Posts Tagged ‘crisis response’

Johnson & Johnson, the huge personal products company, apologized to a congressional committee this week after they got caught in a drug recall scandal.  Can this be the same company that set the gold standard for crisis response during the 1982 Tylenol tampering scare?  What happened? What were they thinking when they decided to do what’s called a “phantom” recall, where they hire people to go into stores and buy up all the inventory on shelves and they never reported problems with over the counter drugs including Children’s Tylenol?

It’s sad to realize that even companies who know what the right thing to do is, get caught doing completely the opposite.  Johnson & Johnson recovered quickly last time because they did the right thing.  Their customer base rebounded and actually grew because people felt the company could be trusted.  And they got years of free publicity when public relations professionals and media experts held them up as a shining example of how to handle a crisis and work with media in the middle of it.

There’s a new chapter in the Johnson & Johnson story and it’s not pretty.  Time will tell how much they have damaged their brand.

If you want to know how to handle the media in a crisis, take a lesson from Thad Allen.  It’s rare to have someone who can completely corral the media in the middle of chaos and turn things around.  And that’s exactly what he did.  Watched him last night on the PBS News Hour.  In response to a question about how he viewed BP’s response to the disaster he said BP was used to dealing with big contracts and big projects.  When it came to dealing with people individually and handling disaster claims, that was “not their core competency!”  What a wonderful way to say their response to people living and working in the Gulf was crappy!!!  Kudo’s to you sir!  I will miss your steady hand and direct communication.

You may recall hearing about the catch phrase “duck, cover, and hold!”  It was a strategy taught to millions of school children in the 1950′s to protect themselves in the event of a nuclear attack.  Some of you may be old enough to remember the drills, the rest of you may have seen it in documentaries about the Cold War.  Looking back, it seems like a totally ridiculous idea, but it seemed to give a fearful public something to do and distract them from asking tough questions about the threat of nuclear war.

I’m reminded of that phrase as I watch the current sex abuse scandal that is enveloping the Vatican and the rest of the Catholic Church.  And just as idiotic as it was in the 1950′s, “duck, cover, and hold!” is not going to work in this instance.  There is no way of stopping the momentum that abuse victims have worldwide.  The only thing that works in a crisis is truth and transparency, and the sooner the better.

And the response has to have more substance and authenticity than the formulaic public apologies we are now seeing from celebrities and public figures like Tiger Woods.  Get real people…and Your Holiness!

Yes, it’s difficult to come clean, admit wrongdoing and shine a light on the ugliness, but attacking the media or the advocates of the victims only exacerbates the problem, it’s throwing gasoline on the fire!

How many institutions and individuals insist on stonewalling or lashing out when hit by a crisis?  How many leaders will continue to insist they are above scrutiny or the law?

Given Pope Benedict’s history and personality, it’s not likely he’s going to bend on this.  I hope I’m wrong.  However, watching what he and his defenders are doing is a great example of how NOT to handle a crisis!