[Cale M]

You don't need to agree, but I've been in Marketing for almost 20 years ....... might have come across this sort of thing a time or two

Funny. I've been in technology for exactly twenty years and I've seen a lot of marketing people come and go.

[RubberChicken76]

Second, the ads you see at the top of your page have NOTHING to do with BB or CB, but everything to do with the sites you visit most frequently, your region and Google!!!

Don't companies pay google to show banner ads based upon sites visited, searches done etc? Don't they also make the creative? And don't the sites also receive affiliate marketing dollars for being part of Google's network?

Create image ads in different sizes - AdWords Help

[RubberChicken76]

Funny. I've been in technology for exactly twenty years and I've seen a lot of marketing people come and go.

Hehe - I've been in technology for about 14 and I've certainly seen plenty of engineers try to tell marketing folks how to do their job (while getting irate if someone in marketing had a suggestion for a solution. "Don't tell us how to do our job, but we'll be delighted to tell you how to do yours!").

[Cale M]

Hehe - I've been in technology for about 14 and I've certainly seen plenty of engineers try to tell marketing folks how to do their job (while getting irate if someone in marketing had a suggestion for a solution. "Don't tell us how to do our job, but we'll be delighted to tell you how to do yours!").

I love it when marketing tells me what to do. If they sell a feature we don't have it's usually because someone wants it. Damn right I'll make sure we have that available.

But I'm not so thrilled when our client base wanders over to a competing vendor because that company made their advanaces known while we sat and did nothing.

[ibpluto]

Funny. I've been in technology for exactly twenty years and I've seen a lot of marketing people come and go.

*shrug* ....sorry you worked with crappy Marketing people. They must have been spending money on marketing a product that wasn't available for people to buy.

[Wiki Cydia]

arrrgggghhh.....

First rule of Marketing, do not spend tangible dollars on something people can't get.

T\I'm quite certain the Superbowl ad which aired on American television required a significant amount of tangible dollars.

[Cale M]

*shrug* ....sorry you worked with crappy Marketing people. They must have been spending money on marketing a product that wasn't available for people to buy.

No. They were just really confused when they tried to sell a new product and found out that our customers already contracted with someone else... because those customers had been made aware of the competitor's evolution strategy instead of ours.

So. Yeah. They were pretty crappy marketing people. We have better ones now.

[dbmalloy]

Iti is the buzz not the marketing which will sell BB10 anywhere.... Marketing gets you product known.... people talking to other people is what sells...sure the BB converted will buy but what will sell BB is when people seeing someone else using it....

[RubberChicken76]

I love it when marketing tells me what to do. If they sell a feature we don't have it's usually because someone wants it. Damn right I'll make sure we have that available.

But I'm not so thrilled when our client base wanders over to a competing vendor because that company made their advanaces known while we sat and did nothing.

That sounds like sales people not marketing. :-D In theory, they're supposed to be doing research on customers, trends, new customers etc and taking the product and explaining it in a way everyone can understand and telling people about it in channels where they can learn about it ... and creating demand generation initiatives designed to meet revenue goals.

But this role 'varies' from company to company.

[ibpluto]

T\I'm quite certain the Superbowl ad which aired on American television required a significant amount of tangible dollars.

That touched audiences in markets that could get it (once again, the US is not the only market inthe world). It was more of a prestige/statement anyway (much like participatingin a trade show). True wide scale marketing is done via repeated branding (ie TV commercials), something the Superbowl ad cannot do. It was more of a "look, we're still in the game" spot

[ibpluto]

No. They were just really confused when they tried to sell a new product and found out that our customers already contracted with someone else... because those customers had been made aware of the competitor's evolution strategy instead of ours.

So. Yeah. They were pretty crappy marketing people. We have better ones now.

There is not a company on the planet that runs regular spots on a product you can't buy ...... I'm all ears if you can tell me one

BB has done an insane job of viral marketing for the new platform. There really is nothing more they can do in markets that don't have this device available to them....nothing. Running spot advertising would be counter productive.

[Cale M]

There is not a company on the planet that runs regular spots on a product you can't buy ...... I'm all ears if you can tell me one

Any movie company ever.
Any Blu-Ray distributer ever.
Any publisher ever.
Any Real Estate devloper ever....

And BlackBerry if they don't want people buying someone else's phone the day before theirs goes up for sale. This is why everyone around here thinks that Samsung has the next big thing and have to be reminded of who the other guy is. No, not Apple. The other-other guy. Them.

EDIT: Besides, listen to Wiki Cydia. For the amount of money they spent on one TV spot that was barely noticed they could have canvassed the continent for a month... and gotten a **** of a lot more buzz.

[ibpluto]

Any movie company ever.
Any Blu-Ray distributer ever.
Any publisher ever.
Any Real Estate devloper ever....

And BlackBerry if they don't want people buying someone else's phone the day before theirs goes up for sale. This is why everyone around here thinks that Samsung has the next big thing and have to be reminded of who the other guy is. No, not Apple. The other-other guy. Them.

Any movie company ever. - this is a service as much as a product (But I'll give you this)
Any Blu-Ray distributer ever. - Never seen this advertised until about a week, to two max before its out. (you have 3-4 before you can have a BB inthe US)
Any publisher ever. - I have NEVER noticed an advert for printed literature
Any Real Estate devloper ever.... - They do this so you can pre-order and buy, so technically the product IS available

Besides, BB has marketed, you are able to pre-order from a carrier in the US, viral marketing and google ads have been there since lauch (and before) and of course the Superbowl. You will not see regular spots until the product is available, and this is a sound strategy.

[OMGitworks]

Don't disagree but does show that the Super Bowl Ad was a waste. They advertised for a product at least 60 days away. We Americans have very short memories. In the US Northeast, no advertising and zero buzz at this point. Whatever limited (and by that I mean very limited) buzz the SB ad and Alicia Keys generated is LONG gone at this point. Hoping for a firm launch date and ad blitz soon.

[parkinfly]

There's definitely a lot of advertising in Canada, saw a few commercials last night during the Oscars. Also the banner at the top of the screen is for Future Shop and the Z10.

Funny enough I was on the macrumor website and there was an ad for the Z10!

As for the US I have seen a lot of ads on the New York Times website.

[adrenaline_x]

Yup. The Marketing is all over the place here in Canada and in WInnipeg. I see it on tv all the time. When channel is saying " An All new Episode tomorrow" it has a blackberry z10 add attached. i hear it on the radio all the time.. The traffic updates is for "the all new blackberry z10", Virgin 103 has contenss sponsored by the z10. The advertising is in all the stores around the city.. I can't view a website with out seeng and ad, but i assume i'm recieving ads from google based on what i search for or read.. Which lately is alot about blackberry and Bes.

Alot of my friends with the s3 or the iphone 4s or iphone 5 want one and think its a killer, cool phone.. Never saw that happening.

[MasterOfBinary]

What region are you in? I can't recall seeing any BB ads in the U.S. Midwest. And the banner at the top of this page, as I'm typing now, is for a free Galaxy SII through Sprint.

Maybe they saw everyone on Crackberry complaining about the superbowl commercial being a month early... How come two weeks ago it was waaaay to early and now it isn't?

[RubberChicken76]

Don't disagree but does show that the Super Bowl Ad was a waste. They advertised for a product at least 60 days away.

Unless they were trying to dispel the myth that the company was going out of business ....

[toujours_frais]

Okay, first, I believe the positive news about the Z10 and it's sales numbers, that as a phone its selling well (maybe not "iPhone well", but it never had to hit crazy numbers to be successful). I also like the phone, my wife traded in her 9800 for one (I'm stuck in a contract still).

I was also one of the people derided for not liking the superbowl commercial. I felt it was ineffective as a marketing tool meant to generate interest and awareness in the non-blackberry-believers out there. Since then, I've seen very little beyond print/online ads for the phone. It IS selling well (or at least seems to be) but I have real fears that it's early adopters and BB faithful driving those numbers. With a new CMO, I was under the hope that there would be a big, coordinated marketing effort to build on the momentum the early adopters are providing. Instead, it seems the marketing department is again nearly absent, relying on word of mouth, (hopefully) positive press and positive push by the carriers. That scares me for a few reasons, one is the average consumer doesn't read tech sites, let alone fan sites before buying, and relying on carriers means relying on the kid at the store making $10 an hour telling housewives that the BB product is for them.

So, tell me I'm wrong, but where is the buzz generating marketing plan? What, exactly is the CMO doing to earn his salary?

Where about do you live? Here in Canada, banners are all over the place.

[anon(3896606)]

OP, since you are in Toronto, drive 1 hour to Waterloo.
You will see BlackBerry, and lots of it.

[el_excelsior]

Yeah I was about to ask the OP which country he's in because I seen a lot of advertising here in Canada =D

You must not watch a lot of TV. I can't watch 30 minutes of a Canadian TV channel w/o seeing 2-3 ads. Nevermind the advertising in airports, stores, bus stops online, radio etc.

[Crowezine]

You must not watch a lot of TV. I can't watch 30 minutes of a Canadian TV channel w/o seeing 2-3 ads. Nevermind the advertising in airports, stores, bus stops online, radio etc.

I've never actually seen a bus stop ad, but they're always on TV. Can't watch two ads without the next one saying; "BlackBerry, Keep Moving" haha.

[anon3969612]

Yup, watching Big Bang Theory on PVR from last week, an active banner BB10 ad running during the actual show along the bottom of the screen!!!!

... then a break to a BB10 commercial.

I was stunned and pi$$ed, like back in the '80's when I was in a movie theatre and they just started showing commericals before the show, it was new and the whole theatre including myself started booing through the whole commercial set. And now it's normal. I'll have to start buying the season DVD's and stop watching the broadcasts.

Anyways, lots of BB10 ads on TV currently, as well as bus stops, billboards, store displays... don't worry, it's there.

[Kid Vibe]

They are the major sponsor for Alicia Key's upcoming world tour.

[anon3969612]

... and on the Mercedes AMG F1 car running in the 2013 F1 season: