Case in Point

The Tylenol Deaths

Situation
For any drug company, discovering your product has been linked to seven deaths is a tough pill to swallow. Thats what happened in the fall of 1982, when it was determined some Tylenol capsules purchased in Chicago were laced with cyanide. After investigations, officials at NcNeil Consumer Products, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) concluded the poisoning had not occurred at one of their plants; the bottles had been tampered with after they hit the shelves. After thirty-one million bottles of the product were recalled from shelves, the ensuing public relations effort helped to set a new benchmark for corporate accountability and consumer protection.

The remedy (What they did)

Swift action and a dose of empathy were the antidotes to what could have been a major PR disaster. Executives at J&J did not waste time deliberating, blaming or working on defensive, legaleseriddled statements; they got right down to the heart of the issue, which was customer health and safety. Along with the massive product recall, J&J immediately stopped production and advertising of Tylenol, focusing their efforts on communicating solutions to a broad array of stakeholders including media, the authorities, government, regulators and scientists. First, they proactively worked with news outlets to disseminate critical information updates and outline steps the company was taking to allay public fears like exchanging gel capsules for hard tablets and offering reward money for the conviction of the killer. Following immediate steps to handle the crisis, Tylenol began an assertive PR/advertising campaign to restore public trust in their product. From advertising the introduction of new triple-seal tamper-resistant packaging, to providing discounts on products to enlisting the support of hundreds of sales reps to conduct presentations to the medical community, Tylenol took every effort to keep all their stakeholders in the loop.

The recovery (Outcomes)

Although some arrests were made in connection with, what has come to be known as, the Tylenol Murders, investigators have been unable to find enough evidence to positively link one of the top suspects to the killings. In January of 2010, a hearing was held for the suspects, marking one of the most recent developments in the case. Despite the inconclusiveness of the murders, the Tylenol crisis is widely regarded as a PR success story because the company was able to use effective and transparent communications practices to regain consumer confidence and restore the Tylenol brand. Tylenol had around 35 per cent of the market share prior to the killings. It dipped to around seven per cent during the crisis and, according to a December 1982 New York Times article by Tamar Lewin, it was up at 24 per cent in only a matter of weeks. By the following year it had almost completely regained its market share and within three years the company had surpassed its pre-crisis market share. Ultimately, J&J was effectively able to turn this crisis into an opportunity to become an industry leader, especially in the development of their tamper-proof packaging. By serving as a cooperative partner with media and other stakeholders, J&J received positive media coverage that highlighted many of their key safety messages going forward.

Our thoughts
What was most memorable about the Tylenol crisis is the humanity company officials brought to a process that was executed with machine-like swiftness and precision. Not only did executives attend some of the funerals but they also wrote personal letters to victims families. At the root of J&Js success in handling this crisis was the fact that the communications function was supported and often delivered at the executive level, allowing for the synergy that was needed to serve as an effective community partner. As well, what makes Tylenol an important case study in communications is their distinction as being a victim. The crisis was not a result of mismanagement or human error within the company. Despite this, the company did not stoop to leveraging their victim status as a means to defer blame and avoid responsibility. Rather than lawyers and spin-doctors, their main partner in handling this crisis was the public and those that served to protect public interests. Finally, putting the public first was not just a smart move in reaction to a crisis but rather it was firmly rooted in the companys values and history. Crafted in 1943 by a member of the Companys founding family, the Johnson & Johnson credo declares the companys responsibility to the community over profit. Ultimately, the credo served as a compass that guided company communicators and decision makers through one of the worst known consumer crises in the corporate world.

Recommendations - The pertinent question being asked by todays communicators is whether Tylenol would be as successful in its

PR efforts had the crisis occured today, during the age of social media. Theoretically social media would have expedited PR efforts which would still need to be guided by a previously established culture of safety and empathy. In other words, social media would not guarantee the companys success, but provided the company still follows the same culture of safety and people first, and that these values are reflected in corporate decision making, social media would offer multiple advantages. It would give direct access to stakeholders allowing for fast dissemination of critical information without complete reliance on intermediaries such as public health officials (although many of those audience would still be a critical component of the companys public relations success). Earlier in 2010, the company did experience a less critical product recall, over which they experienced some criticism around speed. However, the company was lauded later in the year when the CEO of Johnson & Johnson delivered an apology, including an admission of guilt, that the company had let the public down. If this humble approach to recognizing wrongdoing is any indication that the company still thrives on a culture of caring, it can be predicted that the companys future crisis communication efforts, especially if they involve social media, have the potential to be just as, if not more, effective today as they were nearly 30 years ago.