Friday, April 17, 2009

"The Power of One"

"The Power of One" is a very interesting chapter in Citizen Marketers. It entails an anectdote about some brothers who shook the Apple tree at its very base. What i mean by apple tree is the company Apple and the firecracker video posted by disgruntled consumer Casey Neistat.
It all started when he noticed that his iPod battery suddenly died on him after the warranty had expired. He of course, contacted apple support and the apple store, but he was told that the battery replacement would cost more than the iPod itself. Neistat, a 22 year old took matters into his own hands by creating a video which caused a huge ruckus on the Internet. It was such a ruckus that the people at Apple were beginning to get worrisome. The video was called " iPod's Dirty Secrets" and it underlined the replacement problem.
In what some say apples response is a battery replacement program which would cost $99, but was later reduced to $57.
This is just one of the many ways that the average citizen of the Internet can get across their problems.
I feel personally that a lot of people do not understand that if they focus their complaint to the public it might get more recognition than your average corporate response, which is generally neglect. I know that there are plenty more types of these videos for the future, everyone has a whistle with the Internet and if it is bl owed just right you might solve something.

3 comments:

  1. omg not THIS video again. I thought this video (which was unfair from the start) died three years ago. PLEASE don't re-hash this video. Jeez, you can get a battery now from ipodjuice.com for around $20 and keep the ipod working like brand new. OK, thanks for listening.

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  2. It's a good example though. I'd say more so the Dell video example is a better for this type of chapter. However, the main point is not about apple laura, more so about the ability for 1 person who normally doesn't have that much exposure to really reach a wide and powerful audience.

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  3. I think it is so cool how this actually works. But, the person blowing the whistle has to know where and how to blow so that a great number of people will receive their intended message. This social media class is great as it is teaching us all of these neat little tricks that we can use in the social media world!

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