Communication Tools

Product liability crystallizes the challenge of crisis management at its most acute. Public safety is at play. Corporate reputation and corporate responsibility are at play. Missteps and obfuscation can be fatal to the brand, stock price, and reputation.

 

The ideal nominee for best practices in handling product liability is any company that, as part of its crisis response initiative, shoulders the burden of responsibility and does so honestly, yet without exposing itself to unacceptable liability.

 

The classic success story involving product liability is, of course, Johnson & Johnson, which earned widespread public approbation with its handling of the Tylenol tampering. What might have destroyed a product built instead a 20-year legacy of company-wide trust. Johnson & Johnson sacrificed one quarter of Tylenol profits but achieved 80 successive quarters of company growth and global distinction. The crisis was transformed into a positive marketing opportunity that actually strengthened the corporate brand. More than any other pharmaceutical company, Johnson & Johnson had a trust bank to draw from for future product liability situations.

 

Product liability can thus present an opportunity to reverse the public cycle, from “the sky is falling” to “you’re in good hands with…” – fill in your company’s name. But, like Johnson & Johnson, companies must offer assurances at the earliest possible point, even before a cause or solution has been identified. When companies make decisions on how to handle product liability, the key to being perceived as part of the solution is by taking control of the situation before anyone else does. Be seen and heard…

 

Controlling the narrative. A product liability crisis is a story. More often than not, tales told in the first person paint the storyteller in a positive light because the listener identifies with the narrator. Take control of the narrative by being the first to tell it – even if a solution has yet to present itself. Johnson & Johnson did not immediately know the cause of its problem, yet was the first to articulate and undertake a course of action that restored order.

 

Controlling the picture. When an E. coli scare all but crippled the spinach industry, the first pictures of the story – of unskilled migrant workers working the fields and spinach being pulled from shelves – did not paint the industry in a positive light. But the industry responded, disseminating visual pictures of modern safety treatment facilities peopled by skilled technicians busily at work on measures to prevent contamination. Weeks later, the E. coli scare was old news and the industry was back on its feet.

 

Articulating next steps. Even if all the pertinent information has yet to emerge, find ways to keep your messages coming until the information is uncovered. For example, during the 2007 pet food crisis, the President of the Pet Food Institute was called by Congress to testify before the contaminant had been identified. But he took that occasion to announce the establishment of a National Pet Food Commission that would study the crisis and make recommendations on how a similar situation could be averted in the future. The fundamental message: “We don’t yet have an answer but we’ll never stop looking for ways to find one.”