[georg4BB]

Absolutely. For some reason, though, we have not seen a single attempt by BlackBerry to address it. It's really quite astonishing. It's as though they think if they don't mention it no one will notice.

Well done, Buick, but unless BlackBerry hire a good PR man (or woman), we will continue to see devices pushed out with the hope that people will just go and buy it against all the negativity against the brand. It's a real shame. I actually think their visual marketing stuff is great - the fonts, colour schemes, etc. They just don't understand how to get a message across (irony or what ?).

Is it because BlackBerry traditionally didn't have to do marketing ? Is it arrogance ? Naivety ? I've never seen a company or public figure take such a hammering without reacting in any meaningful way. I think it's because BlackBerry simply don't know how to deal with the problem - deer in the headlights - and haven't got the talent or understanding to use the high public exposure to their advantage in turning around their image, but perhaps I'm missing something ?

I absolutely agree with you. I joined the BB Experience Conference in Cologne yesterday and I was handed some folder. The marketing stuff is absolutely great imho.

But whenever I watch an Apple -TV-ad I see young and happy people doing cool and creative things with theire phones. The message is clear: Buy an iPhone, and be part of our world. You will be happy. They don't need to show the product or specs or whatever. It's so easy for Apple to spread the message and create demand.

BlackBerry's current message is, that the phones are secure and efficient. And in the mind people add: "... but boring like hell and nothing for fun".
This is the core proble imho, and should be adressed very very strong in every advertising.
The message should be that the user will ENJOY the phone because of the efficency stuff. That there is alot of FUN to work with this phone and so on... (and this is even the truth)

And the typical BlackBerry user must be defined too. I'm not sure about this point... should not be stout 50 year old guy with a leather holster doing boring stuff... the Mercedes team is maybe a good starting point. There is all about efficiency and the racers are like rockstars. The typical BlackBerry user should be someone you want to be too.

[sidhuk]

BlackBerry Z3 Android App Performance Comparison to Z30, Z10 - N4BB
This phone should do just fine. I have to agree that blackberry has to counter open season bashing.

[BBUK14]

I absolutely agree with you. I joined the BB Experience Conference in Cologne yesterday and I was handed some folder. The marketing stuff is absolutely great imho.

But whenever I watch an Apple -TV-ad I see young and happy people doing cool and creative things with theire phones. The message is clear: Buy an iPhone, and be part of our world. You will be happy. They don't need to show the product or specs or whatever. It's so easy for Apple to spread the message and create demand.

BlackBerry's current message is, that the phones are secure and efficient. And in the mind people add: "... but boring like hell and nothing for fun".
This is the core proble imho, and should be adressed very very strong in every advertising.
The message should be that the user will ENJOY the phone because of the efficency stuff. That there is alot of FUN to work with this phone and so on... (and this is even the truth)

And the typical BlackBerry user must be defined too. I'm not sure about this point... should not be stout 50 year old guy with a leather holster doing boring stuff... the Mercedes team is maybe a good starting point. There is all about efficiency and the racers are like rockstars. The typical BlackBerry user should be someone you want to be too.

The thing that really worries me is that I don't see them changing. I hope I'm wrong. I'm hanging on to my shares until the next high end launch. If the marketing approach is dumb, I'm getting out unless there is some other overwhelmingly positive factor to keep me in. Perception is too dangerous and important for me to ignore much longer.

Join the Cause @ BlackBerry Bootleg Marketing Channel - C003483F4

[greggebhardt]

For those who think I'm too hard on BlackBerry's hopeless marketing wing...


Attachment 270848


What on earth is this? BlackBerry, quit it with the stupid life tips!

BlackBerry are obsessed with this pointless and ineffective nonsense about telling people how to live...or be super efficient...or be a 'BlackBerry person'.

News Alert to BlackBerry: NO ONE CARES !

For God's sake, when will they learn ? As a shareholder, this stuff angers me. The company is in crisis and instead of communicating to people why they should want BlackBerry 10, BBM, etc., we continue to get this 'lifestyle' garbage.

Go check your own d*mn temperature, BlackBerry marketing team...what are you thinking???




Join the Cause @ BlackBerry Bootleg Marketing Channel - C003483F4

I will bet you that several members, here, set their T-Stats to 77!

[BBUK14]

I will bet you that several members, here, set their T-Stats to 77!

Haha

Join the Cause @ BlackBerry Bootleg Marketing Channel - C003483F4

[Shanerredflag]

I will bet you that several members, here, set their T-Stats to 77!

I'll take that bet...60 of JD and boat gas for week?

Posted via a Device with Z and a 30

[randall2580]

Can I go off topic ever so quickly who here is a Habs fan? (Asked the Ranger fan)

[BBUK14]

If BlackBerry can spend valuable time making ads for people about changing their thermostats, I reckon you can go of topic for a bit...it's almost ironically on topic...

Join the Cause @ BlackBerry Bootleg Marketing Channel - C003483F4

[Corbu]

Is BlackBerry aiming to be a leader in the M2M space? | Financial Post

BlackBerry Ltd. could be mounting a bigger push into the machine-to-machine space, says a Scotia Capital analyst.

The smartphone marker announced this week that it would allow non-BlackBerry mobile device management (MDM) platforms to manage BB10 devices. Previously, BlackBerry devices had to be managed by BlackBerry servers.

John MaGee, an analyst at Scotia Capital, said opening up BlackBerry devices to management by other MDM platforms could be part of a bigger M2M strategy. M2M refers to technologies that allow different machines and systems to communicate with each other. For example, companies might use M2M systems to monitor their truck fleet and shipments.

“There is currently no clear leader in M2M device management, though we believe BlackBerry is a strong contender,” Mr. MaGee said.

Analysts have widely speculated how BlackBerry can move beyond selling handsets to remain profitable. Many see the enterprise and security divisions as key to the company’s future. A push into the M2M space would be a natural extension of that.

“The decoupling of QNX from BlackBerry Enterprise Servers for device management is a much easier sell and could help QNX adoption across M2M verticals,” Mr. MaGee said.

The analyst notes that opening up BlackBerry devices to other MDM platforms, such as AirWatch, could also be a positive development for handset sales.

“This could help BB10 smartphone adoption, since companies that are not using BlackBerry Enterprise Servers can now support BlackBerry devices,” he said.

Mr. MaGee rates BlackBerry’s stock as sector perform and has a 12-month price target of $9.15.

[crackerdoodle]

May 15, 2014 2:01 PM EDT Send to a Friend

Get Alerts BBRY Hot Sheet
Price: $7.21 -1.64%

Today's EPS Names:
ARL, KINS, CGIX, More
Trade BBRY Now!

Join SI Premium – FREE
(Updated - May 15, 2014 2:03 PM EDT)

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) sees becoming cash positive by the end of 2015.

UPDATE - The following was posted on BllackBerry's official blog Thursday by Eric Lai:

For businesses deciding on their mobile management strategy, it’s vital that they weigh the security technology as well as all of the other risks, including the health of their potential suppliers. At BlackBerry, we’ve taken a few lumps over the latter, especially from our rivals in the Enterprise Mobility Management space, who have the transparent motive of trying to steal away the tens of thousands of companies that rely on BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES).

Naturally, our critics never acknowledge the good things that are happening at BlackBerry. Things like the fact we’ve gained more than 800,000 licenses to BES since March in part because of its low Total Cost of Ownership; that we’ve just launched a cost-competitive new phone to a positive reception; that we’re enhancing our BlackBerry 10 OS and licensing access to industry giants such as AirWatch, IBM, SAP and Citrix. We’re even teasing consumers with a tasty new device or two.

Nor do they acknowledge that as of March we had $2.7 billion in cash. And that we’re quickly slashing our burn rate in order to achieve our goal of becoming cash-flow positive by the end of fiscal 2015. So BlackBerry not only is not disappearing anytime soon, we’re firmly on a turnaround path.

It only seems fair that we turn the spotlight around onto some of our biggest critics. Take Good Technology, which filed for an IPO on Wednesday, revealing its financial performance for the first time. Good’s numbers didn’t live up to its name, reported Fortune magazine’s venture markets expert, Dan Primack:

There really is no way to sugarcoat the top-line numbers. For 2013 it’s a $118 million net loss on around $160 million in revenue, compared to a $90 million net loss on $116 million in revenue for the year-earlier period. If you go back even one year further, you’ll find that losses have tripled while revenue has doubled.

Over at CITEWorld, Matt Rosoff pointed out that $23 million of Good’s revenue comes not from selling EMM products, but from IP licensing. And that Good spent $112 million on sales and marketing in 2013. As a result, Good burned through $54 million in cash in 2013, leaving a stash of just $42 million at the end of last year.

At its current $13 million+/quarter burn rate, Good could be as good as gone by the end of September if it doesn’t execute its IPO before that. Given the contrast between Good’s financial performance and its healthier startup peers as analyzed by the Wall Street Journal earlier this week, investors will judge Good harshly if it tries to go IPO, writes Fortune’s Primack:

Maybe this sort of thing would have been glossed over 18 months ago, but today’s IPO market is taking a pretty dim view of losses growing at a clip in excess of 30% (despite Scott Kupor’s compelling argument that SaaS companies are being valued on the wrong metrics). Rival MobileIron has much better top-line trends, and already is said to be delaying an offering that it filed for just last month.
Speaking of MobileIron, it’s true that while its numbers are better than Good’s (read the company’s S-1 here), that’s all relative. MobileIron had revenue of $105.6 million in 2013, but its net loss was still $32.5 million. While its 2013 revenue was more than double from the prior year, it included $21.1 million from perpetual license deals that were signed and delivered in prior years. In other words, if you’re trying to judge MobileIron’s momentum, you might consider $84.5 million a truer 2013 revenue figure.

Like Good, MobileIron is spending freely to try and win business from us. Its sales and marketing expenses tripled between 2011 and 2013, to $68.3 million last year. And while MobileIron had $73.5 million in cash at the end of last year, enough to survive for another 2 years from today, according to the WSJ, that assumes its revenue and expense growth remain on their current trajectories.

MobileIron may need all of that reserve if it continues to delay its IPO, as Bloomberg reported. Even profitable tech startups are having a difficult time going public, notes Jeremy C. Owens of the San Jose Mercury News:

While biotechnology companies enjoyed a run of success in the first quarter of 2014, few pure-tech companies from Silicon Valley have made debuts this year. Coupons.com, A10 Networks and Aerohive Networks managed to complete their offerings in March, but a strong tech downturn on Wall Street that has most strongly affected companies that went public in the past year has put a chill on many companies’ IPO plans, including high-profile filers such as Box…
“Whenever it looks like it’s possible to lose money is when it becomes very easy for sentiment to swing,” Santa Clara University professor Robert Hendershott noted of the IPO market recently.

With Good’s and MobileIron’s proposed (albeit uncertain) IPOs, CIOs are finally able to judge the financial risk of other EMM vendors for the first time. Now, they have the information to compare BlackBerry and its competitors in true apples-to-apples fashion. When you take all of that into account, suddenly, we don’t look so risky after all.

[crackerdoodle]

Blackberry comes out swinging...nice

[La Emperor]

Blackberry comes out swinging...nice

With a 1-2 punch combination.

[Corbu]

Can I go off topic ever so quickly who here is a Habs fan? (Asked the Ranger fan)

Good luck to your Rangers! May the best team win!

[BBUK14]

This is certainly much better than a picture of a thermostat. I purposely left out enterprise when rightfully criticising BlackBerry's marketing, as I think that their marketing and communications with enterprise is much better than it is with the general public (consumer market and media). This isn't a shock, as they clearly understand enterprise customers, and clearly don't understand the consumer masses. Still, to give credit where it is due, it's good to see them hit back at Good and Co.

Join the Cause @ BlackBerry Bootleg Marketing Channel - C003483F4

[sidhuk]

I'll take that bet...60 of JD and boat gas for week?

Posted via a Device with Z and a 30

He doesnt know that some members here already done it at 43. and just keeping it busy here by using ignore lists.
LoL

[randall2580]

Good luck to your Rangers! May the best team win!

Looking forward to a great series! I reciprocate the sentiment good luck and may the best team win!

[dusdal]

Kudos BlackBerry. Getting the truth out. Hopefully that entry makes the media rounds.

Dominate the MCAT C0012A8A6

[plasmid_boy]

I will bet you that several members, here, set their T-Stats to 77!

I prefer 69 sometimes, but it's usually not up to me.

Posted via CB10

[Komoto]

Nice blog post from there. It pretty much sums it up.

I have to admit I don't have high hopes for the Z3. As long as it ticks over I am happy.

10.3 is actually quite well polished, getting there.

Posted via CB10

[sidhuk]

I prefer 69 sometimes, but it's usually not up to me.

Posted via CB10

soooo. you did miss (43) for 3 some.
lol

[greggebhardt]

I'll take that bet...60 of JD and boat gas for week?

Posted via a Device with Z and a 30

Boats use gas?

[sidhuk]

May 15, 2014 2:01 PM EDT Send to a Friend

Get Alerts BBRY Hot Sheet
Price: $7.21 -1.64%

Today's EPS Names:
ARL, KINS, CGIX, More
Trade BBRY Now!

Join SI Premium – FREE
(Updated - May 15, 2014 2:03 PM EDT)

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) sees becoming cash positive by the end of 2015.

UPDATE - The following was posted on BllackBerry's official blog Thursday by Eric Lai:

For businesses deciding on their mobile management strategy, it’s vital that they weigh the security technology as well as all of the other risks, including the health of their potential suppliers. At BlackBerry, we’ve taken a few lumps over the latter, especially from our rivals in the Enterprise Mobility Management space, who have the transparent motive of trying to steal away the tens of thousands of companies that rely on BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES).

Naturally, our critics never acknowledge the good things that are happening at BlackBerry. Things like the fact we’ve gained more than 800,000 licenses to BES since March in part because of its low Total Cost of Ownership; that we’ve just launched a cost-competitive new phone to a positive reception; that we’re enhancing our BlackBerry 10 OS and licensing access to industry giants such as AirWatch, IBM, SAP and Citrix. We’re even teasing consumers with a tasty new device or two.

Nor do they acknowledge that as of March we had $2.7 billion in cash. And that we’re quickly slashing our burn rate in order to achieve our goal of becoming cash-flow positive by the end of fiscal 2015. So BlackBerry not only is not disappearing anytime soon, we’re firmly on a turnaround path.

It only seems fair that we turn the spotlight around onto some of our biggest critics. Take Good Technology, which filed for an IPO on Wednesday, revealing its financial performance for the first time. Good’s numbers didn’t live up to its name, reported Fortune magazine’s venture markets expert, Dan Primack:

There really is no way to sugarcoat the top-line numbers. For 2013 it’s a $118 million net loss on around $160 million in revenue, compared to a $90 million net loss on $116 million in revenue for the year-earlier period. If you go back even one year further, you’ll find that losses have tripled while revenue has doubled.

Over at CITEWorld, Matt Rosoff pointed out that $23 million of Good’s revenue comes not from selling EMM products, but from IP licensing. And that Good spent $112 million on sales and marketing in 2013. As a result, Good burned through $54 million in cash in 2013, leaving a stash of just $42 million at the end of last year.

At its current $13 million+/quarter burn rate, Good could be as good as gone by the end of September if it doesn’t execute its IPO before that. Given the contrast between Good’s financial performance and its healthier startup peers as analyzed by the Wall Street Journal earlier this week, investors will judge Good harshly if it tries to go IPO, writes Fortune’s Primack:

Maybe this sort of thing would have been glossed over 18 months ago, but today’s IPO market is taking a pretty dim view of losses growing at a clip in excess of 30% (despite Scott Kupor’s compelling argument that SaaS companies are being valued on the wrong metrics). Rival MobileIron has much better top-line trends, and already is said to be delaying an offering that it filed for just last month.
Speaking of MobileIron, it’s true that while its numbers are better than Good’s (read the company’s S-1 here), that’s all relative. MobileIron had revenue of $105.6 million in 2013, but its net loss was still $32.5 million. While its 2013 revenue was more than double from the prior year, it included $21.1 million from perpetual license deals that were signed and delivered in prior years. In other words, if you’re trying to judge MobileIron’s momentum, you might consider $84.5 million a truer 2013 revenue figure.

Like Good, MobileIron is spending freely to try and win business from us. Its sales and marketing expenses tripled between 2011 and 2013, to $68.3 million last year. And while MobileIron had $73.5 million in cash at the end of last year, enough to survive for another 2 years from today, according to the WSJ, that assumes its revenue and expense growth remain on their current trajectories.

MobileIron may need all of that reserve if it continues to delay its IPO, as Bloomberg reported. Even profitable tech startups are having a difficult time going public, notes Jeremy C. Owens of the San Jose Mercury News:

While biotechnology companies enjoyed a run of success in the first quarter of 2014, few pure-tech companies from Silicon Valley have made debuts this year. Coupons.com, A10 Networks and Aerohive Networks managed to complete their offerings in March, but a strong tech downturn on Wall Street that has most strongly affected companies that went public in the past year has put a chill on many companies’ IPO plans, including high-profile filers such as Box…
“Whenever it looks like it’s possible to lose money is when it becomes very easy for sentiment to swing,” Santa Clara University professor Robert Hendershott noted of the IPO market recently.

With Good’s and MobileIron’s proposed (albeit uncertain) IPOs, CIOs are finally able to judge the financial risk of other EMM vendors for the first time. Now, they have the information to compare BlackBerry and its competitors in true apples-to-apples fashion. When you take all of that into account, suddenly, we don’t look so risky after all.

and this helped i guess. thanks.

[sidhuk]

Look who is on twitter now.

[BBUK14]

Look who is on twitter now.

Um...

Join the Cause @ BlackBerry Bootleg Marketing Channel - C003483F4

[slipstream89]

Twitter is saying Dan loab sold his 10 million shares in BBRY, trying to find the 13f filing right now

uh oh lol we lose Loab but we gained former SAC capital -_- this hedge fund had a good track record but huge scandal with insider trading