livingsocial was recently hacked, affecting nearly 50 million account holders—myself being one of them. unfortunately in recent years these types of incidents are becoming more and more commonplace. but whether this type of situation is a common occurrence or not, it should never become trivial.

the email i received about the situation, however, seemed to treat it as if it was trivial. in the 269 word letter (not including boilerplate or tim o’shaughnessy’s sign off and signature), it wasn’t until the 247th word that there was ever an apology of any kind. that is far too long to wait to hear “i’m sorry” when failing to secure your customer’s personal information.

brand management 101: when you say you’re sorry, mean it.