[advcomputer]

I like most others here would LOVE LOVE LOVE BB to succeed, otherwise I would not be here on CB, nor would I be so passionate about the products.

They have NEVER been a good marketing company. Don't know why nor do I care. I am only interested in having this company succeed.

It just seems in many cases what they are doing is counter intuitive..

-j

[RubberChicken76]

The US launch has been considered by many to be an epic fail. I walked into 3 AT&T stores in my area, NY, and there were no signs, the phones were off and unless your are a die hard BB fan you would of never know BB had a launch.

Here's the thing: It may not have been entirely Frank's choice. In Canada, every carrier i've seen and most stores I've seen that stock Z10 have the very things you mention. Why would it happen in one country and another.

It is possible that Frank's US team didn't do anything while the Canadian team busted their humps. It's also possible that AT&T said, "yeah - we'll take it it, but our merchandising is reserved for things we know that move".

[advcomputer]

>>It is possible that Frank's US team didn't do anything while the Canadian team busted their humps.

Ultimately that responsibility would fall onto FB, yes?

>> It's also possible that AT&T said, "yeah - we'll take it it, but our merchandising is reserved for things we know that move".

Why would they NOT want to push a product that none of the other carriers have?

-J

[goldie335]

>>It is possible that Frank's US team didn't do anything while the Canadian team busted their humps.

Ultimately that responsibility would fall onto FB, yes?

>> It's also possible that AT&T said, "yeah - we'll take it it, but our merchandising is reserved for things

Why would they NOT want to push a product that none of the other carriers have?

-J

Because for the last 3 years nobody wanted one and this new one didn't go too far in hitting it out if the park. It's not like there was even hype or expectations for this product unless you are already a BlackBerry faithful.


And all you guys couldnt support it if yoi tried.
they need to cater to the masses if they are to succeed. Cater to the BlackBerry faith full and it's game over.

They are too misinformed about what users want. And when you change phones like underwear ...
it isn't phone that feels great that makes one buy one . too many s3's sold.

[FSeverino]

You guys are calling for someone's job mid campaign... do you realize that?

They said they are focusing money in other areas if advertising. You want BlackBerry to standout, but are complaining that they aren't doing the same ads that everyone else is...

The 'takeover' ads haven't happened yet, and neither have two US carrier launches. I would say sell outs and broken records in the vast majority of markets and 1/3 of carrier ad 'fails' in one country deserves reward and not punishment.

Give it more than a day people.

Posted via CB10

[goldie335]

You guys are calling for someone's job mid campaign... do you realize that?

They said they are focusing money in other areas if advertising. You want BlackBerry to standout, but are complaining that they aren't doing the same ads that everyone else is...

The 'takeover' ads haven't happened yet, and neither have two US carrier launches. I would say sell outs and broken records in the vast majority of markets and 1/3 of carrier ad 'fails' in one country deserves reward and not punishment.

Give it more than a day people.

Posted via CB10

Easy to sell out whe you purposely dont ship enough stock

[acadia1106]

Throwing TV ads at consumers is easy, the hard part is to do ground work, which was poorly done.

Yup, I call it mitt Romney syndrome, Obama's ground game should be required reading for tactics in market metrics and control. A TV add is nothing.

Posted via CB10

[advcomputer]

>>Easy to sell out whe you purposely dont ship enough stock

Is that a known case here in the US. Are they trying to create a perception of mass acceptance by restricting the number of units?

-j

[gzkpez]

The carrier to watch is Verizon for the Z10. T-mobile is currently restructuring its pricing. And you need to watch print and direct e-mail from your carriers. The z10 target market is not the same as the iPhone, so no big lines were expected Blackberry target users do not have much time for lines.

Most Financial Annalists do not understand what the b10 operating system is and what it means to be all new. As such they are confused about the apparent lack of Apps, etc. When next quarters numbers come up we will see how much it sells. It is a growing market for all makers, but only Apple, Samsung, and Google seem to be making much in it currently.


Blackberry is not playing a short game here , if they were they would not of bothered with the b10 and just made some b7 stuff. The b10 will give them a least a decade of continuity in their operating system and with hardware efficiencies that nether iOS or Android have. It seems even Samsung and Sony are beginning to hedge their bets on Android, with in house development..

[anon(3896606)]

I am so hot under the collar right now..

The US launch has been considered by many to be an epic fail. I walked into 3 AT&T stores in my area, NY, and there were no signs, the phones were off and unless your are a die hard BB fan you would of never know BB had a launch.

The press has been bashing BB today for the "disappointing launch" and the stock drop reflects it.

Given that the US is a fairly important market for BB, I would of hoped that at least the AT&T stores would be showing off this phone, similar to how they are pushing the iCrap. That should of all be coordinated by BB Marketing Master, Frank Bouben.

....

You must be really impatient. How about you come to Canada, where the product has been released for more than a month and you will see plenty of ads. (In store, and through media)


Posted via CB10

[BlackBerry.est08]

>>Easy to sell out whe you purposely dont ship enough stock

Is that a known case here in the US. Are they trying to create a perception of mass acceptance by restricting the number of units?

-j

It's not that they're intentionally restricting the number of units, but RIM/BlackBerry were never known to ship hundreds of units to stores. Say each store got around 20, that's nothing. So saying demand is high because they sold out doesn't mean anything if your initial shipment isn't high.

[advcomputer]

>>How about you come to Canada, where the product has been released for more than a month and you will see plenty of ads

I would hazard a bet that in DAY ONE, the stores had marketing material and the phones were displayed in a prominent location and they were powered on. Regarding the ads hopefully that will come VERY soon.

-J

[ismarkwright]

I sort of address this on this blog post, and even more so in the comment I left to that blog post.

BlackBerry CEO interview: 'I cannot complain about carrier support' | CrackBerry.com

I think a big part of this right now is on the carriers taking a wait and see approach with BB10 for a long time. And once they decide they're onboard, it's a little hard to ramp up immediately. Other commitments that have to play out first. I think you'll see AT&T ramp up over next few weeks. Doesn't help the initial short term reactions from press and market though, which I agree sucks.

The question for me is why is AT&T allowed to launch first with virtually no in-store promotion and no marketing done? This so called "launch" by BB is viewed as a unmitigated disaster by the media and is killing the company's stock. The fact is BB's lack of ground game combined with AT&T's apparent lack of support looks amateurish by both sides and just perpetrates the poor image BB is so desperately trying to shed.

Why not have all carriers launch at once and let them compete with each other for sales of the Z10? It seems to me this "all at once" strategy would be much more successful for BB sales and image instead of what transpired with AT&T. It just seems BB many times is their own worst enemy....I am impressed with the new CEO and the overall revitalization plan he is trying to implement but this last weekend sure makes the job much harder then it should be.

[jegs2]

Went to a local AT&T store here in central Florida, and they had the Z-10 - but it was next to the Bold with no signs or indicators that it was a new product.

Nobody else was around it, so my wife and I got a chance to play with it. Reminde me of a midget version of my Playbook.

So yeah, if I were not seeking it out, I'd not have known the Z-10 was there.

Nor will many others walking into the store.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9930 using Tapatalk

[jr4941]

Here's the thing: It may not have been entirely Frank's choice. In Canada, every carrier i've seen and most stores I've seen that stock Z10 have the very things you mention. Why would it happen in one country and another.

It is possible that Frank's US team didn't do anything while the Canadian team busted their humps. It's also possible that AT&T said, "yeah - we'll take it it, but our merchandising is reserved for things we know that move".

This is precisely true. In Canada, there are signs everywhere. Small signs, medium signs, BIG signs. Something makes things different between marketing in Canada vs. the US. I would suggest that they are starting slow and ramping up from there. That's my opinion based on what I've seen in Canada so far.

I'm not sure why we are reverting back to the negativity on these threads. We've seen this story before. It started out with news saying that there were no line-ups, blah, blah, but news keeps coming out about how it's been their best launch ever.

[shupor]

These carrier stores are the issue, the sales reps are still uneducated on the product and are incentivized to sell other products. One major reason why Apple is doing well is their stores, you get great CS and sales reps passionate about selling their products. I'm not suggesting BBRY to start opening up retail shops but they need to send their business development guys out to local stores more to make sure they are doing it right.

I agree.
In addition to getting sales reps that are passionate about the products they sell, they also need to educate them on tthe products. When i worked in retail i would only push certain products not because i had any extra incentive to push those brands but because those were the products i was confident i knew a whole lot about and could answer virtually any question about all thanks to extensive product training and frequent visits by the vendor to make sure we remained up to date.
Nothing says lost sale like a salesperson who stutters in front of a potential customer and constantly says i don't know.

[kill_9]

I am so hot under the collar right now...

If I walked by Frank Boulben, and recognized the poster child of a failure as CMO during a critical product launch in an arguably critical market (US), I would be tempted to stick a fork in him. A BBQ fork used to grill a slab of meat.

[lawguyman]

I've been worried able Boulben since the Super bowl ad. Boulben is European. His entire career until now has been in Europe. He may understand Europe but he does not understand America. That Super bowl ad played to European tastes, not American ones. The guy does not get America.

Also, Keep Moving is a dud. Does anyone pay attention to those ads? I'm not even sure what Keep Moving is supposed to mean. What does it mean? Someone tell me.

BlackBerry really missed a chance to capture people's imagination.



Posted via CB10

[jojo beaconsfield]

take it easy.I challenge you to email another CMO out there and get a response.i did and guess what ,i think it was FANTASTIC I can't describe the feeling .this is what bb is all about now .just be patient Rome wasn't built in a day and the comeback story is just beginning.

[BThunderW]

Once again you guys completely miss the point. This ****'s chess, not checkers. You need think months down the road, not what's in front of your nose.

What did you think was gonna happen? Overnight hit? Massive sellouts? Apple and Samsung are way too entrenched in US. It'll take careful planning and execution to nibble at the competition's customer base. Do you really think it makes a difference if they sell out this week or next, or a month from now? As long as Blackberry is financially stable, they can keep working on enlarging the customer base, right now they expect YOU to go out and get one, as this is what will keep them afloat.

[sfor13thlegion]

I sort of address this on this blog post, and even more so in the comment I left to that blog post.

BlackBerry CEO interview: 'I cannot complain about carrier support' | CrackBerry.com

I think a big part of this right now is on the carriers taking a wait and see approach with BB10 for a long time. And once they decide they're onboard, it's a little hard to ramp up immediately. Other commitments that have to play out first. I think you'll see AT&T ramp up over next few weeks. Doesn't help the initial short term reactions from press and market though, which I agree sucks.

I'd agree with Kev on this one. I picked up my Z10 on day one from a Rogers in BBRY's hometown Waterloo.

I expected a flashy demo, with some signage and reps who were going to push the Z10.

Instead, I went in and had to ask about it. Rep's looked at me like I was mental, than said yeah, we have a unit in the back. They brought the hit out and of course the battery was dead and I had to wait for it to charge up. By this time there were 3 of us waiting to play with the new phone once it was charged enough.

As of today's date, that same store now has better signage, rep training and working demos.

My point being, if it can happen in BBRY's hometown, it can happen in the USA where they have been absent for such a long time.

Hopefully soon the marketing will ramp up and bring the good word to our USA brothers and sisters.


Posted via CB10

[cgk]

The question for me is why is AT&T allowed to launch first with virtually no in-store promotion and no marketing done? This so called "launch" by BB is viewed as a unmitigated disaster by the media and is killing the company's stock. The fact is BB's lack of ground game combined with AT&T's apparent lack of support looks amateurish by both sides and just perpetrates the poor image BB is so desperately trying to shed.

The answer is likely to be 'cash' - the support from carriers is generally directly related to the amount the OEM is putting up in co-funding, it's a slightly shadowy area but we know that part of the success of Samsung is that when it goes to the carriers it will say "we will be spending X-hundreds of million in Promotions, adverting and marketing in this market" - Blackberry has about $400 million in cash for all its activities (including R&D) across all markets, Samsung (as an example) spend about $400 on advertising alone.

Heins talks about the carriers being keen to break up the duopoly that exists but the CEO of Nokia said that the same thing.

I suspect that although people here aren't impressed, Blackberry is actually doing the best it can with the money available to it.

[lnichols]

The keep moving commercial doesn't show off anything about the phone or really let people know it is BlackBerry that well, even in the minute long youtube version until the end. In fact on SiriusXM this morning on Alt Nation they intro'd the song in the commercial by just saying "It is in a smartphone advertisement." No mention of BlackBerry whatsoever. Every time they have done this with songs from an Apple commercial, they say it is an Apple advertisement. Apple does 30 second commercials showing off at least 5 things the phone can do (mostly apps), BlackBerry shows off nonsense in their commercials and in the minute youtube spot shows off a few things that unless you are a CrackBerry follow and know what they are showing. Come on BlackBerry, you are wasting money with ads that people don't even associate with your product!

[bobauckland]

Once again you guys completely miss the point. This ****'s chess, not checkers. You need think months down the road, not what's in front of your nose.

What did you think was gonna happen? Overnight hit? Massive sellouts? Apple and Samsung are way too entrenched in US. It'll take careful planning and execution to nibble at the competition's customer base. Do you really think it makes a difference if they sell out this week or next, or a month from now? As long as Blackberry is financially stable, they can keep working on enlarging the customer base, right now they expect YOU to go out and get one, as this is what will keep them afloat.

This is debatable.
People always say this is a long term game.
No.
If you aim too long term you get lost in the present.

[CairnsRock]

>>The Apple and Samsung are their bread and butter.

Not sure about that. No company wants all of their egg in 1 or 2 baskets. If that was the case, then soon enough both Apple and Samsung would be able to dictate higher prices for their products and AT&T and the other carriers will have to concede.

Duopoly Time: Apple And Samsung Combine For Almost 90 Percent Of 2012 Global Smartphone Market

All of the carriers know there needs to be a third player and hopefully BB is it.

-j

At the corporate level, yes the carriers would like other phones to help keep Apple and Samsung honest. At the store level however, they don't really care which one you buy. As long as you walk out with "a" phone. why should they care?