First Look

As a student and public relations major I wished to create a blog designed to take a critical look at Johnson & Johnson from a public relations standpoint. Johnson and Johnson is a household name in many American homes including my own growing up. The longevity of this company alone is enough to catch my attention and warrant further investigation.

Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical company, that produces consumer packaged goods, and a medical device manufacturer founded in 1886. This consumer health company’s products are used in homes, hospitals, laboratories, etc. Having more than two hundred and fifty companies located in sixty countries, Johnson & Johnson is organized into several business segments comprised of franchises and therapeutic categories.

One of the most infamous crises to have occurred to Johnson and Johnson is the Tylenol scandal. This crisis, however, unlike many other crises to have hit multimillion-dollar corporations, did not tarnish the brand. In fact, this potentially detrimental incident ended up being used by many corporations as an example of the right way to handle a crisis while preserving consumer trust.

It is important to note the way Johnson & Johnson handled the Tylenol scandal. For that, as far as “issues” go regarding this company’s reputation, their compassion and transparency has resonated to consumers throughout the years. Their stands strong as being an honorable, trusting, recognizable brand.

Johnson & Johnson has a strong social media presence that allows them to easily communicate both their mission and products to the consumer. For instance, they have created twitter handles for a variety of their products and campaigns so that listeners can view the specific twitter feed catered to what relates best to them (i.e. @JNJCares, @JNJNews, @JNJParents). In addition, their company blog is a gateway to two-way communication between both employees and consumers. This blog also gives the consumer insight into company culture. Johnson & Johnson also have a strong Facebook presence with 638,572 likes on their page and notable consumer interaction. However, the conversation on this particular platform seems to be more one-way; if company executives were to respond to Facebook comments more frequently, Johnson and Johnson’s social media footprint would be even more impactful.

An overall challenge for a public relations firm representing Johnson and Johnson would be to keep the brand as reputable as it has stood for centuries. As Andy Gilman has said, “The secret of crisis management is not the good versus the bad, it’s preventing the bad from getting worse”.