J&J was branding 101. They ruled the classroom, the media, the brand forums on what to do in crisis and how to handle it. Now they’ve had 50 recalls in 15 months from contact lenses through to hip replacements. Even Harvard is squeamish about heralding in the classroom J&J’s famous approach in 1982 to the Tylenol recall. What happened J&J? You said in 1886 that you’d never put a dollar ahead of a patient. Did that roll off the table?
On top of all the audits and navel gazing you’re no doubt underway with, here’s a suggestion Mr. Weldon. Get all your senior execs in a room and ask them to write a sincere letter of resignation. Then as a group, study the reasons itemized in those letters and exact a plan to deal with them on the same day. It worked for Shell during their crisis in the mid 90s.
PUNCH & KISS 