allegations. He then reassured the products are safe and
the chemicals are not harmful. Kosminsky then restated their standards and stated
the regulations in which the products passed. Kosminsky then goes into the
actions Johnson & Johnson has taken in the past two years and directs the attention
to a letter by Susan Nettesheim, the Vice President of Product Stewardship &
Toxicology.
Nettesheim’s letter was written directly to the woman who sent them the
letter regarding their product. In the letter Nettesheim states how long they have
been relied upon to produce safe products for families, and said they work hard to
maintain that trust. Nettesheim then writes how she disagrees with the scientific
reasoning from the campaigns letter and reports. She continues by telling the
process that is gone through to ensure a products safety.
“When we develop a personal care product, our experts including
doctors, toxicologists and biologists, carefully review safety data and the
most recent scientific literature on the ingredients, and we thoroughly
evaluate all our finished formulations for safety. We understand that
babies' skin, hair, and eyes are different from adults' and we develop our
products with this in mind, consulting with pediatricians, nurses and
other professionals to ensure that all our baby products are safe, mild
and gentle. In addition to our own high standards, our products always
meet -- and often exceed -- the standards of the agencies around the
world responsible for the safety of personal care products in the markets
where they are sold.”
Nettesheim then gives an analogy to demonstrate how much formaldehyde
exposure is in their products. She said it “is about the same in an entire bottle of
baby shampoo as a person would be exposed to by eating an apple or pear, in
which it occurs naturally.” The letter even stated their displeasure about how the
campaign’s reports failed to acknowledge Johnson & Johnson’s research that
indicated the chemicals were safe and mild. Out of concern for the parents fear of
the Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, Nettesheim said they would change the ingredients
of the shampoo to keep the trust that has been established. The letter is brought to
a close with Nettesheim saying the company feels it is important for their
customers to be informed about their products, so her letter would be published on
the company’s website.
3.
The Media
The media immediately ran stories once the letter written by the Campaign
for Safe Cosmetics became public. Everybody from the major newspapers to the
small local ones. Even bloggers were blogging about it. Newspaper were good
about telling both sides of the story, they told the campaigns allegations and they
also reported the statements from Johnson & Johnson. Kress.press, a blog
revolving around the life of a family, announced to her readers that the baby
shampoo had a carcinogen ingredient in it. She then advised her readers to throw
their Johnson & Johnson products away. Many of her readers commented and
thanked her for the information and said they have thrown it away. Kress.press did
not say anything regarding the statement or the letter that the company has written
about the carcinogen allegations.
B. McNeil Consumer Healthcare
McNeil Consumer Healthcare is a medical products company that belongs to
Johnson & Johnson. It was acquired in 1959 and is headquartered in Fort
Washington, Pennsylvania.
1. The Problem
In early 2009, McNeil allegedly hired a subcontractor to purchase all the
Motrin pain reliever from store shelves. In efforts to avoid bad publicity, the hired
consultants were told to act like customers and “Do not communicate to store
personnel any information about this product. Just purchase all available product.
If you are questioned by store personnel, simply advise that you have been asked to
perform an audit (nytimes.com).” McNeil performed this “phantom recall” so they
would not have to inform the public of the defected product and risk losing money.
After the Food and Drug Administration became aware about the issue, McNeil
“recalled” the eight-count vials of Motrin in July 2009. But a press release was not
released to inform consumers.
The story made an interesting turn when a news article was released in
September 2010 by CNNMoney.com saying that the FDA was aware of the secret
recall. In a email from May 2009 by a McNeil executive it said:
"We have negotiated agreement with FDA not to formally conduct a
recall for Motrin 8's but rather conduct a 'soft market withdrawal.' This
is a major win for us as it limits the press that will be seen. We had
committed to FDA to complete this withdrawal by July 15th."
The FDA responded with a statement saying they did not approved the
phantom recall, and once they became aware of the Motrin situation the article said
they advised McNeil to recall the product.
““When the FDA learned that McNeil had hired contractors to secretly
purchase product off the shelves, the agency advised McNeil to do a full
recall which the company agreed to initiate in July 2009. FDA then
voiced its objections about McNeil's 'phantom recall' activities to the
senior leadership of Johnson & Johnson in a February 2010 meeting.”
A lawsuit was filed by the state of Oregon against McNeil and Johnson & Johnson
in early 2011. Their concern was that the phantom recall was unethical and the
public did not receive real notice. If the company were found liable, it could be
fined up to $25,000 for each container of defective Motrin sold to a consumer in
Oregon.
2. The Response
When Colleen Goggins, a Johnson & Johnson executive, made a public
testimony in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight
and Government Reform in May 2010, she said that McNeil did hire a third-party
contractor, but it was just to determine how much of the defective Motrin was on
the market. She also said that the company had alerted the F.D.A. about the
buyback efforts. On behalf of Johnson & Johnson, she said,
“Across our organization, we believe our first responsibility is to the
doctors, nurses, and patients, to mothers and fathers, and all others who
use our products and services. In this instance, we have not lived up to
that responsibility, and the recall is therefore a disappointment to our
Chairman Bill Weldon, to me personally, and to the thousands of
employees in the Johnson & Johnson family of companies.”
She continued by saying the problems caused by McNeil is unacceptable and
apologized. Then she said they will work to ensure the public understanding of the
recall. Goggins finished by addressing four points of confusion in the media about
the recall: “health risks to consumers from the recalled products were remote,
Second, McNeil has no indication of a serious adverse medical event caused by
any of the issues referenced in the recall announcement. Third, no raw materials
that tested positive for objectionable bacteria were ever used in the manufacture of
McNeil’s pediatric products. And finally, McNeil rejected the products that it found
had excess active ingredient.
Bill Weldon, Johnson & Johnson CEO, participated in an interview with
Fortune 500 and made an apology on behalf of Johnson & Johnson. He admitted
that the company does not usually act in that manner and was working to fix the
problem. Weldon said the company will next go through a self analyzation and
they will be putting McNeil’s products on hold until they solve the problem.
3. Other Recalls
In December 2010 McNeil had to make another voluntary recall, this time
all Rolaids. It was reported that foreign material including wood particles and
metal were being found. McNeil said that a company investigation has determined
the particles came from a third manufacturing party. The production of Rolaids
Ultra Strength SoftChews and Rolaids Ultra Strength SoftChews plus Gas Relief
were halted.
Johnson & Johnson has had to recall over 50 products since 2010. The
products range from Children’s Tylenol, Benadryl, and Rolaids to Motrin, contact
lenses and Aspirin. The majority of the products have come from the McNeil
division of the company according to CEO Bill Weldon.
In March 2011, the FDA took over 3 McNeil plants, in Las Piedras, Puerto
Rico, Fort Washington, Pa. and in Lancaster, Pa. The plants were taken over
because of the numerous recalls and “for failing to comply with federallymandated manufacturing practice (money.cnn.com).” McNeil had to go into a
consent decree, which is not frequently done. “The decree requires McNeil to
adhere to a strict timetable to bring those facilities into compliance. McNeil also
must retain an independent expert to inspect the three plants to determine whether
the violations have been corrected, and to ensure that adequate manufacturing
processes are in place. After expert certification, the FDA will determine if the
facilities are in compliance (money.cnn.com).” If the company violates the decree,
the plant and it’s productions can be shut down.
Weldon said in a statement posted to the company blog that:
"We are a company that strives to do the right thing, and we succeed far
more often than not. When we don't succeed, it's painful. By moving to
resolve the FDA's concerns about McNeil Consumer Healthcare US
manufacturing facilities, we are able to look to the future and focus on
what is most important to us: serving the millions of people around the
world who rely on our products every day to meet their health care needs
(money.cnn.com).”
C. Tylenol
1. The Problem
Over the span of a few days starting on September 29, 1982, seven
people died suddenly after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules in Chicago,
Illinois. Once investigators discovered the Tylenol link between the deaths,
they immediately put out warnings. It was discovered that the tampering
occurred on the shelves and someone had put 65 milligrams of deadly cyanide
into the Tylenol capsules.
2. The Response
Johnson & Johnson immediately thought of their responsibility to their
consumers and recalled the 31 million bottles of Tylenol capsules from store
shelves. They also stopped the advertising for the product and offered a
replacement product, tablets which are more safer, for free. The Tylenol recall
cost Johnson & Johnson over $100 million. Even though the company was
not involved in the tampering of the product, they assumed responsibility for
the tragedy. The company teamed up with the Chicago Police Department and
offered a $100,000 reward for the capture of the “Tylenol Killer” (it has never
been claimed).
When Tylenol products were reintroduced to the market, they contained
triple-seal resistant packaging so consumers would know the product had not
been tampered with. Tablets were promoted instead of capsules. The PR
department offered sale incentives to stimulate consumer purchases; they
offered coupons and discounts. Johnson & Johnson also sent out over 2,259
sales associates to the medical communities.
3. The Media
When the crisis first occurred, the media predicted that the Tylenol
brand would never recover to it’s pre-sabotage numbers. The Tylenol brand
brought in 17 percent of the company’s net income in 1981. Immediately
after the crisis, the Tylenol market share dropped to 7 percent from 37 percent.
But thanks to the PR departments’ hard work and promotions, within two
months it was back up to 30 percent. The media said Johnson & Johnson
handled the crisis very well. An article in The Washington Post said,
“Johnson & Johnson has effectively demonstrated how a major business ought
to handle a disaster (wikipedia.com).”
IV. IMC Techniques
A. Digital Moms
Digital Moms was a campaign launched by Johnson & Johnson for
technology savvy moms. It is a multimedia campaign with an iPhone application
and utilizes YouTube. It was made so moms could video their children and upload
it to YouTube or the Johnson & Johnson website to share their experiences. Digital
Moms was established so mothers could receive advice and help from other moms
around the world. Moms could create their on account on the web or by using the
iPhone app.
B. Txt4Baby
Johnson & Johnson teamed up the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy
Babies Coalition (HMHB) to created the first free health text messaging service in
the United States. Mothers and mothers-to-be sign up to receive health
information and resources. Moms register by texting BABY to the 511411 and
then they will receive a message back asking for the baby’s due date or birthday.
The messages correspond to the baby’s due date or birthday. The text messages are
free and if the receiver has a text messaging plan the messages may still be free if
they have service with certain carriers.
C. Social Media
One way Johnson & Johnson connects with their customers directly is
through social media. The company maintains a Facebook page, a YouTube page,
as well as two Twitter accounts.
1. Facebook
On Facebook, the company has 22,910 people that “like” their page and
they are able to share information with. They encourage all their fans to participate
in discussions, and they remind them to show respect because they do have the
right to delete comments. On the Facebook wall, Johnson & Johnson has a contest
ongoing. Every week they post a different question in celebration of the company
125th year. The winners receive a Johnson & Johnson gift bag filled with products.
The wall also have favorite ads through out the decades displayed.
2. Twitter
On Twitter, Johnson & Johnson has 3,241 followers on their @JNJStories
account. @JNJComm has 10,682 followers. Combined, the company has access
to promote to 13,923 people on Twitter. The company uses their Twitter page
mostly to link stories from the company blog and news releases. They also
respond to customers tweets and answer questions.
3. JNJ BTW
Johnson & Johnson’s blog is called JNJ BTW and was launched in 2007.
The blog is informal and very conversational. It allows employees the opportunity
to address what is being said about the company in the media, what new is going
on, and basically the voice of the 116,000 people that work for the company. The
bloggers are very open and encourage people to join in on the conversations about
the company. The majority of the frequent contributing authors are apart of the
companies public relations department. The blog shares stories about employees
from around the world, programs, and much more.
4. YouTube
The Johnson & Johnson YouTube page is home to the company’s new health
channel news series, ENN. The health channel contains videos to “promote a
better understanding of health,” and contain content from doctors, employees and
mothers. The channel has gained 620,770 views, 5,417,760 total upload views,
and 5,225 subscribers since its joining in May 2008.
V.
Recommendations
Overall I think Johnson & Johnson’s PR department is doing an exceptional
job. They have handled all the problems that have came there way in a timely and
professional matter. They are active in some great proactive techniques that gets
their brand out in the public. They go beyond their social responsibility in giving
back to their consumers. The PR department has also done a good job in
developing and maintaining unity through out the company. It is great that
everything the company says and do remains in compliance with the company
credo.
The only issue I have with Johnson & Johnson is the their division McNeil
Consumer Healthcare. I think having that amount of recalls within a year is
unacceptable. I recommend that Johnson & Johnson close the plant temporarily
and perform a thorough examination of every employee, product, ingredient,
manufacture, etc. They need to get back in touch with the company credo and self
evaluate the problems that have been occurring. I also think once this portion is
done, the company needs to go through a relearning process. This is to make sure
everyone is up to date on the proper procedures and protocols.