Dear BlackBerry, HIRE CB KEVIN!

I posted this in another thread but I thought this is something that should have its own thread.

It boggles my mind that BlackBerry won't go to CrackBerry Kevin and be like "Kevin, here, come to Waterloo, help us create a bunch of commercials. We'll pay you $X for your hard work. But if your commercials help us become super hit (say, they start going viral, getting lot of youtube hits etc.), then we'd pay you additonal $$$$$"

You know, companies spend so MUCH money trying to recruit (and retain) talent. And yet, here, you've talent (and asset) that you are not capitalzing on! That talent is CrackBerry Kevin and his team (Adam, Bla1ze, Chris etc.) running a bonafide fan site!

Dear BlackBerry, why won't you go to CB team and try recruit them?

Hire them in some official capacity and let them produce some stuff. For example,
- let them produce commercials,
- let them drive UI changes in key BlackBerry apps,
- let them prioritize feature-set for 10.2.x or 10.3
They know BlackBerry customers, let them produce something that they know (for sure) BlackBerry customers want!

Give them some official role, budget, some power, a timeline and let them drive some innovation at BlackBerry.

Oh, and, feel free to send Frank Boulben on vacation while CB Kevin and team is on campus!


If BlackBerry can spend millions on super-bowl commercial and nonsensical stuff, why can't they spend some money in hiring/contracting bonafide talent from CrackBerry team?

Worst case scenario: Kevin and team would produce commercials and drive changes that are NO BETTER than what BlackBerry is already producing.
but
BEST case scenario: given that Kevin and team run a fan site and is deeply aware of what users want, Kevin and team would produce commercials and drive changes that will bring MILLIONS (if not BILLIONS) in additional sales!

I like it. I would think crackberry.com and Kevin along with the staff are well known world wide and are by far the best site on the Internet for anything BlackBerry. now after all these years is the perfect time for BlackBerry to get Kevin in a few commercials and even in print adds. I think with Kevin they can go in so many different directions including having Kevin using his Q10, Z10 or better yet a Z30 and showing how he multi tasks with it for crackberry.com, shop.crackberry.com and emails and stuff.

having Kevin working with/for BlackBerry has been mentioned many times before. remember BlackBerry even included Kevin during the official BlackBerry10 launch announcement during the live broadcast when they chopped his ponytail off...lol.

as long as they wouldn't over do it with Kevin, it would be fun. maybe they should do cover of the old PC and MAC commercials with the 2 guys. I think that would be funny. instead of having iPhone or Android in the commercial, they should have windows 8 phone because they are both fighting for 3rd place in the mobile device market.

won't happen but it's fun to talk about it and the possibilities. oh, one more thing, going with my BlackBerry vs windows idea, I think Bla1ze should be in the background, drunk or high and just giggling at the windows device everytime they say something...

#cbkevinmarketing #buyabb10bitches

BlackBerry for life. Kick'n it with my Z10.

Cute idea, but as much as I like Kevin, Blaze, etc. there is really more to marketing, UI design and planning upcoming features than just coming up with good ideas.

People go to university for many years, to be qualified for these things. UI design and prioritizing updates ideally requires an engineering degree and intimate knowledge of what goes on at the very basic level in the OS.

Heck, even marketing is infinitely more complicated than just coming up with a good idea for a commercial.

You have no idea what you're asking for here, because what you outlined as the worst case scenario really isn't.

The Crackberry team, IMO, is much more valuable to BlackBerry as what they are now. They don't pay anything, as far as I know, and yet have a huge BlackBerry news site that is the first thing you see when asking for help or even generally googling (is that a word) BlackBerry products and reviews. Also many people still know what it means to be a Crackberry. This is the best advertising one can get for $0. It would be a good idea for BB to utilize the mindshare of ALL the members of this site to employ some better advertising tactics and I'm sure throwing us some incentives and cash would bring out great ideas and opinions. Sometimes a marketing team does not know enough about your brand to market efficiently. Maybe they need to look to their fans and figure out what it is they like so much that could get others on board the BB train. From what I gather here though, they apparently just need more/better apps. Oh well. My 2 cents.

Seems like CB does more for android and ios then BlackBerry any more! Anyone care for some android accessories #mobileNations
The gang you commend all saw BlackBerry failure coming a mile away apparently! Lol.
They ban real BlackBerry fans and allow trolls to run free and pick fights!

Posted via CB10

It might be a good idea to get ideas from the crackberry team but certainly putting non marketing people in crucial marketing roles is a bad idea.

Posted via CB10

There are tons of threads about this already. Kevin will not get hired by Blackberry..

Even the world's best marketing isn't going to solve BB's many other problems, such as, for example, the lack of apps, or the lack of carrier support. Until those issues are solved, spending a bunch of money on marketing is mostly a waste. Why bother to get people to the cell phone store only to be sold an iPhone/S4 instead?

I can see them in some sort of consultant capacity, but that's as far as it should go.

Posted via CB10 on my Q10

If CBK was hired by BlackBerry he'd lose his roguish charm.

Posted via CB10

Lol uhhhhohhhh I don't think so. I think Kevin and blaz1e would Def make awesome additions to blackberry and have a ton to offer that is forsure but in no way can Kevin replace Thor. People seem to think that CEO has a ton of power and makes every single choice and that's BS. Just like Tim cook was getting his *** lit up about the stock price... All choices need to be approved appropriately. it's morons like the 80 percent of CB members who sit around talking smack about BlackBerry who hurt sales. Am I a fan boy??? Meh!!! I bought the z10 and it's an awesome phone coming from iPhone. Has blackberry disappointed me before?? YUP but apple has screwed me over 2 different times,sony has screwed me over,bell and rogers has screwed me over, walmart has screwed me over and heck CB has screwed me over 2 times ( letting this site get riddled with BlackBerry hating trolls and a stolen credit card number) but hey I get over it and still come to CB.
I know 4 people personally who don't come to CB anymore because the reality is this is a site to help people with issues,a fan site for info and a community to help people. Who wants to come here to buy things when all they read is B.S on going hating??? CB will pay the price :)

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by john saunders1

Lol uhhhhohhhh I don't think so. I think Kevin and blaz1e would Def make awesome additions to blackberry and have a ton to offer that is forsure but in no way can Kevin replace Thor.

Nobody is asking to replace business leader with Kevin. Point is - hire him as a consultant and let him do some special projects. Like get him to meet developers and explain what features should be prioritized. Get him to give his ideas/mockups for commercials etc.

It's not like he is unqualified. He is educated and has proven track record of spreading the BlackBerry brand. He has same qualifications as many job-candidates would; and PLUS he has a proven track record of helping the BlackBerry brand!

Headhunting is common in tech industry. So, BlackBerry should head hunt these folks! It's not like Kevin and team are unqualified, uneducated buffoons! They have education + experience that would set them apart from most candidates.

Posted via CB 10 app on my Q10!

Originally Posted by chrysaurora

I posted this in another thread but I thought this is something that should have its own thread.

It boggles my mind that BlackBerry won't go to CrackBerry Kevin and be like "Kevin, here, come to Waterloo, help us create a bunch of commercials. We'll pay you $X for your hard work. But if your commercials help us become super hit (say, they start going viral, getting lot of youtube hits etc.), then we'd pay you additonal $$$$$"

You know, companies spend so MUCH money trying to recruit (and retain) talent. And yet, here, you've talent (and asset) that you are not capitalzing on! That talent is CrackBerry Kevin and his team (Adam, Bla1ze, Chris etc.) running a bonafide fan site!

Dear BlackBerry, why won't you go to CB team and try recruit them?

Hire them in some official capacity and let them produce some stuff. For example,
- let them produce commercials,
- let them drive UI changes in key BlackBerry apps,
- let them prioritize feature-set for 10.2.x or 10.3
They know BlackBerry customers, let them produce something that they know (for sure) BlackBerry customers want!

Give them some official role, budget, some power, a timeline and let them drive some innovation at BlackBerry.

Oh, and, feel free to send Frank Boulben on vacation while CB Kevin and team is on campus!


If BlackBerry can spend millions on super-bowl commercial and nonsensical stuff, why can't they spend some money in hiring/contracting bonafide talent from CrackBerry team?

Worst case scenario: Kevin and team would produce commercials and drive changes that are NO BETTER than what BlackBerry is already producing.
but
BEST case scenario: given that Kevin and team run a fan site and is deeply aware of what users want, Kevin and team would produce commercials and drive changes that will bring MILLIONS (if not BILLIONS) in additional sales!

You're under the assumption that because someone runs a fan site or post blog entries they could run a company? Ummm ok. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they couldn't be successful but I'm not sure I'm seeing a correlation between what is done here and how that translates into the actual corporate world. If you're suggesting these as options because blackberry couldn't do any worse, then I'd probably agree with that. But one could argue that those same people you mention have been just as blind to what's been going on as they for years have supported NEARLY everything blackberry has done and defend almost everything. Every now and then they will raise questions but in most cases they are full agreement. So if they had those stances, who knows if they could fare any better. But again, I guess blackberry really couldn't do worse at this point.

Originally Posted by scorpiodsu

You're under the assumption that because someone runs a fan site or post blog entries they could run a company?

No, I am not suggesting that you make CB Kevin the CEO. Only hire as a consultant to help them
a) make commercials
b) prioritize feature set for 10.2.x / 10.3
c) reach out to fan community and engage existing fans into doing promotions for BlackBerry via word of mouth, contests etc.

Originally Posted by scorpiodsu

But one could argue that those same people you mention have been just as blind to what's been going on as they for years have supported NEARLY everything blackberry has done and defend almost everything. Every now and then they will raise questions but in most cases they are full agreement. So if they had those stances, who knows if they could fare any better. But again, I guess blackberry really couldn't do worse at this point.

Very fair point. Agreed.

I voted for ham sandwich!

Originally Posted by Dapper37

Seems like CB does more for android and ios then BlackBerry any more! Anyone care for some android accessories #mobileNations
The gang you commend all saw BlackBerry failure coming a mile away apparently! Lol.
They ban real BlackBerry fans and allow trolls to run free and pick fights!

Posted via CB10

I disagree. how can you say that? CB has done so much for BlackBerry and even more for BlackBerry users. The amount of really important information, reviews and tutorials and "how to" threads and videos is and has been so valuable for all of us.

they definitely don't do more for Android and iOS. I would like to hear your reasons for thinking that?

they don't ban real BlackBerry fans. they ban those that deserve to get banned. they have rules here just like any other forums and if the rules get broken by anyone (BlackBerry fan or not), they deal with it accordingly.

this site, with its staff and members have helped me many times over the years and I am grateful that this site exists.

as for the topic at hand, I still believe that CB and Kevin are known well enough in the world within the BlackBerry community that an ad(s) would be beneficial for BlackBerry. Even if they use them for ads online like YouTube or something like that. I would like to see that.

BlackBerry for life. Kick'n it with my Z10.