Michael Sneed 

EVP, Global Corporate Affairs & Chief Communication Officer 
Johnson & Johnson
US

 

 

No company in America has a tradition of public relations excellence to match pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, which to this day is revered for its textbook crisis response to the Tylenol tragedy and a values-based credo that has always elevated stakeholder relations to a key function at the company.

Michael Sneed now has primary responsibility for the company’s global marketing, communication, design and philanthropy functions, taking on the role in 2012, at a time when the company was recovering from a series of product recalls and other hits to its reputation. In the years since, he has dealt with a number of crises, including allegations about the company’s role in the opioid crisis. More recently, he has been a leading voice on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Black America, joining a panel discussion held by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation on the “double pandemic” that impacts African-American communities. 

Sneed joined Johnson & Johnson in 1983 as a marketing assistant for its personal products business and moved to McNeil Consumer Products, where he served as vice president, worldwide consumer pharmaceuticals. He then relocated to Europe as managing director of McNeil Consumer Nutritionals, before returning to the US as president of McNeil Nutritionals Worldwide. In 2007, he moved to J&J’s medical device and diagnostic sector as company group chairman before assuming responsibility for J&J’s brand and reputation.