Take a minute to read this story. Then come back here. I’ll wait.
OK. So I have a question. If you are an Apple user and fan, are you willing to "look the other way?" Have you dealt with uncharacteristic problems with Apple products but are willing to give the Cupertino mother ship a pass? If you are a marketer interested in how Apple marketing is so effective, you probably wonder about brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. But does any of that matter with Apple? Is Steve’s famed "reality distortion field" able to reach all the way to buyers wallets?
Let me be honest. I have had uncharacteristic issues with my iPhone and my MacBook Pro that I’ve never had with other Apple products before. I have owned at least 50 Apple products in over 20 years and I have never called for tech support before my latest MacBook Pro (the one I’m using right now to pen this post) started giving me fits. And Apple couldn’t even figure out what is wrong. Stories abound (my last post included) about issues with Apple quality control and broken promises.
So how does Apple earn such fiercely loyal customers?
I’d love your answers in the comment sections of this post. I think I know why and I will provide my own answer in my next post.
To me the answer is simple…compared to everyone else Apple, in spite of shortcomings, is still that much better. We look to Apple as an innovator and producer of fine products. When something isn’t as great as we expect we know that Apple will be there to fix it pretty quick.
The real question: Given the problems with a MacBook Pro, would you really want to go back to a Dell using Vista?
As Joel says, partly it’s because Apple kit is still better than the rest (have you tried using a phone with buttons recently? They’re so fiddly and awkward)
Partly it’s because Apple fostered this identity of being the underdog; the individuals versus the giant machine. Which is going to cause them problems now – being No. 1 in music and “not a boutique” for phones and computers blows away the underdog identity – and means that people will start complaining more and more.
Do you want to know why Apple can escape these kinds of problems without losing credibility? It’s because they create amazing products that are cutting edge. And, when you’re on the cutting edge, you have to expect a little blood every once in a while.
Why don’t other companies get this kind of relief? Because most of them make inferior copies and are just jumping on a band wagon. They have no intention of leading or innovating. They rely on consumers to see a similar product (at a much cheaper price) and buy it based on the reputation of the real product. That’s why MS gets beaten up about Windows. It’s one thing to invent and make another mistake but if you’re going to copy something, at least get it right.
I don’t believe Apple is perfect or invincible. I am prepared for some pain if I buy the latest product. However, the joy and utility I get far outweighs the pain.
The “distortion field” is nothing more than Apple’s years of credibility and innovation being able to deflect a mistake now and again. I’d love to know how many people have returned their iPhones and Mac Airs even with all of the “issues” around them. Probably very few. Nuff said.
Another reason that people give Apple a pass when there are problems is that Apple has a reputation for trying, and generally succeeding, to fix those problems. Timely software updates that address the problems are the most visible example of this.
The latest iPhone problems are turning out to be in part 1) the features – we were warned a year ago by Jobs that 3G sucked down batteries quickly; and 2) the matter of real world scaling – the dropped calls seem to be related in part to how many 3g customers are trying to communicate with a single tower – you can model and test that only so much, before exposing it to the vagaries of the real world.
The MobileMe issues are a similar matter of scaling. As a software engineer, I know that testing is one thing, actual field use is another. It is hard to test the effect of all the users that might use a system in the real world. When problems emerged, part of Apple’s response was extending service contracts for free. To date, subscribers have received 90 days of free service. As MobileMe costs $99/year, that’s $25 per customer that Apple has given out. Painful to Apple, yes. But it is the right thing to do.
Customers appreciate companies that admit their errors and try to make things right. Companies need to understand that making things right by your customers when the company makes an error is going to cost. Apple understands this. Compare that so many companies that go kicking and screaming into government mandated recalls, rather than addressing the issue when its existence is confirmed in the market place. Such resistance to the recall does not build customer loyalty.
Also compare Apple to Microsoft’s Mojave campaign. MS Vista has been excoriated in reviews and by word of mouth. Maybe they fixed some of the issues, but their big response is an ad campaign that says “You are wrong and we are right!” Never tell your now soon to be ex-customer how wrong they are.
Apple gets credit for being so good for so long. If they continue w/ problems, their brand’s shine will be extinguished and no one will pay for quality they’re not getting.
Jobs know that Apple has to bring their game into the big leagues and I hope they will. When they do, they will dominate all of computing tech because their vision is light years ahead of the rest of the field.
All they need to do is bring quality and excellence to the game and the game will be over.
First off, I am an Apple Fan Boy. I am only because the products that come out are consistently better than anything else on the market. I have been a Mac user since about 1989 and I have had some bumps along the way. I think all Technology users are OK with buggy performance. People have been trained to think most products that are new to the market are supposed to be buggy and problematic. I believe Apple’s consumer base is quite the opposite though. If there is something wrong, most apple customers will voice their opinion to the nearest Apple employee. And most are expecting Apple to resolve the issue as soon as the problem is heard from the consumer base. Howver, the media perception I feel is overly positive and most reports I read, just follow what the rest of the media publishes.
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