1. kittyeatlayke's Avatar
    I never see BlackBerry adverts on TV (or anywhere else for that matter) showing off their devices, yet I see adverts for the iPhone 4S and Android phones everyday.

    If RIM put money into advertising its new devices and showing off all their awesome features maybe they'd be in a better position than they are now, it would at least boost sales a little bit, if not a lot.

    Everytime I see an iPhone advert, the way they sell it makes me want to buy one, and I've been there, the iPhone just isn't for me, I don't like them. It just goes to show how powerful advertising can be with smartphones.

    I know RIM had a similar styled advert for the Bold 9900 when it was first released but it only showed for a couple of weeks, and now? Nothing. Nothing to catch that person's eye whilst they're wondering what new phone to get.

    I'm in the UK so I don't know whether its different in other countries, but over here its bad. Anyone agree a little advertising would of helped them out?

    I love BlackBerry I really don't want to see them do badly!
    pantlesspenguin likes this.
    01-16-12 06:55 AM
  2. ilikebacon's Avatar
    Rim says they're going to push advertising this year for BB7, then gearing up for BB10. They had better, they need to badly. If they do a great job advertising I bet a lot of people would jump on board, which would naturally incline more people to buy the playbook as well.
    01-16-12 07:25 AM
  3. kittyeatlayke's Avatar
    Yeah definitely, I agree. I really hope they do push the advertising this year, it will hopefully help them out a lot.
    01-16-12 08:18 AM
  4. llllBULLSEYE's Avatar
    They actually started in the U.S recently. They promoted The ESPN NBA Christmas special and the New York New Years Party with Blackberry everywhere and showing the "Be Bold" commercial
    That alone is huge must of cost them a fortune.
    A little late, but they are doing it.
    and yes they do need to do it like the iPhone ads a bit more, where they show you an app
    and how it works to make you're life better. or at least they convince you to think it does lol
    01-16-12 06:58 PM
  5. BB.David's Avatar
    I think their focus in advertising this year is the U.S. where RIM has lost a lot of market share.
    I believe they're doing really well in the UK (and other parts of the world), so I doubt you'll see a massive ad campaigns there.
    01-16-12 07:30 PM
  6. kittyeatlayke's Avatar
    I believe they're doing really well in the UK (and other parts of the world), so I doubt you'll see a massive ad campaigns there.
    I've always wondered how RIM can be doing so badly when everyone I see has a BlackBerry! But like you just said they're doing well in the UK so that answers that question!

    Literally almost everyone in the UK has a BlackBerry, everytime I see someone with a phone when I'm out 7 times out of 10 they have a BlackBerry, if not then its an iPhone. Everyone seems to have the Curve 8520 over here for some reason, probably because its cheap.
    01-17-12 10:19 AM
  7. pantlesspenguin's Avatar
    I definitely think they need to advertise the Playbook more, especially after OS2 hits. They really need to clear up the misconception that Playbooks only work if you have a BlackBerry phone. This is something I heard over the weekend when I took my Playbook and Amaze to T-Mobile to tell them I was having difficulty getting my phone's WiFi hotspot to work. The rep in the next kiosk looked over and actually said "You wasted your money, Playbooks will only work if you have a BlackBerry." I educated him about the difference between WiFi and the bridge. As my rep and I were troubleshooting, he connected the Playbook to his own Android phone which worked just fine. I brought up YouTube to make sure the connection was working and he was pretty impressed at the gestures thing.

    Anyway, misconceptions like the one rep had are very dangerous. If the average consumer thinks that the Playbook won't work if they don't have a BlackBerry, more often than not I bet you they'll simply look elsewhere rather than do research to see if that information was correct.

    However, I can also see how a strategy of advertising the pairing of a PB and BB would be beneficial to RIM because they might also sell a BB out of the deal. I still think their best bet, though, is to market to ANYONE that is in the need for a tablet, since the PB is good for work AND play AND productivity.
    01-17-12 11:11 AM
  8. ichat's Avatar
    They need to advertise more. That's a plain fact. What also is that there a million more threads like this one
    01-17-12 11:32 AM
  9. dandbj13's Avatar
    If RIM needs to advertise more, what reason have they not been advertising adequately so far?
    01-17-12 11:48 AM
  10. Economist101's Avatar
    If RIM needs to advertise more, what reason have they not been advertising adequately so far?
    It seems to me that either you have to believe that Mike and Jim determined additional marketing was unnecessary/unlikely to help or were simply oblivious to RIM's marketing issues. The former seems a lot more likely, though it runs counter to the dogma often heard on this forum, namely that "marketing" is the only barrier between RIM and stronger sales.
    01-17-12 12:07 PM
  11. dandbj13's Avatar
    Econ, I couldn't agree more. So why does this argument keep popping up? I mean, there are only so many excuses one can make for RIM's lack of appropriate advertising. Either they are fools (which we should probably dismiss for the sake of civility), they can't afford it, also not likely, Apple has already absorbed the world's supply of tasteful ads, (hmm) or RIM understands that the problem runs deeper than advertising. I'd like to believe it is that one.

    If the only thing one need do to make a product successful is contract an ad agency to make ads and place them in popular shows, then it is criminal neglect not to do it. Are those calling for more ads also declaring RIM guilty of criminal neglect?
    01-17-12 12:43 PM
  12. Economist101's Avatar
    Precisely. Oddly, the same people that tell you RIM is on the cusp of a turn-around will tell you the company's marketing has been sub-par for years. Unfortunately, that it apparently took 3 years for RIM's leadership to decide it needed to market more aggressively seems right in line with its slow-speed pivot to BB10 via BB OS 7.
    01-17-12 01:04 PM
  13. Tre Lawrence's Avatar
    Advertising is FAR from RIM's most pressing problem.

    Mobile post via Tapatalk
    01-17-12 01:24 PM
  14. Pilot Prop's Avatar
    I've seen a bit more advertising this year than last year...but the commercials I've seen have been kinda weak....i think they should get more creative with the ads for sure....also they need to play up the new features of BB7 a lot more....so far all I've seen was promo for the keyboard and BBM....RIM will have to really step it up for BB10 with the ads...
    01-17-12 06:48 PM
  15. RHCE's Avatar
    I've been seeing commercials like crazy lately don't know what tv you guys are watching
    01-17-12 11:26 PM
  16. CDM76's Avatar
    I "saw" a commercial last night ... but didnt realize it was a BB commercial till the end when they said "beBold" otherwise I never wouldda paid it any attention ... but I guess its a start.
    01-17-12 11:32 PM
  17. anthogag's Avatar
    In my opinion iPhone commercials are stale and iPad commercials have become lame.

    Android commercials are consistently about speed or screen size and it's always from a carrier.

    Compared to constant iPhone and android ads, BlackBerry commercials are rare.
    01-18-12 08:32 AM
  18. dandbj13's Avatar
    In my opinion iPhone commercials are stale and iPad commercials have become lame.

    Android commercials are consistently about speed or screen size and it's always from a carrier.

    Compared to constant iPhone and android ads, BlackBerry commercials are rare.
    So you're saying the Apple ads are bad and RIM ads are good? Really? What lessons do you propose Apple learn from RIM's brilliant advertising strategy?
    01-18-12 09:13 AM
  19. brucep1's Avatar
    Here's the thing I don't understand. I barely saw any advertisements during RIM's good years. Why was it succesful then if it's marketing is so bad?
    01-18-12 09:32 AM
  20. dandbj13's Avatar
    Here's the thing I don't understand. I barely saw any advertisements during RIM's good years. Why was it succesful then if it's marketing is so bad?
    I believe the answer can be found in RIM's business model. The bulk of their customer base did not really choose a BB in the buffet since of the word. In many cases, it was the phone they were given at work. They didn't have an option to use anything else. In other cases, the BB is simply the cheapest option for outright purchase or messaging service. In places where an unlimited data plan or carrier subsidy is not an option, RIM is the only real choice by default.

    What changed? Everything, and largely, the iPhone. It still hasn't changed the business model in under developed nations, but it has overturned the business world. There are fewer scenarios where a person is forced to use a BB. In the places where choice is available, people are choosing iPhones and other devices over BBs by an overwhelming margin. Suddenly, RIM has to be the phone that people want to have rather than the one that they have to have. They have to win the hearts and minds of the masses, not just IT managers.
    Laura Knotek likes this.
    01-18-12 09:44 AM
  21. Economist101's Avatar
    In the places where choice is available, people are choosing iPhones and other devices over BBs by an overwhelming margin. Suddenly, RIM has to be the phone that people want to have rather than the one that they have to have. They have to win the hearts and minds of the masses, not just IT managers.
    Bingo. When RIM rose to prominence it did so by outperforming WinMo and Palm, winning the hearts and minds of IT people everywhere. Now that they have to win the hearts and minds of consumers who have options other than WinMo and Palm, the results have been vastly different.
    01-18-12 10:08 AM
  22. Economist101's Avatar
    In my opinion iPhone commercials are stale and iPad commercials have become lame.
    Hmmm. . . So what you're now saying is that iPhone commercials are stale, yet they likely sold 2x as many iPhones last quarter as RIM has sold devices in its all time best quarter? iPad commercials are lame, yet they sell more iPads each week than RIM has sold PlayBooks since launch? Ouch. If you're right, then it is time for a leadership change at RIM. Luckily, you're not, so it works out just fine.
    01-18-12 10:15 AM
  23. anthogag's Avatar
    So you're saying the Apple ads are bad and RIM ads are good? Really? What lessons do you propose Apple learn from RIM's brilliant advertising strategy?
    I'm saying Apple is becoming the new vanilla...

    I stated "rare" as in hardly any commercials.
    01-18-12 11:12 AM
  24. texn884's Avatar
    I agree. Like the old saying,
    Out of sight, Out of Mind.
    01-18-12 11:16 AM
  25. anthogag's Avatar
    Hmmm. . . So what you're now saying is that iPhone commercials are stale, yet they likely sold 2x as many iPhones last quarter as RIM has sold devices in its all time best quarter? iPad commercials are lame, yet they sell more iPads each week than RIM has sold PlayBooks since launch? Ouch. If you're right, then it is time for a leadership change at RIM. Luckily, you're not, so it works out just fine.


    They sold 2x as many iPhones with 50x the number of commercials, compared to BB

    They sell more IPads because they advertise and RIM doesn't - most likely because the pb is not 'finished'. The OS2 upgrade will let them advertise a ligit product
    01-18-12 11:31 AM
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