It’s almost as if the U.S. government is part of Apple’s marketing department.
I mean, how else can you explain the high fastball served up by the Feds to the Mac-mongers on Tuesday when they decided to order Apple to build an entirely new operating system for the iPhone that would allow them to – just this once – bypass the security on the iPhone of one of the two San Bernardino shooters.
They had to know Apple would balk.
And balk they did, with a piece of branded content in the form of an open letter to customers posted on their website early Thursday morning that describes how it’s not possible for them to comply. In it, Apple CEO Tim Cook explains Apple’s position on the issue, with a “we’d like to help, really we would, but…” tone, but clearly outlines the risk that they’d be taking, not for themselves, but on behalf of the 75 million iPhone users in the U.S. whose phones would be in jeopardy if they did indeed comply with the government’s request.
While I don’t imagine that the decision to refuse a court order was one that was taken lightly in Cupertino, Apple took that pitch and knocked it out of the park with their response, and the medium they served it in. The web is abuzz with talk of nothing else and iPhone lovers everywhere are smiling proudly knowing that Apple has got their back.
Brand loyalty is a driver for every company. The ability to maintain your current customer base and command their love and devotion is the promised land occupied by the rare few on anything more than a small scale (think Apple, Nike and Starbucks). To be given a gift like this by the U.S. government – the opportunity to defend the privacy of your current (and future) customers – is almost too good to be true.
Apple couldn’t have concocted a better marketing campaign around privacy and security than the one that just got dropped in their lap, and in 1,119 carefully crafted words they’ve cemented their place as the leader in that realm for the foreseeable future.
If Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym of the Federal District Court for the District of Central California ever decides on a career change, I’m sure Apple’s marketing department could find her a corner office somewhere.
