Public Relations in a black turtleneck

In the fall of 2007, a new iPhone was released to the public. Two months later they reduced the price by $200. Now I’m not sure about you, but if I had the choice to wait two months to save $200 for a new phone, I absolutely would. And loyal apple customers were right to be infuriated when they found out about this extreme price cut.

Apple is one of those companies that has cult-like devoted customers. Apple fans are extreme die-hard fans. I know because I am one. Just the thought of opening Word Processor on a PC makes my head hurt. This intense group of customers that wait outside of stores until the big release of the latest Apple product create a buzz. The excitement and extra publicity created by this group can persuade others who maybe like Apple, but haven’t taken that leap of faith yet, to buy from Apple. And it would be a horrible mistake to upset the most loyal of your customers, in order to sell more iPhones.

Apple probably lowered the price in order to encourage more neutral people to buy the iPhone. This was a good strategy—if they had waited more than two months. But they didn’t and it was a huge mistake that left iPhone owners feeling betrayed. The price-cut could have cost them their most loyal enthusiasts.

But, no surprise here, Steve Jobs saved the day…again.

The greatest decision on Jobs’ part was his quick response to the outcry. Luckily, Apple does attempt to keep up with their consumers’ opinions and receive feedback from them, which is an essential part of public relations today. If you fail to listen to your consumers, they’ll find someone else that does. This situation reminds me of a similar one with Bank of America. They decided to start charging their customers $5 for making a debit transaction, and their consumers pushed back. Unlike Apple, Bank of America ignored their customers and created a lot of bad PR before finally retracting their decision. They should have taken a lesson from Jobs and noticed that as soon as you know you’ve made a mistake apologize and reconcile the situation.

Congratulations to the late Steve Jobs for being a master of both technology and public relations! Due to his attention to customer feedback, his sympathy towards Apple devotees, and his quick and apologetic response Jobs turned a negative into a positive. And Apple continued to sell a record-breaking amount of iPhones—no surprise to this Apple lover—I can’t imagine a day at school without mine.