Was Apple's Press Conference Successful?

On Friday Apple held a press conference to address the problem users have had dropping calls when using the new iPhone 4.  As I mentioned in this post a few hours before the press conference Apple's best course of action was to accept responsibility, fix the design flaw, and apologize for letting their customers down. 

That's not quite what happened.

Steve Jobs did acknowledge that there was a break in the antenna's reception, but tried to convince users that other smartphones have worse reception and more dropped calls.  He also said that "antennagate" is not as bad as the media has made it out to be, and that a fairly small percentage of users have called to report any problems.  (I wonder how many users tried to alert Apple only to have the call dropped...)

To Apple's credit they made a generous offer to give away free cases that seem to resolve all reception issues, but I think they diluted the positive gesture by trying to downplay their problems.  It doesn't matter if other smartphones have similar issues: Apple users expect their iPhones to be of a higher quality, and those expectations have now been lowered.

Does anyone think the press conference went well for Apple?  Did they save face?  Will the free cases make users forgive and forget?

Can Apple Save Face?

Three weeks ago I wrote about The strength of Apple's brand as evidenced by the wildly successful launch of the iPhone 4.  Since then, however, Apple's brand appeal has taken an incredible hit as the millions of newly purchased phones began dropping calls.  The cause of the reception problems are a result of the antenna design, and this report on bloomberg.com suggests that Apple may have known about the problem long before the phone was introduced to the public:

Last year, Ruben Caballero, a senior engineer and antenna expert, informed Apple’s management the device’s design may hurt reception, said the person, who is not authorized to speak on Apple’s behalf and asked not to be identified. A carrier partner also raised concerns about the antenna before the device’s June 24 release, according to another person familiar with the situation.

The article also indicated that Apple is planning to hold a press conference later today, though Apple has not indicated what will be discussed.  Is there anything Apple can announce that will satisfy their customers and reaffirm their commitment to quality?  Apple had an opportunity to do this previously and failed:

Soon after Apple released the iPhone 4 in June, some customers complained about losing their signal. Apple last month advised users to buy a case or avoid holding it in the lower- left corner “in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band.”

It's no surprise that this response didn't delight iPhone 4 users.  I'm looking forward to today's announcement, and I'm hoping that Apple will accept responsibility, fix the design flaw, and apologize for letting their customers down.  Anything else and Apple may be in trouble.  And I'll be buying a Blackberry.

Is There a Stronger Brand Than Apple?

The power of the Apple brand never ceases to amaze me.  The iPhone 4 launched today, and loyal Apple fans rushed to be among the first to have the newest generation of iPhone.

Crowds Queue Up Across U.S. For iPhone 4

Is there any other brand that generates such a consistently high level of anticipation for new product releases?  Apple has done it with each version of the iPhone, with the iPad, and to some extent with iPods (maybe there's too many versions of the iPod for it to seem so special).  Google and Microsoft are their closest competitors in most categories, and I can't imagine people forming lines several blocks long to purchase the latest device from either of them.

Congratulations to Apple for yet another successful launch.  I can't wait to see what they roll out next!

Simple Branding

I've been spending much of my time lately on brand management, and it reminds me of what I've always disliked about marketing.  Don't get me wrong: brand management is important, and failing to manage a brand appropriately can spell disaster.  But how do you go about managing your brand effectively?

According to wikipedia a brand is "the identity of a specific product, service, or business.  A brand can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol,color combination or slogan."

It seems like there's a huge emphasis on brand design (the name, sign, symbol,color combination or slogan) and how to best display those image factors in a marketing campaign. 

Shouldn't most of the emphasis be placed on the first part of that definition?  A brand is a representation of a product, service, or business.  So if you want to improve your brand's image, why not focus on improving your business and the products and services it offers?

It's easy for businesses to get side tracked into making their brand look pretty, but while that type of branding might attract new business, you won't be able to keep that business if you can't deliver products and services that customers care about.

Any thoughts on this from others with differing insights into branding?