Anastasi Sharp Public Relations and Corporate Communications Prof. Alexandra Merceron PR Research & Situation Analysis: Johnson & Johnson In Court For Mesh Defects Company Profile Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of healthcare products founded in 1886 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, with operations in four regions globally (Marketline.) The company operates across three industries: 1) pharmaceuticals, including prescription drugs (which the company sells through its sub-brands) 2) medical devices (used by doctors, hospitals, etc), and 3) consumer products, including baby care, and oral care (Marketline.) Key strengths include the company’s diversified business, and strong commitment to research and development. One key weakness is the company’s overdependence on the US market (Marketline.) Threats include competitive pressure from other companies in the medical industry, the entry of generic drugs on the market, and restrictive international drug regulations (Marketline.) The overall positive outlook for the pharmaceutical industry unity and the company’s investments in biotechnology and new drugs remain opportunities (Marketline.) Approach to Communication compared to Competitors In all its communications, Johnson & Johnson emphasizes its core values of caring, giving back, and medical innovation and expertise. Google sponsored search results for Johnson & Johnson link to the company’s values-driven credo[CITATION Joh \l 1033 ]. Johnson & Johnson has dramatized this mission across all channels. The company frequently uses video on YouTube and other channels to tell stories of its past successes drawing on its 130-year history using testimonials of patients and product users, spotlighting innovative teamwork and social impact projects like female empowerment.[ CITATION Joh1 \l 1033 ] News stories and press coverage showcase Johnson & Johnson’s thought leadership in health, 1
Anastasi Sharp Public Relations and Corporate Communications Prof. Alexandra Merceron including the company’s ongoing development of a vaccine against the coronavirus (COVID19). [ CITATION Wha20 \l 1033 ] Johnson & Johnson’s Twitter presence is noteworthy. The company has multiple Twitter accounts, including the main account, and one account dedicated to company history. Procter & Gamble, a key competitor, is ahead on Twitter with 209,200 followers, compared to 184,700 at Johnson & Johnson. A similar trend is noted on Facebook. One reason why Johnson & Johnson falls behind may be that Procter & Gamble appears more engaged with the general public, while Johnson & Johnson seems to keep a lower profile, preferring industry-facing communications on channels like LinkedIn—where it has 4,274,891 followers—more than any other platform. According to Google Trends, interest in Procter & Gamble peaked in January 2019 when Gillette released a controversial Gillette #MeToo razors advertisement, which generated backlash but also considerable praise.[ CITATION Goo20 \l 1033 ][ CITATION Tov19 \l 1033 ] Another example is Procter & Gamble’s humorous interactive Superbowl commercial featuring multiple sub-brands, which attracted 368,843 YouTube video views and media attention.[ CITATION Ste20 \l 1033 ] Johnson & Johnson, in contrast, seems to prefer a corporate brand presence and a low profile that does not attract as much conversation. Johnson’s Baby, for example, has 19,900 followers on Twitter with soft, uncontroversial images of mothers nurturing babies. Pampers, on the other hand, a Procter & Gamble sub-brand, has multiple Twitter accounts; the main one is followed by 156,900. Procter & Gamble has an Instagram account with 124,000 followers, and playfully uses humor, engaging directly with followers using conversational copy. Johnson & Johnson has no Instagram presence and rarely engages with individual followers.
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Anastasi Sharp Public Relations and Corporate Communications Prof. Alexandra Merceron Past Success and Current Public Relations Challenges One possible result of Johnson & Johnson’s low profile, is that it attracts an average of 30 to 40 points on Google Trends’ interest rating—out of a possible 100 points—so each crisis stands out.[ CITATION Goo201 \l 1033 ] In the past, Johnson & Johnson has shown skill at handling public relations crises. In 1982, someone laced sub-brand Tylenol’s capsules with cyanide, killing seven customers.[ CITATION Lat14 \l 1033 ] Tylenol’s proactive response was a multi-million-dollar recall of all Tylenol products. (Latson, 2014) The company issued nationally-advertised warnings against taking Tylenol, set up a customer hotline, and redesigned the packaging for increased safety. (Latson, 2014) Tylenol and Johnson & Johnson recuperated their market share, earning the company a reputation as a crisis management leader. (Latson, 2014) Recently, Johnson & Johnson has dealt with numerous crises related to harmful effects of its products. One example is a string of lawsuits claiming Johnson & Johnson’s signature talcum powder—which allegedly contains asbestos—caused cancer in customers. [ CITATION Gir20 \l 1033 ] Another scandal is related to Johnson & Johnson’s attempted prevention of federal trials testing whether opioid painkillers contribute to America’s opioid crisis and the resulting lawsuits.[ CITATION Reu19 \l 1033 ] Another crisis involves Risperdal, an antipsychotic drug that resulted in lawsuits from male customers, claiming the drug causes breast growth (Reuters, 2019). One recent ongoing crisis involves the deceptive marketing of Johnson & Johnson’s pelvic mesh products.
The Pelvic Mesh Lawsuits Customers claimed Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon, one of its sub-brands, falsely advertised its pelvic mesh products inserted surgically through the female reproductive system as safe organ prolapse treatment [ CITATION Nan20 \l 1033 ] In recent years, 3
Anastasi Sharp Public Relations and Corporate Communications Prof. Alexandra Merceron hundreds of thousands of women in several countries, including the United States, have sued the company claiming personal injuries dating back to 2008 when the company began selling the products.[ CITATION Hel19 \l 1033 ] Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $117 million in damages for some lawsuits, yet the company has filed appeals for other lawsuits, claiming the mesh products comply with federal regulations.(Crotti, 2020) The company quietly discontinued selling some mesh implants, but continued to market them in treating incontinence.[ CITATION Nat20 \l 1033 ] The most important stakeholders in this case are Johnson & Johnson, Ethicon, and the affected women. Other stakeholders include the health administration of the countries the lawsuits originated from, and the courts. The risks for Johnson & Johnson include losses in profit, customers, and credibility. The only statement of any kind from the company regarding this matter is a quote from spokeswoman Mindy Tinsley, who said Ethicon has “responsibly communicated the risks and benefits to doctors, patients,” and was “in full compliance with The Food and Drug Administration’s regulations.”[ CITATION Ter20 \l 1033 ] The FDA made a statement that asked all makers of the devices to immediately stop selling them, claiming they cause damage, yet neither Johnson & Johnson nor Ethicon have admitted to any wrongdoing; in fact, the sole company statement defends the company (Figueroa, 2020). The strategy here appears to be reactive, prioritizing silence, and handling lawsuits and crisis communication quietly on a case-by-case basis. Ethicon has made no press releases and no mention of the lawsuit on its website. No mention has been made on Johnson & Johnson’s Medical Devices Twitter account, which is the company division that contains Ethicon.[ CITATION New \l 1033 ] A search for the term “lawsuit” in Johnson & Johnson’s press release archive retrieves old press releases related to lawsuits that are ongoing and apparently Johnson & Johnson has no further comment on, as the last lawsuit-related release is from August 2019, with the 4
Anastasi Sharp Public Relations and Corporate Communications Prof. Alexandra Merceron headline “Johnson & Johnson To Appeal Flawed Opioid Judgment in Oklahoma.” This minimal communication indicates that Johnson & Johnson treats all its lawsuits in the same quiet, private fashion, releasing few statements on few channels that deny company liability. The strategy appears to have worked. Johnson & Johnson’s stock has returned from the initial 20 million-dollar loss, and conversation about Johnson & Johnson has gone down to its usual low of 30 to 40 on the Google Trends scale.[ CITATION Mar \l 1033 ] (Google Trends) Although tweets about the company initially conveyed anger, Twitter results for the #johnsonjohnson hashtag in February 2020 are either innocuous, positive, or unrelated to pelvic mesh, referring to products, the upward trend of company stock, the company’s coronavirus vaccination research, and the talcum powder crisis. These results seems to be Johnson & Johnson’s intention. The company, which has weathered crises before, knows the public has a short memory, and that only those directly affected by the pelvic mesh defects will persist. Perhaps the company believes other crises will eventually fade out of public discussion if the same strategy is employed. Despite the effectiveness of this strategy, it could be agreed that Johnson & Johnson has strayed from its proactive and transparent approach to the Tylenol crisis, which may cause concern to an audience that increasingly values corporate transparency.
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Anastasi Sharp Public Relations and Corporate Communications Prof. Alexandra Merceron References Johnson & Johnson . (n.d.). Our Heritage. Retrieved from jnj.com: https://www.jnj.com/ourheritage Johnson & Johnson. (n.d.). Our Credo. Retrieved from jnj.com: https://www.jnj.com/credo/ What You Need to Know About the Latest on the Coronavirus—and a Potential Preventive Vaccine. (2020, January 28). Retrieved from Johnson & Johnson: https://www.jnj.com/latest-news/what-you-need-to-know-about-coronavirus-and-apotential-johnson-johnson-vaccine Johnson, S. (2020, Feb 03). All the 2020 Super Bowl commercials, ranked . Retrieved from Chicago Tribune: https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/sc-ent-superbowl-commercials-2020-liststory-20200131-ph54nira3nfy5aqoat2eguq6ta-list.html Google Trends. (2020). Procter & Gamble: Interest Over Time. Mountain View: Google Trends. Smith, T. (2019, January 20). Backlash Erupts After Gillette Launches A New #MeTooInspired Ad Campaign. Retrieved from NPR.org: https://www.npr.org/2019/01/17/685976624/backlash-erupts-after-gillette-launches-anew-metoo-inspired-ad-campaign Google Trends. (2020). Johnson & Johnson: Interest Over Time. Mountain View: Google. Latson, J. (2014, September 19). How Poisoned Tylenol Became a Crisis-Management Teaching Model. Retrieved from TIME.com: https://time.com/3423136/tylenoldeaths-1982/ Girion, L., & Erman, M. (2020, February 06). Jury orders Johnson & Johnson to pay $750 million in New Jersey talc case. Retrieved from reuters.com: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-johnson-johnson-talc/jury-orders-johnson-johnsonto-pay-750-million-in-new-jersey-talc-case-idUSKBN2002TI 6
Anastasi Sharp Public Relations and Corporate Communications Prof. Alexandra Merceron Reuters. (2019, October 17). Johnson & Johnson agrees to pay about $117 million to settle U.S. states' mesh probe. Retrieved from Reuters.com: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-johnson-johnson-settlement-mesh/johnsonjohnson-agrees-to-pay-about-117-million-to-settle-vaginal-mesh-litigationidUSKBN1WW2EK Crotti, N. (2020, January 30). BREAKING: J&J ordered to pay $344m in California pelvic mesh case. Retrieved from MassDevice.com: https://www.massdevice.com/breakingjj-ordered-to-pay-344m-in-california-pelvic-mesh-case/ Weixel, N. (2020, January 30). Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $344M over surgical mesh claims. Retrieved from thehill.com: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/480782johnson-johnson-ordered-to-pay-344-million-over-surgical-mesh-claims Regan, H. (2019, November 22). Fight is not over, says winner of vaginal mesh implant court victory. Retrieved from CNN.com: https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/22/health/johnsonand-johnson-pelvic-mesh-case-intl-hnk/index.html Figueroa, T. (2020, January 30). Judge orders Johnson & Johnson to pay $344 million for ‘deceptive’ pelvic mesh marketing. Retrieved from LATimes.com: https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-johnson-johnson-settle-pinnacle-metal-hipimplant-20190507-story.html News & Events. (n.d.). Retrieved from Johnson & Johnson: Medical Devices & Companies: https://www.jnjmedicaldevices.com/en-US/news-events MarketWatch. (n.d.). Johnson & Johnson. New York: MarketWatch.
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Anastasi Sharp Public Relations and Corporate Communications Prof. Alexandra Merceron
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