I’ve got a lot to say about this, but for the readership on this blog, I’ll focus on entrepreneurship. To see my feelings on how they are handling the crises from a communications perspective check out this Bausch and Lomb in Crises post.
Now, what drew my interest when the story hit the wire this morning is how quickly someone would have Google AdWords up to capitalize on the situation.
My initial thoughts were that Bausch and Lomb’s competitors would push to make their product immediately available via the internet as a visit to the grocery store today brought to light that Bausch and Lomb dominates this marketplace and there are few if any competitive products available. My wife had to visit three different stores before she found a product from Advance Medical Optics (AMO) that would do for our six-year-old daughter who requires a contact in one eye.
When I searched for Bausch and Lomb, what I found was that a few law firms were already promoting free legal consultation for anyone injured by the ReNu product.
I was disappointed not to see AMO there, but found it very interesting how these law firms were out front capitalizing on the potential opportunities with suing Baush and Lomb.
Some of you might think this as ambulance chasing, but after thinking about what if my baby girl was a victim of this and I was racked with legal bills, stress, etc.?
From that perspective I see what these law firms are doing as the entrepreneurial spirit alive and active. There’s an opportunity that sits directly on top of their area of legal expertise, why wouldn’t they offer their services and support?
Go ahead and do a Google search for Bausch and Lomb and see for yourself.
You are right, and it does present an interesting correlation; funny though, because lawyers generally are not very entrepreneurial. Capitalistic yes, I don't see this particularly innovative, but do see it as business smart.
The next question is are they selling the service before knowing the market (customer) and its needs (customer need should be considered first) and are just helping to fulfill the customer experience or they selling a service without regard to an identified need and being self serving and capitalizing on fears and emotions. As a customer experience consultant I have found that Customers have to come first and the law profession isn't real good at doing this.
Posted by: Tim Whelan | April 18, 2006 8:20 AM | Permalink to Comment