The Apple Press Conference – Opening Up Pandora’s Box?

By Stacey Paris on July 22, 2010

There’s an old public relations adage - “there is no such thing as bad press.” Many public relations people wouldn’t necessarily agree, but there’s no denying that where there’s attention, there’s opportunity. Issues with the iPhone 4’s antenna (or “antennagate”, for the hyperbolic) have created a whirlwind of negative attention for Apple in recent weeks, but after Steve Jobs’ Friday press conference, it’s difficult to say whether the exposure won’t ultimately benefit the company. The press conference allowed Jobs to open Pandora’s Box – floating the idea (true or not) that all cell phones have connection problems similar to iPhone 4. This could position Apple at the forefront of finding a solution to this “industry” issue, which from a marketing perspective makes a great lead-in for the next iPhone version.

The pertinent question that arises after scanning all the articles, blog posts and twitter feeds relating to the press conference is: “Are people satisfied with Jobs’ response?” The answer is that it depends on whom you ask. As many of the tech media point out, there’s a long history within the tech industry of first incarnations of a new product having flaws or needing fixes, and that’s not the problem, we all know that no product is perfect. The problem as NY Times' Miguel Helft(and many others) point out is that rather than an apology and a definitive “we will fix the problem” Jobs offered only the temporary and not aesthetically pleasing fix of bumpers and then spent the rest of the time explaining how iPhone 4’s reception issues are common to the whole cell phone industry and complaining that the media blew this whole issue of proportion. As former Apple employee Jean-Louis Gassée, states in his Monday Note blog post, in an alternate-reality, Jobs would have pointed out the flaw on June 7 when the iPhone 4 launched. I enjoyed Mr. Gassée’s tongue-in-cheek vision about Jobs promoting it as feature, not a flaw and his point is clear – once the flaw was realized, it should have been addressed openly and swiftly.

When you come down to it, the dissatisfaction expressed by what many might term Jobs’ unapologetic arrogance (Apple’s Rotten Response), as well as the amount of time this issue has drawn out, seems to demonstrates that this was not a coup in crisis communications, but rather a flawed approach (no pun intended) to what could have been an easy PR fix. While some people think the problem is solved and its time to move along (thanks for the shiny new antenna saver, Apple), many others are dissatisfied and found Jobs’ response wanting in many ways. At the end of the day, whether you’re satisfied with Friday’s result, aghast by it, or simply don’t care, one user comment may be found to ultimately sum this all up best: “There's a small issue with the iPhone. Apple will fix it in steps. If your phone isn't fixed, you get your money back. And in other news, we’re still fighting a war in

Afghanistan

…”

Tags: public relations, mobile,

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The Apple Press Conference – Opening Up Pandora’s Box?

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