Monday, October 24, 2011

J&J Recalls

J&J has had a variety of recalls within the past year, and even now, many months later, some products remain missing from the shelves of pharmacies and grocery stores alike. In some cases, a dozen products are missing. In 20120 alone, McNeil, a subsidiary of J&J, "recalled about 288 million items, including about 136 million bottles of liquid Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl for infants and children" That number is simply giant. Many items recalled were found to have pieces of metal in them or smelled of mold.What is a customer to do?

The choice many consumers are making is switching to generics. One would imagine if a product was missing for a short period of time, customers would just return to the pricier name brand they have come to trust, but what happens when the product is missing, for months, or even over a year? This is where J&J will run into a problem. Once it fills J&J shelf space again and all is well in that regard, the company"must persuade millions of disappointed customers to once again pay a premium for products that may no longer seem to be of any higher quality than the less expensive store brand." Not an easy task to say the least.

My prediction is that J&J marketing will play the largest role in this production. They will need to tap into the emotional gut of the public and remind them about the products they grew up with and let them know that they took great care (as well as great time...) to ensure quality products are back in business. It won't be an easy task, but with a name like J&J, it will be possible.

Can Johnson & Johnson Get Its Act Together?