Media Relations with Johnson & Johnson!

In January a new drug application was submitted to the FDA, the drug was an investigational oral analgesic for the relief of moderate to severe acute pain.

Recently, Pricara, Division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., is recalling all lots of their 25 microgram/hour DURAGESIC CII patches. All of the recalled patches have expiration dates on or before December 2009 and are all manufactored by ALZA Corporation. These patches were used to help with moderate to severe acute pain (the drug that was accepted by the FDA).

These patches may have a cut along the side of the drug reservoir within the patch. The possible release of fentanyl gel from the gel pouch and coming directly into contact with a person can lead to serious adverse events, such as respiratory depression and posible overdose, which could be fatal. Anyone who comes in contact with the gel should thoroughly rinse their skin with large amounts of water only, no soap.
For more information about the recall, click here.

Johnson & Johnson is the operating company of Pricara, so they are involved heavily with this recall. The drug was just recently approved by the FDA, and now this is a voluntary recall, which shows that the companies are highly involved with the safety of their customers. In a PR perspective, the company has not done too much with giving out information about the recall. There aren't many articles, where I feel a spokesperson for one of the companies should be giving out statements all the time pertaining to the recall. There are not too many conversations with anyone from J&J or Pricara, which would be the most important people a customer would want to hear from. The PR people should be getting their CEO's to talk to the media as much as possible to let their customers know they are involved and concerned for everyones safety.

How Johnson & Johnson is keeping up with new media!

As we all know, technology is beginning to take over many industries, including public relations. With all of the new media available, it gives companies many different opportunities to discuss information to their employees, customers and shareholders. Some new media that companies are beginning to use are RSS feeds, blogs, podcasts, virtual tours, and comment sections. These are just a few of the ways that companies can stay on top of the new media and add a little more to their websites. Now-a-days, having just a website isn't going to cut it.

Johnson & Johnson is using a lot of new media to not only keep up with the technology but to help keep their customers, employees and shareholders up to date with what is going on in the company.

RSS News Feeds are a way for Johnson & Johnson to share with their customers information about the latest news going on in their company. There is also a section on their website to receieve e-mail news updates from their investor relations section. These are ways to keep their customers informed about anything that is going on in the company, whether good or bad, which shows customers that Johnson & Johnson wants to be honest and keep them informed. To check out or subscribe to the Johnson and Johnson RSS Feeds, click here.

Another way Johnson & Johnson keeps people informed with whats going on, is a site with webcasts and presentations on different events you can download. You can either download the webcast onto your iTunes account or a different software via RSS. This allows for anyone interested in viewing a recent presentation to watch it, and Johnson & Johnson makes sure the webcast is posted just 2 hours after its original presentation. To subscribe to the webcasts you can check it out here. On the home page there is also a section called "Community Healthcare Program" where you can watch videos and learn how Johnson & Johnson is helping the community. This is great PR because people love to see a company giving back to the community and being able to watch videos on how they are doing that is a plus!

On the J&J website, there is no blog or link to a blog, which is something they should add to their site. A blog can let people comment on their products or services, and it allows the people at J&J to respond to those comments. It is also another way for the company to speak out and inform their customers what is going on in their company on a less professional level.

Overall, J&J are doing a good job keeping up with new media. They have the RSS Feeds, the webcasts and questions sections. The one thing I would do differently is to create a blog, because a blog can connect the company and the customers and is such an easy way to communicate to tons of people. A blog would help the company let their customers know about their products and services in a different way, rather then receiving news feeds in a newspaper article set-up or watching a professional presentation online. It could make the customers feel more connected to the company.

Introduction

The purpose of this blog is to analyze the public relations tactics and strategies of a Fortune 500 company. The company I have chosen is Johnson & Johnson. The reason I chose Johnson & Johnson is because they are a well known company with a good reputation not only to their employees but to their customers and the community as well. Johnson & Johnson not only takes care of their customers, making sure all of their needs are satisfied, but they realize they have a social responsibilty as well.

Johnson & Johnson is a manufacturer of healthcare products. There are more than 250 companies with around 119,000 employees in 57 countries throughout the world. The fundamental objectives of Johnson & Johnson is to "provide scientifically sound, high quality products and services to help heal, cure disease and improve the quality of life."

Johnson & Johnson has created a Credo, explaining their responsibility to all who uses their products. This explains their top priority is their customers, which gives them a very good repuation to everyone who is a part of the company, whether it is the employee, customer or shareholders. To help emphasize the positive reputation Johnson & Johnson has, they have an entire section on their website dedicated solely to social responsibility. They talk about their contribution efforts and how they are actively invloved in supporting healthcare, educational and cultural programs. They also have a HIV/AIDS section explaining the various projects Johnson & Johnson sponsor to help fight the disease.

Johnson & Johnson is a company known for being caring and trustworthy. Obviously, being in the healthcare profession, PR challenges could arise at anytime, such as a dangerous product that could harm their customers. The PR professionals need to be ready and alert for things to go wrong within Johnson & Johnson to keep the reputation of the company at its best.