A 2 Minute drive in the garden of Crisis Management.

This Case study will keep up your faith in 

Corporate Comebacks.

One day a sculptor wakes up to find out that one of his favorite arts had been disfigured by someone before it reached a buyer . The addition to the morning is the demand associated with the sculpture and thus poses a great threat to his art collection.

This whole sentence as a metaphor can be linked to the series of events that unfolded on September 29, 1982. The sculptor was none other than Johnson & Johnson, and the masterpiece was Tylenol. Three people died in the Chicago area after taking cyanide-laced Tylenol at the outset of a poisoning chain that would name to itself seven lives by October 1. Just before you move any further let’s take a look at the demand side of Tylenol. Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol medication commanded 35 percent of the US analgesic market - representing almost 15 percent of the company's profits. A storm with a threshold of wiping away $1 Billion was knocking on J&J’s door.

Meanwhile in J&J’s office sat a man who was seeing all this unfold in front of his eyes. James.E.Burke, Chief Executive Officer of J&J was accessing every news opinion as a heavy blow on the brand image and consumer faith over the company. The crisis had to be addressed before the last straw on the camel’s back. James.E.Burke’s corporate self sacrifice, decisiveness and crisis management held the post strong for the raging storm.

The two core problems in front of J&J were to first deal with the crisis without destroying the company image and providing a better product protection to avert future mishaps. Not only this at the same time the depreciating market value was also a constant blow on J&J’s future. To handle this J&J stuck to it’s motto of customer above all. The product was reintroduced in market with Triple seal tamper resistant packaging as a reassurance to the consumer belief. As a part of re-targeting and re-acquisition of customers a $2.50 coupon was provided through multi channel approach.The sales team reconfigured its customer approach to renovate the organization's image. A 25 % off was introduced on product purchase to boost stock value. Thus the organization regained it’s almost 70% market share by reinstating the value in consumer’s heart.

In a nutshell, the crisis management provided good example of product development in a short span of time, a brand boosting market strategy and a customer first approach. In short, a crisis turned into opportunity. And this is how the sculptor saved the day by revamping the artifacts and filling the buyer’s subconscious with an even better imagination. Thus, one art may destroy the art collection or make way to a whole new gallery.