[VeGiTo]

I just want to take a moment to admire the extremely well choreographed launch campaign that Thor, Frank, and team have put together so far. The buzz in mainstream tech media is palpable. These publications all happened within the last few days, and they've been covered elsewhere in CrackBerry, but I just want to summarize them here as a pre-cursor to my admiration:

ZDNet
BlackBerry 10 is the smartphone platform I am most excited about for 2013 | ZDNet

Technobuffalo
I'm Ready to Buy a BlackBerry Again | TechnoBuffalo

Fortune
10*Reasons To Hope For BlackBerry 10 - Forbes

BGR
BlackBerry 10 demand strong at Rogers, carrier confirms | BGR

Gizmodo
The Complete BlackBerry 10 Video Walkthrough: Surprise, It's Neat

And they just keep rolling in. These are not no-name blogs, and many of them were known "RIM-bashers" in the past. I have to say, I've followed tech for a while and I've never seen any launch of a new platform with this kind of unanimous acclaim. Not the original iPhone. Not even WebOS. And certainly not Windows 8.

But as Thor said, we won't see "above the ground" fireworks (big TV ads etc) until after the launch date, which leads me to believe BB10 will have a spectacular launch well beyond any naysayer's expectations.

[derpOverflow]

Here's another:

BlackBerry 10 hands on: We've used it and it's awesome | Digital Trends

[RubberChicken76]

Wow - the Gizmodo one is a surprise. If Techcrunch says something nice, I might actually pass out!

[koolrosh]

I agree and I have to say I'm impressed of what RIM has accomplished in such a short amount of time. You have to consider that these publications, especially BGR and Zdnet, were extremely negative towards RIM just a few months ago. They've made the bloggers feel special by showing them unreleased hardware and signing NDA with them.

They've got the Developers excited, they've got the carriers excited, they've got the media excited... Now they just need to get the consumers excited and we have a winner on our hands!

[VeGiTo]

Wow - the Gizmodo one is a surprise. If Techcrunch says something nice, I might actually pass out!

Ya that one is a little tongue in cheek - you can tell Gizmodo is trying very hard to contain their positivity, and they just had to come up with a few negative things to say to balance it out.

[koolrosh]

Here's one more:

Why you should be rooting for RIM and BlackBerry 10 to succeed - The Week

[Rickroller]

I just want to take a moment to admire the extremely well choreographed launch campaign that Thor, Frank, and team have put together so far. The buzz in mainstream tech media is palpable. These publications all happened within the last few days, and they've been covered elsewhere in CrackBerry, but I just want to summarize them here as a pre-cursor to my admiration:

ZDNet
BlackBerry 10 is the smartphone platform I am most excited about for 2013 | ZDNet

Technobuffalo
I'm Ready to Buy a BlackBerry Again | TechnoBuffalo

Fortune
10*Reasons To Hope For BlackBerry 10 - Forbes

BGR
BlackBerry 10 demand strong at Rogers, carrier confirms | BGR

Gizmodo
The Complete BlackBerry 10 Video Walkthrough: Surprise, It's Neat

And they just keep rolling in. These are not no-name blogs, and many of them were known "RIM-bashers" in the past. I have to say, I've followed tech for a while and I've never seen any launch of a new platform with this kind of unanimous acclaim. Not the original iPhone. Not even WebOS. And certainly not Windows 8.

But as Thor said, we won't see "above the ground" fireworks (big TV ads etc) until after the launch date, which leads me to believe BB10 will have a spectacular launch well beyond any naysayer's expectations.

Tech blogs weren't near as popular back when the original iPhone came out, but if you don't think WebOS had a huge hype train behind it with tech bloggers then you clearly have selective memory. As for "guerilla marketing" being the factor behind RIM being blogged about positively now, i'd wager it has more to do with the fact that the launch is (finally) impending, and bloggers naturally are excited to see something new.

For all you that thought that there was a negative biased towards RIM, those outside of the fanboi bubble seen it for what it was, calling a spade a spade. RIM had made blunder after blunder and pretty much beat themselves up, so of course the media would write about that..its what they do. Now that RIM is seemingly on the comeback, that will be in the news. However, I can guarantee that if RIM announces on the 30th that phones wont be available for another 2-3 months, then guess what..the press will eat them alive for that, and rightfully so.

Sent from my GT-N8010 using Tapatalk 2

[Thunderbuck]

Yes, we had that other thread today concerned that RIM wasn't doing enough to raise public awareness of BB10. I think the kind of media coverage that BB10 is starting to get is worth considerably more, because it actually serves to rehabilitate RIM's image.

Personally, I think RIM has done absolutely everything it has needed to do. And if the rumor is true that Rogers has already pre-sold its whole initial allotment, then clearly the word is getting out to SOMEBODY.

[VeGiTo]

However, I can guarantee that if RIM announces on the 30th that phones wont be available for another 2-3 months, then guess what..the press will eat them alive for that, and rightfully so.

While the implication of that statement is true, the premise is not. Various sources have already indicated that many major carriers will have them available much closer to Jan 30 - a fact that has also been confirmed by my sources within RIM.

[pblakk]

Well it's also no surprise considering this is sort of a last ditch effort. It's all out.

[bluetroll]

it's not guerilla marketing.

it's just marketing done properly. what you're seeing is positive publicity, which is the one of the best ways to promote a product.

[Thunderbuck]

Well it's also no surprise considering this is sort of a last ditch effort. It's all out.

Well, it isn't, exactly. RIM still has a few ways forward even if BB10 were to fail, even if it's just as an MDM platform.

[howarmat]

it's not guerilla marketing.

it's just marketing done properly. what you're seeing is positive publicity, which is the one of the best ways to promote a product.

bingo! It could just be they have a good product on their hands once again. Put a good product in peoples hands and marketing becomes much easier, almost to the point it will start to sell itself.

[LazyEvul]

The more I think about it, the more it seems that RIM knows exactly what they're doing with BlackBerry 10. Very excited to see what else they've got in store 20 days from now!

[RubberChicken76]

Well, it isn't, exactly. RIM still has a few ways forward even if BB10 were to fail, even if it's just as an MDM platform.

Exactly! There's a lot of 'all or nothing' thinking and it strikes me as a bit silly. RIM wasn't always the size they are now or the revenue they are now. There are plenty of re-org possibilities

[RubberChicken76]

it's not guerilla marketing.

it's just marketing done properly. what you're seeing is positive publicity, which is the one of the best ways to promote a product.

One of the best examples of that was Steve Jobs. Those keynotes and the strategy around them was a huge part of Apple's marketing

[Majestic Lion]

Yeah, that's not guerilla marketing, that's just online media folks jumping on to what they see will be popular in the near future. What Beats Audio pulled off at the last Olympics...now that's guerilla marketing.

[Thunderbuck]

bingo! It could just be they have a good product on their hands once again. Put a good product in peoples hands and marketing becomes much easier, almost to the point it will start to sell itself.

I know I keep going on about the keyboard, but...

When Heins claimed back in May that BB10 would have a revolutionary keyboard experience, I actually, literally groaned, wondering a) if this was another "leapfrog moment" and b) even if it wasn't, would anyone care? Fast forward to the last Dev Alpha update, and guess what? It actually IS that good! Good enough that Gizmodo gushed over it, and wished it were available on iOS and Android.

Even better, the keyboard isn't the only cool feature. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that RIM is very carefully managing expectations here, with an aim to exceeding them. So far, it's worked brilliantly.

[Superfly_FR]

Can't make good (positive/recovery) marketing with a poor product. So this demonstrates two things :

1. RIM has made an impressive product
2. RIM has learned how to promote it

And damm, this sounds really good

[southlander]

Just shows marketing is SO much easier when you have a great product. Once the buzz takes hold you can ride it.

[Cappyshirt]

This is great for RIM, Let's hope they can continue this type of successful marketing for the four other BB10 devices there promising this year.

[VeGiTo]

it's not guerilla marketing.

it's just marketing done properly. what you're seeing is positive publicity, which is the one of the best ways to promote a product.

It is guerilla in the sense that it is not the traditional method of warfare (e.g. outspending the opponent, blast the air waves with ads).

See Forbes' interview of Frank Boulben for an insight into RIM's thinking. They've been seeding "influencers" with devices at various stage of development, and much of what you see now is premeditated.

But let's not argue semantics, that's not the point of this thread.

[Dapper37]

Clearly they have had a guerilla's presents at CES! Well done RIM!

[Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes]

Just watched the gizmodo video again. When they showed the alarm clock feature that the device backlight turns on slowly when the alarm goes off read the subtitles in the video.

"i don't know how good it will be compared to a phillips sun alarm though"



Gizmodo, has it really come to that point? Your worst nightmare. BlackBerry 10 is so good that you have to compare a software feature to a purpose built, one use product??? That's all you've got? God forbid the ascending screen brightness wakeup alarm feature isn't as good as on an actual alarm clock that has a massive light built in.

[info600]

It goes to show that RIM does not need to spend millions on advertisements or really big displays like Microsoft (or NVidia for that matter) to get some critics talking positively...