c
       

 
  

   
 

 !c"#"$ %&"'c('&&)"'#
""%&&'"#()c&)"'*"c+


c"#"$%"'&+

On April 2, 2008, US-based Johnson & Johnson (J&J), one of the largest healthcare
companies in the world organized a unique event called ÄCamp Baby at its headquarters
in New Brunswick, New Jersey6.7 The three day event was designed especially for
parenting community, where 56 most influential mommy bloggers8 from the US
participated. The purpose of the exclusive free camp was to provide an opportunity for the
mommy bloggers and the company to know each other better on a common platform and to
develop a long lasting relationship. According to Fred Tewell (Tewell), Group Product
Director, J&J s US Baby Business, ³Our goal is to reach a mom in a social context
wherever she is. It¶s about engaging moms in their broader emotions, rather than
leveraging the site to make sweeping product pitches to that demographic.´

J&J did not use the Camp Baby event as a platform to sell any of its products, but to connect to
a core group of customers, i.e. mothers. Several women who wrote widely read blogs related to
child raising, child health and family life, took part in the event. It also included
educative sessions wherein the participants got a chance to interact with guest speakers,
doctors and industry experts who provided insights into various aspects of motherhood
and physical and mental health of children.

But the event received flak from several mothers because it did not allow babies to be a part of
the camp. Many eligible participants could not participate in the event as they could not
leave their children behind. J&J s selection of the participants was also not without
criticism, with several bloggers pointing out that some of those, whose blogs attracted more
web traffic were not invited for the event. The company was also criticized for the way it had
conducted the camp.

The occasion that aimed to help the company to get to know its customers better and
bond with them ended up bringing negative publicity to the brand known for its subtle
expression of emotional bonds. Some analysts were of the view that, though Camp Baby was a
good strategy on J&J s part to befriend mommy bloggers and encourage them to write
good things about its products in their blogs, it failed to impress its audience. About Camp
Baby, one of the bloggers wrote, ³The whole event seems a little let s-throw-an-idea-up-in-
the-air-and-see-what-happens.´

By and large, marketing experts felt that, though the new media channels provided marketers
with an opportunity to connect with its target market in innovative ways, the event
highlighted the difficulty of building relationships with customers through such media channels.
"c,%(-'&

J&J, one of the premier healthcare companies, was founded by the Johnson brothers in
1887. The company is engaged in the manufacture and sale of healthcare products in
more than 57 countries across the world through more than 250 operating companies. It was
ranked 112th in the Fortune Global 500 companies1 2 list in 2007.13 Its revenues
increased from US$11.23 billion in 1990 to US$14.14 billion in 1993 and to US$21.62
billion by 1996.1 4 As of 2007, its worldwide sales were US$61.1 billion.

J&J s business is divided into three segments Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices &
Diagnostics, and Consumer products. Pharmaceuticals include drugs for family planning,
mental illness, nervous system diseases, gastroenterology, oncology, immunotherapy,
cardiovascular disease, pain management and allergies among others. This area generated 41
percent of sales in 2007.16 (Refer to Exhibit I for J&J s key financials) Medical Devices
& Diagnostics segment included surgical and patient care equipment and devices, diagnostic
products, joint replacements, coronary stents17 , and contact lenses and accounted for 35
percent of sales in 2007. The Consumer segment contributed for 24 percent of sales and
included J&J s baby care line.

The consumer business segment of J&J is famous for its baby care products. The baby
care product business was started in 1893 with the introduction of Johnson s baby
powder.1 8 It was a big success and the company started expanding its range to other
baby products such as creams, soaps etc.

J&J has long enjoyed a reputation as a company with a flair for marketing. One of the
main reasons for the success of J&J s baby products was the company s advertising
campaigns, which were simple, clear, and carefully planned. The ads targeted new parents and
used catchy titles such as Ä Having a Baby Changes Everything . Another advertisement titled Ä
Animal Sounds , depicted fathers who preferred to read with their children, over reading
the sports page of a newspaper. Through such advertisements with attractive taglines, J&J
was able to attract new parents. People were able to relate to its advertisements as they used
the concept of emotional bonding, and were easy to understand, appealing and short. J&J s baby
product advertisements were also aired during regular primetime programs and special events.

J&J developed a good online presence too. J&J launched BabyCenter LLC in 1997 as
an independent unit. It managed sites such as babycenter.com and parentcenter.com.
babycenter.com, was an online site for expectant mothers and new parents. It offered guidance
related to pregnancy and child care. Parentcenter.com provided information for parents
with children between 2 to 8 years

'&%&$&"))

Over the years, marketing techniques for all products have undergone a sea change,
with the advent of the Internet. The reach and influence of television as a medium of
advertising began dwindling during the late 1990s and companies began looking at other
possibilities. Several companies were particularly attracted to social media and word-of-
mouth (WOM) marketing where people shared information about products or services with
friends and acquaintances.

According to media observers, the use of social media for advertising built trust, customer
loyalty and increased sales. Spending on WOM advertising reached US$1 billion19 in 2007
in the US and was expected to increase to US$3.7 billion by 2011.20 People were more
comfortable buying products recommended by people they knew and trusted. A study by
Keller Fay Group21 revealed that nearly 80 percent of consumers trusted the suggestions
of family, friends and influential persons more than they did traditional advertising2 2. The
cost incurred on WOM promotions was also less when compared with traditional advertising.

According to analysts, blogging was an excellent way for WOM advertising because the
message could be conveyed to the right target audience. In 2006, the Pew Internet &
American Life Project2 4 estimated the number of American adult bloggers to be 12
million2 5, which made the blogger community a competitive marketing demographic.

Considering the growing popularity of the unconventional media, and their ability to
reach the right audience, in 2007, J&J shifted a part of its marketing budget from traditional
media to other media such as WOM marketing and online advertising.

J&J planned to create an avenue to make use of the concept of online social media to popularize
its brand and decided to organize a camp that brought mommy bloggers together. That
was the beginning of Camp Baby.

'&&%%

The main purpose of Camp Baby was to develop a direct relationship with mommy bloggers
and provide them with useful information in a fun filled environment. The event was not
used to sell any of J&J s products but for networking and knowledge. Camp Baby was
started as a stepping stone to help the company as well as the public to learn more about
each other.

The ground work for ÄCamp Baby involved interaction with few bloggers to obtain
feedback regarding the scheduling of the event. Once the timing was fixed, the company
started to invite bloggers to register. It zeroed on the popular bloggers through websites
such as Technorati32 , Google33 , Quancast34 , Blogrolls35 , blog roundup posts as well
as J&J s blogger relationships. Registration was on a first-come-first-serve basis, and once
they reached the proposed limit, the acceptance of registrations was stopped as they
didn¶t want the event to be too large for any closeness to develop.

From among those who had registered, a few were selected to participate. Priority was
given to those who loved to share their experiences online with other moms, prioritized
their family, learned and updated themselves with the latest information and used the latest
technology. Once the participants were finalized, invitations were mailed to them with the
complete camp itinery. As the event was meant to educate mothers and help them interact
with one another, the company thought it wise to keep the children away as mothers would
not be able to take full advantage of the program and instead be engaged in looking after their
children.

'&!c"#"$ &&'

Camp Baby was organized from April 2 to April 4, 2008 at New Brunswick. All the
participants were provided with to and fro air tickets by J&J. They were accommodated in one of
the top hotels in New Brunswick, Heldrich Hotel. At the end of the camp, they were taken for
product shopping where they could pick J&J products for free. Special prizes, such as
three trips to the Beijing Olympics, were also given away to participants (Refer Exhibit V for
the Invitation to Camp Baby).

Camp Baby provided an opportunity for the 56 women who participated in the event, to meet
each other and strengthen their friendships. They came from different walks of life and had
different personalities but had one common passion ± blogging.

Activities held as part of the camp were informative and fun filled. The first night of
the event included a wine tasting session with Ted Allen36 . On the second day, the
participants attended a seminar where various speakers offered insights into child development
and health issues. Among them were Bridgette Heller, Global President, Baby Care, J&J,
who talked about the science of taking care of babies; Dr. Jodi Mindell, who had been
working with J&J researching sleep patterns around the globe, spoke about sleeping
disorders in children; Dr. Charles Gerba, environmental microbiologist gave a talk called
³The Dirt on Germs: What Every Mom Should Know´ ; Dr. Ellen Kurtz, Director Scientific
Affairs, J&J, explained about the science of baby skin care; Dr. Scott Jens, an optometrist
talked about a public health program, Infant SEE, that was designed to promote better
vision for babies37 . Tina Sharkey, CEO of BabyCenter talked about the advent of mom
communities on the Internet and how the Internet played an important role in woman
empowerment.

This was followed by a dinner, during which an event was hosted by Nintendo
Company Ltd.3 8 Each participant received a Nintendo DS Lite game player for free. The
next day they were taken on a field trip to J&J campus where they met top officials of the
company. The event wrapped up with giveaways such as the company s latest products for
mother and baby, Neutrogena, and Splenda.

The event was well organized and the participants who attended the camp enjoyed the
opportunity to network with their peers. The participants met and interacted with J&J
team members who explained to them the details about their products right from development
to ingredients and their use. Participants gained knowledge through informative sessions
conducted by experts in child care and development

The organizers too learned a lot from the camp as they got to meet mommy bloggers who had
their own individuality, were intelligent and captured the social media with their blogging
skills.
,.) / &0 

J&J staff impressed the participants with their hospitality and pleasant attitude . Analysts
were of the view that this would help them gain publicity from bloggers who would
write positive feedback about the company in their blogs. The company was also able to put
across the benefits of its products by appointing specialists who spoke about the contents
present in the company¶s products. The company was positive that the event would generate
goodwill, which would lead to product recommendations and purchases in the future.

The popularity of the Internet had resulted in an increasing number of online social
networks and blogs for moms. As moms were considered the most influential segment
among buyers, targeting the mommy bloggers made good business sense, some analysts felt.

'&'&&1

Many analysts and participants were of the view that the biggest drawback of the event was
that it excluded children from the camp. They opined that it was a bad public relations (PR)
move by the company which focused on the bond between the child and the mother in
their advertisements. Some of the invitees were nursing mothers and it was difficult for them
to leave their babies for a longer period as nursing babies need to be with their moms. For a
mother of a child with a medical condition, it would be impossible to be away from her
child for a considerable amount of time. The observers were of the view that if the
company felt that the kids would make it difficult for mothers to concentrate on the
event, they should have thought of alternatives like arranging a temporary baby care
centre, etc.

The time during which the event was conducted too came in for a lot of criticism. As
it was conducted on weekdays, many of the invitees could not make it to the event, as
they could not leave their children under someone else s care. Some bloggers felt left out
and were of the view that though their blogs were popular, widely read and received, they
were not invited to the camp.

The mommy bloggers who were not able to make it to the event, held the company responsible
for poor planning and blamed its organizing skills. They vented their anger through blog
postings, comments, counters, twitter postings41 and phone calls to the organisers. Some
felt that the company should have built a strong online relationship with its bloggers before
organising such an event. ³ A long-term relationship means more than giving someone a glass
of wine and a NintendoDS. You have to actually walk the talk,´4 2 said Susan Getgood, a
marketing consultant.

Moreover, the organisers had insufficient knowledge about the moms as to who they were
and what they would be interested in, some commentators said. As a result some mommies
enjoyed the sessions while others felt out of place and uninformed. From the beginning there
was lack of clarity about the objectives of the camp. Though the company called it a bonding
exercise, people thought that it looked as if it was a promotional event meant to convey
information about its products in the sessions and distribute free samples. One of the
participants said, ³They didn t really tell us any objectives for the event. We were given
some session topics (like hair braiding) and they stressed that we were not required to
blog about the event. But any objectives were kept quiet.´

The camp schedule also clashed with another popular business forum in New York
presented by BlogHer4 4 which prevented BlogHer bloggers from attending the event. Earlier
J&J used to be the sponsor for all BlogHer events, but it was not asked to sponsor the BlogHer
forum in 2008, which reportedly did not go down well with J&J. So, some of the observers
felt that it was a deliberate move by the company to conduct Camp Baby at the same time as the
BlogHer forum.

('),

Despite the controversy, many of the participants were of the view that J&J started the event
with good intentions and it was a great move on its part to befriend mommy bloggers. Everyone
had a good time and the bloggers got the opportunity to interact with each other on a personal
level. J&J deserved to be commended for having impressed the mommy bloggers with the
Camp Baby event, they said.

Experts felt that the changing media landscape had forced many marketers to
experiment with newer media channels including social media. These were still early days and
expenditure on these media channels were expected to increase significantly in the future.
Incidents such as the one that happened at J&J would help highlight the Ädos and Ädon ts
while using such media. Getting everything right is crucial to the success of initiatives that
bank on WOM marketing. Otherwise the resultant negative publicity could also spread through
WOM hampering the image of the company.

The debate notwithstanding, J&J was of the view that the camp was successful in its
objective of bonding with the mommy bloggers. On the experiences the company drew
from the event, Dolginoff said, ³What a learning process it has been for all of us.
«because this is an event created for education and networking, we felt that you could not
take full advantage of the agenda while caring for your children. This was probably the
hardest call we made and certainly have learned a lot through this process. In the future, we
will be much more overt about these decisions but we tried to communicate this as questions
arose.´

Discussion Points

1) Briefly discuss the characteristics of ³Baby Care Market´ in U.S. & unique application in
Indian context.
2) Reasons of J & J¶s outright market leadership
3) Was there requirement of ³Camp Baby´ was it a worth while exercise in the context of
customer relationship
4) Does a social media influence development of customer relationship?