Saturday, July 17, 2010

Marketing Japan: Apple Not Perfect? Impossible!

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers

I hope the title of this blog grabbed your attention. I mean, Apple is god. Welcome to my Saturday blog.

Well, first up, Apple CEO Steve Jobs admits that, as far as Apple is concerned, "We're not perfect." What!? That's impossible! As far as I am concerned (and millions upon tens of millions of Apple product users too) Apple is perfect. And, make no mistake, I am not one of those frothing at the mouth Apple lovers that you see running around.



I am cool and collected when it comes to Apple products. I don't drool and lust over them like most of my foolish friends do. Yes, I admit that I have two Apple computers and two iPhones, but haven't yet been rabid enough to buy an iPad. I am considering that purchase as any responsible adult should.

But frankly speaking, Apple is nothing like Microsoft. Microsoft ships us out a crap product that doesn't work properly even before it is shipped (OK, so this time iPhone has a bug); Apple offers us service and after care; not like Microsoft where, if you have a problem, good luck getting any human interaction to help you and answer your questions; and Apple is an innovator. Microsoft seems to have lost that "zeal," that lust it once had.

Microsoft is turning into a company like 3M... They will always be around. They will always make money... But, like Scotch Tape, their products do not capture the imagination... Especially of the young.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs dropped my jaw when he admitted something at a press conference that I thought I'd never hear him say, "We're not perfect..." He added "Phones aren't perfect."  

Apple not perfect!? APPLE NOT PERFECT!? APPLE NOT PERFECT!!!??? Kill me now, God, for I am ready to die!

Then Jobs adds fuel to the fire by saying something stupid like the president of Toyota would say, "We're not feeling right now that we have a giant problem we need to fix. This has been blown so out of proportion that it's incredible."


No! No! NO! Jobs! You just have to say "We're very sorry. We guarantee that we will make our customers happy. Everyone will be satisfied with our solution. We will fix the iPhones or replace them. We will be the best. Why? Because we are Apple." 


Mr. Jobs, you are Apple. This is what people are expecting to hear. Not wimpy excuses.... We don't want to hear this poncy hairdresser stuff coming from your mouth. ....


Oh, wait, what's that? He does, later on, say what needs to be said?


"We're going to do whatever it takes to make them happy and if we can't make them happy we're going to give them a full refund and say we're really sorry we inconvenienced you, and we're going to do better next time,"  


Very well done, Mr. Jobs. That's what we wanted to hear. That's what Apple does. On the other hand, Microsoft would have offered to send out a patch (that didn't work) and then another patch after that to fix the first patch, and then so on and so on... (If the patches don't work you get to call someone in Bombay.... Good luck with that!)


Great! So Apple is back to being Apple. Now, how to get my wife to give me the money for that iPad that I have been lusting after?... I could sneak the money out of her purse when she's not looking, or....


----

Keywords: Apple, iPhone, Steve Jobs, Microsoft, Mike Rogers, iPad,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments must be succinct & relevant to the story. Comments are checked frequently and abusive, rude or profane comments will be deleted. I’m just one of many bloggers who answer questions online and sometimes for the press. I usually handle questions about Japan, marketing or the economy, so in those areas I’m more likely to make sense and less likely to say something really stupid. If I post something here that you find helpful or interesting, that’s wonderful. This is my personal blog. If you don't like what you have read here then, just like when you go into a restaurant or bar that allows smoking, if you don't like it, there's something at the front that has hinges on it and it is called a "door."