As hard as it is to imagine, this can be an opportunity to build brand loyalty. Like people, a company’s true character is judged during difficult times. For example, Jetblue is now famous for their apology after horrible operational troubles during an ice storm in February 2007.

Imagine if you actually talked to your users as you built your product. Imagine if they talked to each other about your product. No. Wait. Imagine if your users actually built your product. Take a peek at BoardGameGeek.com for a taste of what that might look like.

Before introducing a feature that has secret sauce that makes your product appear to have some intelligence, know your user’s tolerance for magic. Talk to your customers and find out how bothered they will be if they don’t know how it works.

You need to provide the press with caricatures that exaggerate certain features to better tell the story. The most important characters you can provide the press are your customers. A lot of press will just not write a story unless you can connect them with an customer.