BrandsAmongMany

Ok, I know that Apple is a favorite point of discussion amongst blogs like this. Someone is always standing at the ready to either praise or blast them for their newest…whatever. And I usually try to keep out of the fray. You’ll notice that we didn’t post yet another “ZOMFG, Apple released the 3G iPhone, let’s go stand in line for six hours!!!!!” post. But now that a few days have passed, and the initial shock is wearing down a little bit, I’m going to pick up my tradition of stepping back for a moment and trying to take a look at what’s really going on behind the excitement. Last September, it was the Starbucks partnership that prompted my musings…

This time it’s AT&T. Or is it just Apple? The web has been absolutely on fire with discussions of the newly released iPhone 3G. Most of that discussion, however, has been the usual fanboy discussion and the incredible lengths to which people have gone to acquire the device. Apple has reportedly sold more than 1 million devices since launch. According to Fortune, twenty one states are completely sold out. Sounds like heaven, right?

Maybe not so much. Reports from users are coming in every second, and the outlook is a little grim. A thread on Howard Forums has caught some attention and spurred a number of other discussions regarding both AT&T’s preparedness for the massive influx of new 3G capable devices, as well as questioning Apple’s hardware build. That led to further complaints on Macrumors.com, which in turn pointed [me] toward a similar discussion on Apple’s support forums.

General consensus: something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Complaints from 3G users around the world are coming in, reporting a variety of problems all pointing to either a major issue in AT&T’s 3G network - a reasonable deduction for US users - or in the new iPhone’s hardware itself - a more reasonable explanation given the worldwide issues. 3G-ers everywhere are complaining of slow connection speeds (the supposed benefit of the new 3G network), dropped calls, lack of signal, etc. - all in areas supposedly covered by their service provider’s network.

I’ll readily admit that I’ve pretty much caved and plan to do something that I vowed I wouldn’t - purchase an iPhone under AT&T. In fact, I’ve already made the call to Verizon to find out the exact date on which my contract is up (August 11 for anyone interested). But this is definitely enough to make me think twice about that decision. We can only hope that the issues will be fixed quickly, either via a firmware update from Apple (assuming that a software update can fix the issue) or some attention from the various service providers around the world. I realize that 3G is a newer technology that’s still being rolled out in many places, but if the reality of the system is that 3G speeds are slower than EDGE then maybe we’ve jumped the gun in the interest of “getting it out there”?

Do you get the point? You should…

Great point from the Stuff That Happens blog by Eric Burke.

The evolution of digital technology has created expectations in consumers that brands simply don’t live up to.

This has been a defining principle in my thought process as I’ve grown into the digital realm. In fact, we’ve spent hours discussing just this thought around the tables of POKE. What is the difference between marketing of the days of yore and communication in today’s connected world? I’m gonna go out on a limb and start with…expectation.

We’re used to getting what we want, and getting it NOW. We’re used to being connected to the process the entire way through (straight down to the automated, geographic tracking on the package as it makes its way from Des Moines to Timbuktu). We’re used to picking up the phone and sifting through twelve automated menus and three Indian call centers to find out that we dialed the wrong customer service number.

So, what do we expect these days? Well, as this post bounced around my drafts folder, Tom managed to put it into words quite nicely over at Made With Computers:

We want more.

More information, services, ideas, more of each other and more value from you, the brand we grace with our attention. We also want to manage our relationships with your company, and to have_among other things_ instantaneous transactional capabilities. These expectations are increasing, not going away. To matters worse…

We also want less.

Less emails, less hold times, less crap snail mail and really - less interaction with you. That is of course, unless we want more interaction with you. Then, you know, give us that too.

And, as Tom goes on to point out, the line in the sand (read: trench, canyon, black hole…) between the brands that seem to get this and those that do not is almost unfathomable.

Of course, the benefit to this is that it doesn’t take much to impress me as a consumer anymore. All you have to do is overturn a few of those expectation - preferably in a positive way. Have a human answer the phone. Give me a correct answer to a question when I call to ask (are you listening Bank of America??). Make information easily accessible - AND CORRECT - on your website; believe it or not, I’m willing to spend the time looking for it on your website just so I DON’T have to call you (because I don’t trust your humans anymore).

Ladies and gentleman, the world is changing. Those of you who decide to keep up - or (gasp) rush ahead with us - will flourish. The rest of you…we’re getting tired of your ways. The backlash has already begun. Don’t let it hit you in the ass on your way out.