Soon after releasing its latest device, the Iphone 6 Plus, Apple received complaints concerning users’ Iphone being deformed in their pockets, creating a “bendgate” polemic. 

Photos and videos have gone viral, greatly affecting Apple’s image. With Apple’s “14 days return policy”, customers may opt to return their recently-bought Iphone to avoid facing this issue in the future. Consequently, not only will Apple’s sales decline, but they will also end up with a stock of bent Iphones that cannot be resold.

In addition, major competitors, namely Samsung and LG, took this opportunity of “repositioning the competition” (as Ries and Trout mention in their book, “Positioning, a battle for your mind”), in their adverts by mocking Apple’s “bendgate”.

According to me, some users may have exaggerated on the “bendgate”, by purposely bending the phone to prove its malfunction. “The amount of force required, 90 to 110 pounds (…) is not something that is likely to happen in everyday life” Apple debates.

As loyal customers tend to overlook some cases, i assume that most of them will keep purchasing at Apple, one of the leaders of smartphones. This demonstrates Apple’s position in the market.

To respond to this issue, Apple explains that with the normal use of the phone, a bend is very rare. Yet, it is not impossible. So, even though Apple is trying to justify itself, i would encourage the firm to invest further in R&D. A redesign of the Iphone that meets customers’ expectation might overwrite Apple’s “bendgate” criticism.

Image sources:
https://twitter.com/LGUSAMobile/status/514817371911901184/photo/1
http://s3.amazonaws.com/digitaltrends-uploads-prod/2014/09/Galaxy-Note-4-Bendgate.jpg

Starbucks, has established a high image and created excellent customer relationship by incorporating its policy of personalizing customers’ drink.

As the article states, Starbucks’ specific purpose was not only for operational advantage, but to also promote one of the company’s value proposition- provide a friendly service. Starbucks’ strategy focuses on creating customer loyalty by valuing their customers and giving them a sense of importance.

Yet, customers complaint highlights customer names being wrongly written. While this can be seen as bad publicity, “there is no such thing as bad publicity”. For customers, especially teenagers nowadays, the media became a way to express their feelings. Thus, customers show their discontentment by sharing to the virtual world how badly or funnily Starbucks has written their name. I even know someone who changes his name to “Bob”, to avoid that Starbucks misspells his name, and posted a photo to show his amusement. By doing so, he is also increasing Starbuck’s brand awareness, which acts as a sort of advertisement.

A customer expressing her discontentment through social media by taking a picture of herself with a Starbucks drink, where we can read her name as “Jew” instead of “Jude”

Another issue with the personalized cups can be that some customers are reticent to be called by their names. Businessmen, for example, may want to keep their superiority and be called “Sir” instead. This barrier shows that Starbucks’ aim to create familiarity is not effective on every customer.

Either way, the personalized cups give to the customers a memorable experience of their visit, and as we say, “any publicity is good publicity”.

Image source: http://www.reshareworthy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/218.jpg