Bloomberg reports that RIM is offering its customers free premium apps (worth up to $100) as a way of saying sorry for the outages they experienced.
RIM is also considering compensation to Service Providers as well, although details are unknown at this time.
Next Media Animation (an Asian animation studio) did an animated video regarding the outages, which includes wall street bankers jumping out windows, Android attacking RIM towers and Steve Jobs (with a Halo over his head) racking up sales.
Another funny video is some guy impersonating the 'Leave Britney Alone' viral video, but this time it's Leave RIM Alone.
On the PR front, good on RIM for how it's handling this crisis. Yes, damage to the brand has occurred, but you have to move on and handle the situation regardless. The apology, free apps for customers and potential reimbursement to service providers show that RIM cares. That's all customers really want to know at the end of the day... that they care and that the problem is being solved so this doesn't happen again.
This is technology folks, there's going to be problems from time to time. Most customers can live with that - as long as problems are once in a blue moon and the cause of the problem is not related to screwing customers over (ie. running less servers to lower capex to maximize profits at the cost of service quality - which it's safe to say is not what RIM did here).
RIM's stock got crushed today (down almost seven per cent) but I'd bet that was more to do with Ichan saying he has no interest in RIM
Anyway, while I still think RIM is going to get beaten black and blue on the stock market, the way they've handle this crisis has protected their brand in the long run. While they continue to get hit for making inferior product (in many people's eyes) I think there is still lots of goodwill out there towards them as a company (people genuinely wish that they could get their act together). Apologizing and treating customers right will only build that goodwill, now they just have to get their marketing and product act together.
Also of note, hardly any youtube videos were posted regarding the outage. Which is a good sign. It means that while people were upset, they weren't so upset that they were jumping on YouTube with videos trashing RIM as a company.
RIM is also considering compensation to Service Providers as well, although details are unknown at this time.
Next Media Animation (an Asian animation studio) did an animated video regarding the outages, which includes wall street bankers jumping out windows, Android attacking RIM towers and Steve Jobs (with a Halo over his head) racking up sales.
Another funny video is some guy impersonating the 'Leave Britney Alone' viral video, but this time it's Leave RIM Alone.
On the PR front, good on RIM for how it's handling this crisis. Yes, damage to the brand has occurred, but you have to move on and handle the situation regardless. The apology, free apps for customers and potential reimbursement to service providers show that RIM cares. That's all customers really want to know at the end of the day... that they care and that the problem is being solved so this doesn't happen again.
This is technology folks, there's going to be problems from time to time. Most customers can live with that - as long as problems are once in a blue moon and the cause of the problem is not related to screwing customers over (ie. running less servers to lower capex to maximize profits at the cost of service quality - which it's safe to say is not what RIM did here).
RIM's stock got crushed today (down almost seven per cent) but I'd bet that was more to do with Ichan saying he has no interest in RIM
Anyway, while I still think RIM is going to get beaten black and blue on the stock market, the way they've handle this crisis has protected their brand in the long run. While they continue to get hit for making inferior product (in many people's eyes) I think there is still lots of goodwill out there towards them as a company (people genuinely wish that they could get their act together). Apologizing and treating customers right will only build that goodwill, now they just have to get their marketing and product act together.
Also of note, hardly any youtube videos were posted regarding the outage. Which is a good sign. It means that while people were upset, they weren't so upset that they were jumping on YouTube with videos trashing RIM as a company.
Is it the work of RIM. RIM is also considering compensation to Service Providers as well, although details are unknown at this time.
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