Tiger Woods: Crisis Communication
Tiger Woods: Crisis Communication
Although Tiger Woods released several statements attempting to minimize not only the incident of his Escalade-tree collision but also the initial reports of a possible extramarital affair, the lack of full disclosure and the revelations of additional females stating that they too had affairs with Tiger have only fueled the media frenzy. Television entertainment news shows such as TMZ, Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, and Access Hollywood report on the Tiger Woods scandal daily. But these programs are no longer the primary source of information; the 24-hour availability of social media is truly pushing the story. Tiger was not in control of the narrative and found himself in a crisis management situation. What did he need to do to get in front of the story and to begin to rebuild his reputation?
JOHNSON & JOHNSON
Many business authors and researchers consider the way Johnson & Johnson (J&J) handled the cyanide-poisoning scare of 1982 as the “gold standard” for crisis management. In early 1982, Tylenol was the most successful non-prescription medication in the United States with over one hundred million users. The brand was responsible for 19 percent of J&J’s profits during the first 3 quarters of 1982. In addition, 13 percent of the company’s year-to-year sales growth and 33 percent of the year-to-year profit growth was the direct result of the brand. In the era before Ibuprofen (approved by FDA for OTC use in 1984), Tylenol was the leader in the painkiller field accounting for a 37 percent market share, outselling the next four leading painkillers combined. The Tylenol brand, itself, had profits that would have placed it in the top half of the Fortune 500 (ten Berge, 1991).
During the fall of 1982 an unknown person or persons, and for unknown reasons, laced Tylenol Extra-Strength capsules with cyanide and returned the product to the shelves of groceries, markets, and pharmacies in the Chicago area. The laced
Although Tiger Woods released several statements attempting to minimize not only the incident of his Escalade-tree collision but also the initial reports of a possible extramarital affair, the lack of full disclosure and the revelations of additional females stating that they too had affairs with Tiger have only fueled the media frenzy. Television entertainment news shows such as TMZ, Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, and Access Hollywood report on the Tiger Woods scandal daily. But these programs are no longer the primary source of information; the 24-hour availability of social media is truly pushing the story. Tiger was not in control of the narrative and found himself in a crisis management situation. What did he need to do to get in front of the story and to begin to rebuild his reputation?
JOHNSON & JOHNSON
Many business authors and researchers consider the way Johnson & Johnson (J&J) handled the cyanide-poisoning scare of 1982 as the “gold standard” for crisis management. In early 1982, Tylenol was the most successful non-prescription medication in the United States with over one hundred million users. The brand was responsible for 19 percent of J&J’s profits during the first 3 quarters of 1982. In addition, 13 percent of the company’s year-to-year sales growth and 33 percent of the year-to-year profit growth was the direct result of the brand. In the era before Ibuprofen (approved by FDA for OTC use in 1984), Tylenol was the leader in the painkiller field accounting for a 37 percent market share, outselling the next four leading painkillers combined. The Tylenol brand, itself, had profits that would have placed it in the top half of the Fortune 500 (ten Berge, 1991).
During the fall of 1982 an unknown person or persons, and for unknown reasons, laced Tylenol Extra-Strength capsules with cyanide and returned the product to the shelves of groceries, markets, and pharmacies in the Chicago area. The laced
Citations: Benoit, W.L. (1995) Accounts, excuses, and apologies: A theory of image restoration strategies. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press Berge, D. ten. (1991). The First 24 hours: A comprehensive guide to successful crisis communication. New York: Basil Blackwell. Coombs, W. T., & Holladay, S. J. (1996). Communication and attribution in a crisis: An experimental study in crisis communication. Journal of Public Relations Research, 8(4), 279–295. Coombs, W. T. (2007). Ongoing crisis communication: Planning, managing, and responding (2nd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage. Fink, S. (1986). Crisis management: Planning for the inevitable. New York, NY: American Management Association. Heider, Fritz. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Lewin, Tamar. (1986). "Tylenol maker finding new crisis less severe." The New York Times. 02/12/86. Malcolm, A.H. (1982) “Another poisoned Tylenol bottle is found by Chicago investigators.” The New York Times. 10/22/1982. Weiner, B. (1986). An attributional theory of motivation and emotion. Springer-Verlag, New York