I recently read a book – a really great book – titled “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs”. Within the book, Carmine Gallo, the author, kept saying things like (and I’m paraphrasing) “unless you’re Jobs and cofounded Apple, you can’t get away with xyz”. These comments are what filled my mind as I updated my Macbook Air to fix the security breach that we were all made susceptible to, and I read the following:
Nowhere within this update information does Apple address the major security breach, and yet, this is the update that we’re all supposed to make in order to safeguard our Macs. I found this interesting. Like we saw in the original post about this situation, and as Gallo wrote in his book, and as we’re seeing now, Apple seems to be able to get away with a lot. But again, as trust is diminished one by one – and rest assured that it is being diminished – and as their competitors grow stronger, Apple may find that taking this “lack of crisis communications” route may prove to present some unwanted repercussions for the brand down the road.
If you’d like more information about how to update your Mac’s OS X, click here.
Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa Agnes is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection. Agnes is a coveted keynote speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today’s leading organizations faced with the greatest risks. Learn more about Melissa and her work here.
Like many brands that have built a reputation for quality, Apple is in a better position to weather such a storm. (See also Toyota and even w/ its issues of late, many consumers and their friends and mechanics still support the brand.) They're also in that category of what I consider near marketing/crisis proof – they're the only ones who make Apple products, they do make products of quality that tend to hold their value, they are big enough that even a significant failure as this, once fixed, is easily forgiven and/or forgotten. Time will tell, but perhaps they're hitting a tipping point and will have to be more communicative in the future. FWIW.
I agree with you, Davina. Though I do think that they're getting closer and closer to that tipping point. Many Apple evangelists have switched over and security breaches such as this one are truly a big deal. I don't think that this situation will have an impact, but I do think that if they continue to presume that they're indestructible, that all of these things will add up at some point.
Very interesting to watch, though, as a crisis management professional!
It would have to be one real heck of a storm for something to rattle the Apple loyalists. This was a mere drop of water for them.
I'm a new convert to Apple products. Can't say I've heard anything that will make me revert to a PC. Thanks for a well put article.
It is rather disturbing that Apple can just do what it pleases and ignore customers. Yet people continue to buy the iPhone know full well that sooner or later there will be a data breach, if customers do not fully understand. There are ways to keep their data safe on an iPhone, but most people really don’t have the time to learn everything.
I found this interesting. Like we saw in the original post about this situation, and as Gallo wrote in his book, and as we’re seeing now, Apple seems to be able to get away with a lot. But again, as trust is diminished one by one – and rest assured that it is being diminished – and as their competitors grow stronger,