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Part 3: Integrated Case Assignments
Marketing Miscues
McAfee Virus Protection Update Crashes Computers Worldwide
Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, McAfee was founded in the late 1980s and is now one
of the world’s largest dedicated security providers. McAfee’s customers range from individual
The Botched Update
While the online software delivery has been a hallmark of McAfee’s product design and delivery,
it was almost the downfall of the company in early 2010. At that time, a faulty antivirus update
The extent of the impact upon McAfee’s customer base was never clearly disclosed. Media
reports and Twitter postings suggested that the affected users numbered in the thousands, while
the company suggested that the affected group was less than half of a percent of the company’s
The Aftermath
Although the faulty update product was removed from all McAfee download servers within
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Chapter 12: Services and Nonprofit Organization Marketing
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hours after it was discovered, it took almost 36 hours for McAfee to render an apology to its
According to some reports, McAfee followed shoddy quality assurance procedures that enabled
the release of the faulty product. Critically, the faulty product had not been tested on the version
While the company did offer to reimburse home and home office customers for expenses
incurred to fix the computer problem and/or to extend antivirus subscriptions for two years free
of charge, customers were not easily appeased. The reputation of software security providers
such as McAfee hinges on their ability to prevent problems, not cause them. Thus, the lack of
False Positive Issue,” April 21, 2010; Larry Barrett, “McAfee Moves on Following Massive
Miscue,” eSecurity Planet, April 27, 2010,
Massive PC Cleanup,” InformationWeek, April 22, 2010,
“McAfee to Compensate Home Users for Bad Update,” CNet, April 26, 2010,
“Lessons of the McAfee False Positive Fiasco,” PCMag, April 23, 2010,
Antivirus Update Disaster,” CNet, April 23, 2010,
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Chapter 12: Services and Nonprofit Organization Marketing
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Open-Ended Questions
1. What is the role of quality assurance in McAfee’s product development process?
Quality assurance should be an integral component of McAfee’s product development
process since a faulty product release can virtually shut someone’s computer down. It is
For a company such as McAfee, quality assurance is particularly critical since the role of
2. Describe McAfee’s customer service recovery process.
Faulty product was removed from McAfee’s download servers within hours of its
discovery.
Actually, the customer service recovery process probably received about as much negative
press as did the faulty product itself. Customers were not appeased by the way McAfee
handled the recovery process and felt as though the company downplayed the impact.
Close-Ended Questions
True/False
1. For home users, McAfee’s antivirus program would be called a specialty product.
PTS: 1 OBJ: 10-2 TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
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Chapter 12: Services and Nonprofit Organization Marketing
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KEY: CB&E Model Product MSC: BLOOMS Level I Knowledge
2. McAfee’s problem was exacerbated because it was a global brand.
PTS: 1 OBJ: 10-4 TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model International Perspective MSC: BLOOMS Level I Knowledge
3. Antivirus software is a membership service.
PTS: 1 OBJ: 12-5 TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model Distribution MSC: BLOOMS Level I Knowledge
4. Although relatively few customers experienced the blue screen of death that afflicts a
stricken Windows computer, the real harm done was to McAfee’s brand equity.
PTS: 1 OBJ: 10-4 TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model Product MSC: BLOOMS Level I Knowledge
Multiple Choice
1. Perhaps more than any other product or service, antivirus software is subject to the
following—almost on a daily basis:
a. quality assurance
b
.
planned obsolescence
c. product modification
d
.
functional modification
e. perishability
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Chapter 12: Services and Nonprofit Organization Marketing
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PTS: 1 OBJ: 10-3, 12-2 TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model Product MSC: BLOOMS Level II Comprehension
2. McAfee has antivirus products designed for its consumer and enterprise segments.
However, the corrupted data and quality assurance problem affected all market segments.
Which of the following seems a likely reason?
a. standardized components
b. research & development
c. Windows XP
d. package uniformity
e. mass customization
PTS: 1 OBJ: 10-3 TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model Product MSC: BLOOMS Level II Comprehension
3. The McAfee antivirus program illustrates what aspect of the classic definition of a
product?
a. A product need not be delivered in a package.
b
.
A product includes both its favorable and unfavorable characteristics.
c. A product is an item in a product line.
d
.
A product consists of the equity it produces.
e. A product is anything that satisfies an individual’s personal wants.
PTS: 1 OBJ: 10-1 TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model Product MSC: BLOOMS Level II Comprehension
4. The remedies that McAfee took to placate subscribers impacted by its failure in quality
control were intended to __________.
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Chapter 12: Services and Nonprofit Organization Marketing
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a. reposition its virus program as reliable
b
.
improve an existing product
c. invest in brand loyalty
d
.
ultimately protect its brand equity
e. address each gap in the gap model
PTS: 1 OBJ: 10-3, 12-3 TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model Product MSC: BLOOMS Level II Comprehension
5. The 36-hour delay in responding to the defective security upload on the part of McAfee’s
executive vice president is __________.
a. the gap between the service that customers receive and the service they want
b
.
to do “whatever it takes” to stay in business
c. an external communication gap
d
.
the inability of management and employees to do what needs to be done
e. All of the above
PTS: 1 OBJ: 12-3 TOP: AACSB Ethics
KEY: CB&E Model Customer MSC: BLOOMS Level II Comprehension
6. What kind of protection best describes McAfee’s response to those customers
inconvenienced by its software update?
a. express warranty
b
.
implied warranty
c. free repairs of computers
d
.
subscription extensions
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Chapter 12: Services and Nonprofit Organization Marketing
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e. limited warranty
PTS: 1 OBJ: 10-7 TOP: AACSB Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model Customer MSC: BLOOMS Level II Comprehension
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.