“Jobs got a lot of heat about his response,” Adams writes. “Where was the apology? Where was the part where he acknowledged that the buck stops with him, and that Apple made a big mistake that never should have happened? That’s public relations 101, right?”
“I’m a student of how language influences people. Apple’s response to the iPhone 4 problem didn’t follow the public relations playbook because Jobs decided to rewrite the playbook,” Adams writes. “(I pause now to insert the necessary phrase Magnificent Bastard.) If you want to know what genius looks like, study Jobs’ words: ‘We’re not perfect. Phones are not perfect. We all know that. But we want to make our users happy.'”
“Jobs changed the entire argument with nineteen words. He was brief. He spoke indisputable truth. And later in his press conference, he offered clear fixes,” Adams writes. “Did it work? Check out the media response. There’s lots of talk about whether other smartphones are perfect or not. There’s lots of talk about whether Jobs’ response was the right one. But the central question that was in everyone’s head before the press conference – ‘Is the iPhone 4 a dud’ – has, well, evaporated.”
Full article – highly recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote earlier today: “Apple has now successfully changed the conversation… Better start looking for another FUD talking point, iPhone roadkill, present and future.”
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “_phil_i_am_” for the heads up.]