[pantlesspenguin]

I was talking to a friend this morning who knows I'm excited for BB10. He told me that a couple of his friends were saying they wouldn't consider BB10 because "They couldn't use it unless their friends also had BB10 phones." I asked him if they were JUST referring to BBM and he didn't even know. It reminded me of when I took my Playbook to T-Mobile because I was having difficulty getting it to work with the wifi hotspot with my HTC Amaze (which ended up to be a problem on T-Mo's end, not my Playbook). When I was explaining my issue, a T-Mo rep said "Oh, there's your problem. You can only use a Playbook with another BlackBerry phone." I told them this was very false and connected to the store's wifi. Then I connected to the rep's own wifi hotspot on his Android devie (can't remember what that was at the time). It was ONLY THEN that they looked into my account and went through troubleshooting on my Amaze.

Both the Playbook incident and the incident with my friend this morning left me really unnerved. What can be done about this??

[diegonei]

You provided the answer already. If RIM starts a strong advertising campain, they can get some of the misinformation out of the way.

Now that we have a proper CMO, I'd expect to see some action on that field.

I personally would have a few ads going like this...

*BlackBerry logo - fades into black background with hipster looking kid standing besides a cool looking kid*

hipster looking kid - "With my smartphone, I can do X. Too bad you can't on your BlackBerry."

cool looking kid - "In fact, that's not true. With <app or feature>, I can do X, Y and Z!"

hipster looking kid - "But BlackBerry devices can't do Z... Can they?"

cool looking kid - "You really should not trust everything you read on tech blogs..."

*fades to black screen - BlackBerry Logo*

*label slides from the left - Think again. Think BlackBerry*

Script needs a lot of work, but you get the picture.

Edit: I just ripped off "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC", didn't I?

[calicocat2010]

You provided the answer already. If RIM starts a strong advertising campain, they can get some of the misinformation out of the way.

Now that we have a proper CMO, I'd expect to see some action on that field.

I personally would have a few ads going like this...

*BlackBerry logo - fades into black background with hipster looking kid standing besides a cool looking kid*

hipster looking kid - "With my smartphone, I can do X. Too bad you can't on your BlackBerry."

cool looking kid - "In fact, that's not true. With <app or feature>, I can do X, Y and Z!"

hipster looking kid - "But BlackBerry devices can't do Z... Can they?"

cool looking kid - "You really should not trust everything you read on tech blogs..."

*fades to black screen - BlackBerry Logo*

*label slides from the left - Think again. Think BlackBerry*

Script needs a lot of work, but you get the picture.

Edit: I just ripped off "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC", didn't I?

Nice ad image, would those features from the cool kid be Shwon by the camera? I assume so. It would provide to the audience some of the amazing features that BB10 has to offer. The ones that Blow away the competition.

[diegonei]

Yes, the camera would show an actual device performing in real time whatever they are talking about in that particular ad.

Now the hipster would surely be holding a cardboard box made to look like a smartphone. We don't want to provide free advertisement to the competition.

Edit: You know, this could actually turn into a contest. Create your "10 Common BlackBerry Misconceptions" ad!

[anon(2757538)]

Strong ad campaign AND througho carrier salespeople training. Need incentives to selling BB10. Get those people behind BB10, get a lot of customers

[DocDRM]

You provided the answer already. If RIM starts a strong advertising campain, they can get some of the misinformation out of the way.

Now that we have a proper CMO, I'd expect to see some action on that field.

I personally would have a few ads going like this...

*BlackBerry logo - fades into black background with hipster looking kid standing besides a cool looking kid*

hipster looking kid - "With my smartphone, I can do X. Too bad you can't on your BlackBerry."

cool looking kid - "In fact, that's not true. With <app or feature>, I can do X, Y and Z!"

hipster looking kid - "But BlackBerry devices can't do Z... Can they?"

cool looking kid - "You really should not trust everything you read on tech blogs..."

*fades to black screen - BlackBerry Logo*

*label slides from the left - Think again. Think BlackBerry*

Script needs a lot of work, but you get the picture.

Edit: I just ripped off "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC", didn't I?

Plagiarism is just a really really really sincere form of flattery at the end of the day . . .

[pantlesspenguin]

Strong ad campaign AND througho carrier salespeople training. Need incentives to selling BB10. Get those people behind BB10, get a lot of customers

You're absolutely right about carrier salespeople training. I'm sure that's where a lot of the misconception about the PB only working with other BB's came from. I'm still shaking my head and wondering how people actually thought that you couldn't do anything on BB10 unless your contacts had BB10 phones as well. That's ONLY true with BBM, and unfortunately that does create a bit of a catch 22 situation. You really can't do much with BBM unless your friends have it too, but in order to get your friends on BBM they have to take the plunge and get a BB10 device even if a lot of their contacts aren't on BBM at first!

[DocDRM]

I was talking to a friend this morning who knows I'm excited for BB10. He told me that a couple of his friends were saying they wouldn't consider BB10 because "They couldn't use it unless their friends also had BB10 phones." I asked him if they were JUST referring to BBM and he didn't even know. It reminded me of when I took my Playbook to T-Mobile because I was having difficulty getting it to work with the wifi hotspot with my HTC Amaze (which ended up to be a problem on T-Mo's end, not my Playbook). When I was explaining my issue, a T-Mo rep said "Oh, there's your problem. You can only use a Playbook with another BlackBerry phone." I told them this was very false and connected to the store's wifi. Then I connected to the rep's own wifi hotspot on his Android devie (can't remember what that was at the time). It was ONLY THEN that they looked into my account and went through troubleshooting on my Amaze.

Both the Playbook incident and the incident with my friend this morning left me really unnerved. What can be done about this??

We just have to out tell the other side!

[DocDRM]

or if you prefer . . .

[PatrickMJS]

You can't win by trying to "squash" it... you just have to out-tell your story. I can't watch a half hour of tv with seeing at least one Apple ad or an Apple product placement. BlackBerry's new CMO should be ready with a blitz of ads come January. And, please, no more businessmen in rotating teacups.

[Cesare21]

Both the Playbook incident and the incident with my friend this morning left me really unnerved. What can be done about this??

I had a similar issue with my friend. Her requirements were more suited for a tablet (general web surfing, playing a few games and drawing/image editing, she's a doctor so she doesn't have much free time) and so we went to this retail chain. I asked her what she had in mind and she said she wanted an iPad mostly. While she was handling the ipad, I asked the sales guy for a PB. He says "the company doesn't manufacture them anymore" and then I asked him which company cuz I forgot the name too and he says he doesn't even recall. Then he goes on saying that PB only works when it's 'linked' to a 'berry and not otherwise. I asked him if he can get hold of a couple of PBs and I'm willing to put down some advance cash for his trouble. He said since the product line shut down it would be impossible. I mean wth?? I know he was trollin' 'cause I can order a PB online.

RIM please do your marketing stuff better to clear out these misconceptions.

[diegonei]

[/B]

Plagiarism is just a really really really sincere form of flattery at the end of the day . . .

I suppose that's particularly true when you don't notice you've done it untill it was too late...

You can't win by trying to "squash" it... you just have to out-tell your story. I can't watch a half hour of tv with seeing at least one Apple ad or an Apple product placement. BlackBerry's new CMO should be ready with a blitz of ads come January. And, please, no more businessmen in rotating teacups.

I know what you mean. I see around 6 Galaxy Note 10' ads per movie on TV, a couple Surface ads and an eventual Nokia (S-based or Lumina). There have never really been iPhone ads here... They don't need to when every single other ad shows an iPad...

There are BlackBerry ads too. Those silly night bikes or any other thing that leaves you wondering what product exactly they are trying to sell.

We just have to out tell the other side!

You know, I have a few friends I plan on simply gifting BB10 phones to. It is just a matter of launch and money now. And then we can have the "and so on, and so on" effect going.

Like it was stated before, there are a few things that a BlackBerry can only do with another BlackBerry... And usully we can't show those off.

[Rickroller]

First off..RIM needs to have something to market. They need something other than BBM and email if they want to attract people back to the platform. RIM has always been terrible at advertising..and it still seems that way now. Of course, we won't probably see any real ads until BB10 is launched or released..but if they really wanted to build some hype..we'd be seeing something now.

A commercial with various headlines about the company being in trouble, cutting jobs and costs, people counting them out (perhaps with an image of smoldering rubble) and then reverse it with positive articles about QNX aquisition, new CEO on board and then, rising from some ashes, the launch date of BB10..like a Phoenix rising.

Something like this would build public awareness, without giving away unnecessary details about your product. This would build hype and more importantly, make consumers aware.. But as I said, RIM has never been very good at promoting themselves..

[Rello]

Similar to the op, I had a friend that bought a nexus 7 and I asked her why she didn't look at a PlayBook (just to see what she'd say) and she told me that although she did her research on tablets before making her purchase, she admitted that she automatically wrote off anything from BB. I don't know how RIM can reverse this. Its such a huge uphill battle because at one point I think once anyone gets the idea in their head that a certain brand isn't good or doesn't produce quality products, they simply don't touch that brand and I don't know what kind of advertising can reverse that. Its crazy too because my friend has never used any BB product. Her assumptions that BB's "suck" is all from public perception!

Honestly, I don't see RIM gaining a huge chuck of marketshare back. It can happen but I think this is something that's going to happen over years if it does. Its gonna take a combination of RIM having a very good to excellent product at launch, great advertisement, and word of mouth. There are simply too many misconceptions about RIM right now

[loopdokter]

Part of this issue is simply cash flow. Apple has oodles of it. While RIM still has money in the bank, they still have to watch where their spending it. Apple can pretty much chuck multi-millions of dollars into their marketing without them worrying about it affecting their cashflow. When you have cash, you can create perceptions that aren't necessarily true - or at the very least are greatly exaggerated. Apple has managed to get into people's consciousness and create the image that they are the superior product. Furthermore, they were the first to market with a device that lets face it, the rest of the world has basically taken on as being a standard in the way of mobile phone capabilities. Tack on the fact that you have the whole fanboy phenomena with Apple products (I can't think of a namebrand that people defend so heavily as Apple), and it's a tough sell for those who have been 'convinced'.

This is an uphill battle and the only way it's going to be won is through proving one is better than the other. I'm confident the RIMpire WILL strike back bigger, better and meaner than ever! I just don't think it's going to happen overnight. iOS in my opinion has grown dated. BB10 promises to have some things that Apple will feel like they were caught with their pants down. A lot of the media hype on the drawbacks of RIM are based upon an old OS - and this one is very, very different and new. It is entirely a different platform.

[jakie55]

Rome wasn't built in a day. The first quarter is just to get back in black...(good song for launch? better than "start me up for windows 95) Gaining market share will take longer, but as has been mentioned on these forums by others, it took iphone 2 years to become the market leader it is.

[anon(2757538)]

Rome wasn't built in a day. The first quarter is just to get back in black...(good song for launch? better than "start me up for windows 95) Gaining market share will take longer, but as has been mentioned on these forums by others, it took iphone 2 years to become the market leader it is.

Exactly.

BB10 will probably launch as the most "complete" OS to ever launch. Took a few years for MMS and copy/paste on iOS. iOS certainly didn't launch with big apps. It evolved into what it is today.

BB10 will be able to launch feature complete with majority of big name apps.

[sandmanfvr]

The playbook integration, forced at first when it came out, with other blackberry devices caused many issues and why it is not as popular now. RIM has to NOT do this and show BB10 will not be like this. Other than BBM, you can connect your BB10 phone with anybody, just like android and iphones etc. RIM just has to get out there and say that. I mean I have been watching the videos and the new CEO is admitting old RIM mistakes and I a commend him for that. I think RIM just has to show that the BB10 devices and now playbooks (present and future with BB10) will NOT require other blackberry devices.