Like most pet owners, I've been following the pet food recall and watching my cat's behavior. Today, while checking the news for a hot topic to blog about, I saw a link on USAToday (naturally) that said the recall had been expanded AGAIN. My cat's brand is on the list. Not the exact SUB-BRAND she eats, but needless to say, I'm worried. She hasn't been right for a few days.
I'm on my way out to buy a food that should be safe I found at a store nearby but before I go I thought I'd write a quick post about this.
So what do you do when there's a crisis with your brand? How do you handle it to protect the public and protect the brand?
A literally "textbook" example of the right way to handle a product crisis is the Tylenol poisoning case from the 80s. Johnson & Johnson did a fantastic job of handline a terrible situation. Here's the highlights of what they did right (from my memory):
Be honest --- J&J came clean about it to the public. No hiding. No beating around the bush. They kept the public informed.
Be proactive --- They recalled every bottle WITHOUT being told to by the government.
Be open --- They did all they could to help the investigation (people actually died so this was a murder investigation).
Rather than deny that a crisis could ever occur, better to study how the greats have handled them and then put some loose plans in place so you're ready when an emergency comes up.
I'm off to buy cat food.
By the way, the brand I'm going to buy is called Pet Promise if you want to check it out for yourself. The brand that my cat, Lucky, eats is called Hill's Prescription Diet "m/d." She eats "r/d" but it's close enough that I'm replacing it.
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