Fall
Blackberry’s Rise in Brand Power
The Dueling Marketing Strategies of RIM versus Apple
By: Adam Colussi, Simone Cooper, Taylor Hart and Daman Kochar
OPMT 1B Marketing 1102
09
Introduction:
Blackberry came onto the Smartphone scene with innovative ideas and concepts;
however, other companies are getting larger portions of the Smartphone market
share by targeting a broader market. Blackberry’s main problem is that it focuses on
corporate businesses as a target market, and virtually ignores the small business and
consumer markets.
Problem:
How can RIM continue to serve its current clients, attract new clients and control the
Smartphone market?
Key Findings/Facts/Assumptions:
SWOT Analysis:
Strengths:
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Emails: Hardcore email users - RIM's email can't be touched
Corporate Usage: Blackberry is the hands-down winner for a perfect desktop
extension. Anything you do on you Outlook server you can do from your
Blackberry.
Security: Customization abilities for security enforcements are available.
they have turn-by-turn GPS and being able to email your GPS map location to
others
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9/10 people like the keyboard better
RIMs software is practical and functional
Weaknesses:
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RIM has outdated tools used by developers to create applications
RIM is only dominant in one major market (corporations) and does not
address the consumer based and small business markets
There are few effective ad campaigns that exist to target consumer market
(i.e. commercials)
RIM was extremely innovative when it first began but has become stagnant in
recent years, letting companies such as Apple move ahead
Opportunities:
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RIM hasn't targeted small businesses, only big corporations that rely on RIM
software.
technological advancements in the operating system could increase customer
base.
Trends are constantly changing for the younger demographic: Blackberry can
adapt to these changes to attract more users.
Threats:
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Without Corporate users Blackberry would be out of business.
iPhone has a much better application store, more applications to choose from
and better applications overall
Blackberry’s operating system accomplishes the job, but it’s outdated.
Apple is in its’ growth stage of its product life cycle whereas Blackberry is
stagnant
Competitive Analysis:
Although there are many relevant companies that have a product that could be
classified as a replacement to the Blackberry, we have chosen three companies in
particular:
 Apple, (iPhone 3GS)
 HTC (Touch Pro2)
 Nokia (E71x)
Apple currently has a little over 10% of the global market share, although in North
America they have a much larger percentage. Apple is probably the direct
competition of RIM, and their rapid growth and innovative features and products
(such as the iPhone) are a direct threat to RIM’s Blackberry.
In North America, Nokia isn’t poised to be a big player. Their handsets are rarely
subsidized, so simply from a cost perspective, they don’t gain the same attention that
mobiles from other brands attract. However, on the global scale Nokia is a major
player in the market, as seen in there control of the market share (approximately
40%)
Just like Nokia, HTC is not a big player in North America, however, on the global scale
they are a competitor of RIM’s, with just over 4% of the global market share. (Tofel,
K. March 11, 2009)
All of RIM’s competitors offer similar pricing and similar products, hey only thing
that distinguishes the products from one another is they way in which the product
and services that go with it, are delivered.
Target Market:
By expanding their target market, RIM could increase its revenue significantly while
concurrently ensuring that a loss in one market does not mean a loss overall,
therefore strengthening the company. There are two main markets that RIM could
target or improve on:
Small Businesses
By targeting the small business sector, RIM could attract a customer base that was
previously untapped. Because they are already a huge supplier in the corporate
sector, it would not take much to expand into the small business sector as well. RIM
could use special offers to attract small business owners and use a specific marketing
campaign to target them.
Younger Demographic
Although lately RIM has moved to attract a younger demographic (i.e. Black Berry
Messenger, Facebook, downloadable applications etc.) refining and expanding the
applications and software will ensure that they acquire a portion of the younger
demographic. In addition, a sleeker operating system will make it easier to market
the company in ad campaigns.
Both of these target markets could be targeted in a specific manner. For example, for
small businesses, they could use advertisements in newspapers and radio. For the
younger demographic they could advertise on social network sites such as Facebook.
Alternatives and Recommendations
RIM should expand their software to have a more intuitive and user-friendly
system that incorporates lifestyle infused applications.
Advantages:
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keeps individuals connected to their Smartphone in such a way that they do
not want to switch to a competitor
creates an alternative culture to the iPhone
targets small business sector and the younger demographic by incorporating
more consumer usable applications and software
more applications that consist of entertainment, education and lifestyle
features will appeal to a younger demographic
does not rely on one target market (ie. Enterprise). With a wide variety of
software applications, a more broad demographic can be targeted making
RIM less dependant on one market.
Disadvantages:
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the cost of new software development and implementation would be
substantial
staying current with new trends (pop-culture) in order to attract younger
consumers
penetrating markets that have already been attacked by other big player (ie.
Apple) may prove to be difficult.
Create marketing ads that appeal to the consumer market by showcasing their
product as a pop culture staple.
Advantages:
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enables blackberry to feature relevant features of the phone
demographic specific marketing campaigns (business oriented campaigns in
newspapers, pop-culture oriented campaign on websites such as facebook
etc.)
a new marketing campaign will let RIM get rid of the stigma of a business
oriented Smartphone and move towards a more consumer-based
Smartphone
Disadvantages:
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expanding and redesigning a new marketing campaign would be very costly
a marketable “gimmick” such as Apple’s “there’s an app for that” campaign
would take a long time to develop and implement
a market campaign does not actually improve on the system/software
Phase out most Smartphones over a 3 year period, streamline one phone that
incorporates both business and lifestyle functions to attack entire market
Advantages:
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allows blackberry to completely redesign concept which means they can have
a more market specific product
it allows them to create a new and exciting marketing campaign that will
attract many new customers
it gives them an opportunity to get rid of the stigma of Blackberry being a
business oriented Smartphone
Disadvantages:
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the cost of phasing out old phones and developing a flagship phone will be
substantial
relying on one Smartphone to attract a diverse market while simultaneously
providing RIM with the majority of its revenue
this is a “make it or break it” situation which means that if it does not do well
in the market against similar products (i.e. the iPhone) then it will
significantly impact RIM
Solution:
Expand and refine the software in order to have a more intuitive and userfriendly system that incorporates lifestyle infused applications while
maintaining the functionality.
By adopting this solution, RIM would be able to simultaneously target several
markets; it would be able to retain their corporate customer base while addressing
the needs of small businesses and a younger demographic. This would be
accomplished by improving their software in a way that would incorporate new,
usable applications while maintaining the business oriented software.
Implementation Plan:
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Analyze existing software and find areas of improvement
Develop new software that is more intuitive and user-friendly with
customizable options (depending on client)
Implement new software
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Develop new applications
Re-develop the Blackberry application store to make it easier to acquire
applications from home or from the Blackberry itself and increase the
payment options
Develop separate marketing campaigns aimed at the different markets by
highlighting certain features
Offer incentives to small businesses who are first time customers in order to
attract more clients
Plan B
Phase out most of the Smartphone’s over a three year period, while
simultaneously streamlining one “flagship” phone that incorporates both
business and lifestyle functions in order to attack the entire market.
Although this alternative does have some flaws, the concept of one “flagship”
Smartphone will appeal to many consumers as it can address their many diverse
needs. For these reason it is Plan B. In adopting one phone as a front-runner, RIM
can compete directly with the iPhone yet still retain the functionality and innovation
of the Blackberry. This move will attract a more diverse demographic and make
more potential clients take notice.
Bibliography
Winners and Loser in the Smartphone Market: Q4 2008 By Kevin C. Tofel
Wednesday, March 11, 2009, 10:03 AM
10 Things RIM’s BlackBerry World (Still) Needs To Do To Improve & Compete As an
App Store by Jason Reese, Posted on 29 June 2009, 5:30 AM
Comparing Smartphone Market Share by Operating System By Chris Crum, May 29th
2009, 4:50AM
iPhone Overtakes Nokia in Smartphone Market Share By Lonnie Lazar July 2nd,
2009, 12:23 PM
Nokia continues to hemorrhage Smartphone market share to RIM and Apple
By Thomas Ricker posted Mar 11th 2009, 6:38 AM