Corporate crisis? Go on the attack!

By Robert Campbell

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Conventional wisdom in the public relations industry tells companies to build bridges with their opponents and keep the lines of communication open, even when bad news leads to uncomfortable publicity for a company.

Nothing could be more wrong, argue two Washington-based crisis management consultants.

"One of the greatest myths of public relations is that you can get hostile audiences to like you," write Eric Dezenhall and John Weber in "Damage Control: Why Everything You Know About Crisis Management is Wrong" (Portfolio, $24.95).

Crisis managers should adopt a "political model," which assumes that a company has enemies -- competitors, trial lawyers, the news media, Wall Street, politicians, regulators and bloggers -- that are bent on destroying their business.

TYLENOL CASE

Dezenhall and Weber argue that pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson's (JNJ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) success in defusing a poisoning scandal in 1982 has duped the public relations industry into thinking there is only one way to deal with a crisis: empathize with the public and turn a bad situation into a good outcome for the company.

In September 1982, seven people died after taking Tylenol pain relievers tainted with cyanide. Johnson and Johnson swung into action, recalling and destroying 31 million Tylenol capsules at a cost of $100 million.

Executives appeared in television ads and at news conferences informing consumers of their actions and introducing new tamper-resistant packaging.