Should Frank Boulben Be Fired???
- i think it's time to discuss the elephant in the room,,, w/ BBs' marketing in an absolutely horrendous state, (almost any reasonable person, fanny or not, can admit this), should Frankie get canned???08-09-13 10:10 PMLike 4
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- Tre LawrenceBetween RealitiesMarketing it's not even close to being the biggest issue, IMHO.
There seems to be this idea that people are not buying BB10 devices because they somehow don't know about them. I don't think that's the case.08-09-13 10:20 PMLike 11 - There are other players I'd rather fired.
People complain about apps...fire Mallick.mathking606 likes this.08-09-13 10:21 PMLike 1 - From my experience marketing campaigns go through a lot of channels first for approval. It's easy to point fingers and blame one person. Looking at the recent events, Thorsten Heins is right about restructuring the company but I think he should start at the very top.anon(1852343) and SEAWARRIOR like this.08-09-13 10:25 PMLike 2
- 08-09-13 10:45 PMLike 6
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Posted via CB10Stewartj1 and marksthespot60 like this.08-09-13 11:42 PMLike 2 -
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 4Blacklatino likes this.08-10-13 01:03 AMLike 1 -
But then I enjoy both my BlackBerry units. They are serving me well. No product can be 100% there as we live in a dynamic world. But then I would like to see BlackBerry last and that requires surviving this market which is severe and highly competitive. For that the operations/technical/marketing teams in BlackBerry need to form a think-tank, come up with issues which are faced by the Company itself/its people/developers/marketeers/most of all users of products and then speedily come up with solutions with targets for implementation!
Posted via CB1008-10-13 02:02 AMLike 4 - We have at least one thread with the exact same question here:
http://forums.crackberry.com/showthread.php?t=825035
And yes, Boulben has to go immediately.
It may be simplistic to put the blame only on him, but he is leading the marketing department. And how good that worked in the US, is definitely no secret.
If a CMO can't fulfill the obligation he was enlisted to fulfill, it's no secret what the CEO should do.
Posted via CB1008-10-13 04:47 AMLike 2 - Besides Frank becoming the CMO, what restructuring has been done in the marketing department? If there was none done, it is quite unfair to blame just him. Yes, he is the boss of the division but he is as good as the people he is working with. Maybe they should let him restructure the department.
Posted via CB1008-10-13 05:55 AMLike 0 - Besides Frank becoming the CMO, what restructuring has been done in the marketing department? If there was none done, it is quite unfair to blame just him. Yes, he is the boss of the division but he is as good as the people he is working with. Maybe they should let him restructure the department.
Posted via CB10
Posted via CB1008-10-13 06:08 AMLike 3 - exactly. It's a cumulation of factors from this to apps to pricing to battery life etc that are just far below what the competition can do. Sure, blackberry excels in things like security but is security the highest priority on the market's list? I don't think so.keypad likes this.08-10-13 06:26 AMLike 1
- What feature do you suggest he highlight in his marketing campaigns?
I really don't see anything to market. I mean, who's going to believe the commercial anyway? This is the same company who lied about putting bb10 on the playbook. Plenty of blame to go around pal!
It's like giving him a bag a rocks and telling him to make it look like Rome.08-10-13 07:56 AMLike 0 - Companies pay billions of dollars a year on marketing worldwide. I can't imagine they're doing that unless it delivers big results.
In of Apple, Coca-Cola, etc their products are an unqualified success and yet they constantly market and market hard. They never let up. Why? Because marketing is *very*.
In BlackBerry's case in the US, most consumers think the company has gone out of business, have no idea what BB10 has to offer and/or think it's still exactly like it was 3 or 4 years ago.
It takes tons of effective marketing to turn these mindsets around.
I don't believe the 'build it and they will buy' philosophy is in the least bit realistic.
People need to be educated and enticed to believe they need /want your product and the way to do that is strong, effective marketing not the feeble, ineffective effort we've seen so far.
While Boulben's approach may be spot on in Europe, it's useless in North America but so far no one at BBRY has caught on so sales languish.
Posted from my Z10 using the CB10 app08-10-13 08:16 AMLike 4 - A couple years ago on this forum, marketing was the blame for BB7 devices not selling - totally ignoring how incredibly inferior the product was compared to the competition.
The same thing is happening here, but to a lesser degree.
Marketing can only do so much. It can't lessen the huge headstart the competition had. It doesn't give BB10 significant features that the competition doesn't have. It wont magically make apps appear. It won't make BB10 devices cheaper.
Blackberry did a tremendous amount of marketing in Canada, and it was done decently too. Yet even in their home country, people were exposed to it - and they still yawned. If it's not impressing loyal consumers in their home turf, what chance does it have in the US?08-10-13 08:19 AMLike 7 - May not be entirely his fault, but as he is head of that department it's easy to put the blame on him.
Regardless of what it is something needs to change.
They seem to have a decent presence in Canada where I am, but it really needs to be 100% assault on the US. This is the biggest market, and where all the media is.
They must know they have terrible marketing by now, it's always been a weakness and still is.. fix it!
Posted via CB10SEAWARRIOR and keypad like this.08-10-13 08:37 AMLike 2 -
- True re. Bb7 and true marketing isn't the only issue BUT it IS a very important aspect of success.
Re. Marketing in Canada, I live here and was very disappointed by the feeble effort.
As for uptake in Canada, I see lots of BB10 devices around and keep hearing BBRY has overtaken Samsung in terms of Canadian market share.
Bottom line for me is marketing has to be done very well for BBRY especially since so many Americans don't even know they are still in business.
Posted from my Z10 using the CB10 app08-10-13 09:45 AMLike 0 - In N.A., carriers control the sales channels to customers. Both BB executives and carriers have failed to rebuild BlackBerry brand around BB10. Yes, Mr. Boulben is accountable for the muddled marketing message. But also the sales reps responsible for each carrier. BB management did not fully appreciate how much BlackBerry brand has diminished in the U.S. Also BB management misinterpreted the carriers ability to sell the devices.
It's a new platform. Most BB7 users are either taking a wait and see or switch to another platform. This tells me there is not enough wow factor in the product. But ultimately its the ecosystem that sells devices. Just look at Apple as an example of this phenomena. Frank did not understand the full gravity of the challenge and was unprepared. I see him pushed out by Spring of 2014.08-10-13 10:01 AMLike 2 - heh,,, where would cb be without duplicate threads??? honestly tho, never saw it,,, might've been during my p!ssed off, disgruntled, anti-everything BB days, post no "10" for pb...Blacklatino likes this.08-10-13 10:02 AMLike 1
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- In N.A., carriers control the sales channels to customers. Both BB executives and carriers have failed to rebuild BlackBerry brand around BB10. Yes, Mr. Boulben is accountable for the muddled marketing message. But also the sales reps responsible for each carrier. BB management did not fully appreciate how much BlackBerry brand has diminished in the U.S. Also BB management misinterpreted the carriers ability to sell the devices.
It's a new platform. Most BB7 users are either taking a wait and see or switch to another platform. This tells me there is not enough wow factor in the product. But ultimately its the ecosystem that sells devices. Just look at Apple as an example of this phenomena. Frank did not understand the full gravity of the challenge and was unprepared. I see him pushed out by Spring of 2014.
Watching execution seems to belie some of the rhetoric as we "keep moving".
I agree BlackBerry has completely lost mind share here in the USA but who's job is it to get it back but marketing? Isn't it their job, not only to speak to the carriers and the customers, but also back to the company on whats expected and where they should be headed so the message is clearly communicated to all? That doesn't seem to be happening at all here.
I think this is moot because I think to fire Mr Boulben after such a relatively short tenure would send ripples though out the company that would in the end not be good, and I think Thorsten for whatever reason, believes in the message however flawed.
They need better advice all around that they aren't getting. Like many here, they believe all is well and it's just a matter of time before the world sees the beauty that is BB10. Time will tell. BlackBerry seem to think they have more of it than some here do.
I think Frank should be fired. I doubt it will happen anytime soon.08-10-13 10:19 AMLike 0
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Should Frank Boulben Be Fired???
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