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Situation:
Bausch and Lomb has been synonymous with the best possible
eye care for a long time. But in April of 2006, Bausch and
Lomb announced a worldwide recall for one of their mostly
widely known branded products, ReNu saline solution. The Center
for Disease Control (CDC) had issued a formal warning about
tainted solution that was causing eye infections and irritation
in its users.
Solution:
Could Umbria have helped Bausch and Lomb detect this problem
earlier? Bloggers in Asia had been writing about the tainted
solution almost a year in advance. Bloggers in Singapore began
reporting the ReNu related problems in early 2005, prompting
the Singapore government to ban the sales of ReNu in February
2005, with the Hong Kong government closely following suit.
Outcome:
Bausch and Lomb assumed it was a localized issue. But in the
blogosphere, nothing is local. Prompted by bad news overseas,
the stock began to drop in March of 2006, ultimately shaving
its market capitalization by almost half, when its stock value
went from nearly $4 billion to $2.2 billion. Umbria could
have researched complaints about its products on all English-speaking
blogs and alerted the company, and/or the financial markets,
months in advance of the crisis. Umbria listens.
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