RUNNING HEADER: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS CASE STUDY
Effective Communications Case Study
Wendy Kaczmar
MKT 438 Public Relations
Jean Papaj
October 9, 2008
Effective Communications Case Study
One of the main elements for a company’s success is a good public relations plan combined with effective communication to its publics. By being proactive and establishing a relationship of trust with its publics a company is more prepared to weather through a crisis. Fortunately for Johnson and Johnson, they spent decades developing a relationship of trust and goodwill with its publics. When the tampering of the Extra-Strength Tylenol crisis happened back in 1982 it caught them unawares. Understanding the seriousness of the situation, they reacted swiftly and effectively to reach out to their publics. Herein I will review the history of the 1982 Tylenol crises; the effectiveness of their communication with their publics; and how technology and globalization would affect a similar crisis today.
Tylenol Tampering History
The nightmare began for Johnson & Johnson in the fall of 1982. One September morning the parents of a 12 year old girl found her collapsed on the bathroom floor. She died soon after. Shortly thereafter six other people in the Chicago area died under similar mysterious circumstances. Three of these people were from the same family (Kaplan, n.d.).
Within days authorities made the connection between the deaths and Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules, determining that the ingested capsules contained lethal doses of cyanide. The news of this incident spread quickly and caused a nationwide panic. Research showed that the tampered bottles came from different factories, ruling out the possibility that the sabotage took place during production. Conjecture was that someone had taken the bottles from store shelves, placed the cyanide-laced capsules in them, and then replaced the bottles on store shelves.
Johnson & Johnson reacted swiftly,...