Marketing Re search
Group Research Project
Blackberry
Group Members
Preeti Chaudhary
Dipendra Dhankhar
Aman Prabjyot Singh
Sergii Naboka
Aakash Patel
10/10/2014
BlackBerry
CONTENT
LIMITATIONS STATEMENT…………………………………………………….……………………..……2
RESEARCH PROPOSAL……………………………….………………………….……………………………2
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………….………………………………3
SITUATION ANALYSIS………………………………………………………….…………………..…………3
Marketing Problem/Opportunity……………………………………...….……………………………4
Marketing Research Problem ……………………………………………………………………………4
Research Objective ……………………………………………………………………………………………4
Research Design…………………………………………………………………………………………………4
Project Budget …………………………………………………………………………………...………………5
Project Schedule……………………………………………………………………………...…………………5
Category Segmentation………………………………………………………………………………………5
Market Share……………………………………………………………………………………...………………6
Recent product innovations……………………………………………………………….………………6
SWOT Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………………………7
FOCUS GROUP REPORT………………………………………………………………………………………8
Conclusion & Recommendations……………………………………………………………..…………9
ON-LINE SURVEY REPORT………………………………………………………..………………………10
Conclusion & Recommendations …..…………………………………………………………………12
APPENDIX A – SCREENER…………………………………………………………….……………………13
APPENDIX B – DISCUSSION GUIDE……………………………………………….……………………17
CITATION…………………………………………………………………………………….……………………20
1
BlackBerry
LIMITATIONS STATEMENT
This project is limited by conditions of providing proper focus group research, where participants
could not be filtered by screener that might give flawed results.
Also there were no BlackBerry users among participants, and the focus group was done once and
not repetitive, as well as online survey.
As a result conclusions are considered directional, but not statistically predictable and accurate.
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
BlackBerry (Formerly known as Research in Motion)
There is Considerable dip in the demand of blackberry. In this Market research we will try to
figure out why there has been a dip in the demand and suggest a solution to revive the sales.

Category – Wireless handheld devices

Store - Best buy Downtown, Future Shop, Wireless wave, Sources and all the mobile
service providers.

Predominant Brands - Nokia, Samsung, HTC, Sony, LG, and I-phone.
Blackberry - The distinguishing feature of this brand over the other is The QWERTY Key
pad. It is designed to help the people who need access to their Emails, Massages and Text
for their work on the run.
I-phone – The brand Apple Inc. is great in term of “User Interface” and has been
successful in tacking the experience of using a touch screen phone to a different level.
Samsung – Samsung has also been in great competition with I-Phone on the “User
Interface” that is android.
Sony – Sony has been known for its great on the go music and the best cameras on the
phone.
Nokia – Windows just bought the entire segment of mobile market from Nokia so I think
it is best to suggest that Windows User interface is the key distinguishing factor.
2
BlackBerry
Price Range: The lowest Model starts from $89.99(Blackberry Q5) and goes up to a range of $969
(I-Phone 6).
Availability: The category is extremely easy to shop as the availability and the comparability of
the product is Very high.
Strengths – The fact that the product has no direct Competition in this field. Blackberry as a brand
is known for making SMART phones with QWERTY key pads, since not too many companies are
coming in to the section of the market. Secondly the Blackberry Messenger is the USP for this
brand.
Weakness- The weakness of the brand stands the same from the very beginning that is a bad app
store. The functionality of the app store is not that great.
INTRODUCTION
BlackBerry Limited, formerly known as Research In Motion Limited (RIM), is a Canadian
telecommunication and wireless equipment company best known to the general public as the
developer of the BlackBerry brand of smartphones and tablets. It is a designer, manufacturer and
marketer of wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. (hugo, 2013)
SITUATION ANALYSIS
Blackberry was thought to be a pioneer in versatile cell phone market. Initially a predominant
organization in the cell phone market for business and government utilization, with 43% US piece
of the overall industry in 2010. In late few years Blackberry's cell phone market has fundamentally
declined crosswise over Canada and the US, to a limited extent due to extreme rivalry primarily
from the current high US piece of the overall industry of Google's Android brands furthermore
from the lower impart that Apple's iPhone has of the business sector. Weight from Android and
Apple cell phones has fundamentally dissolved Blackberry's offer of the business sector over the
recent years. Loss of shopper bid and the relative disappointment of its most recent working
framework. Blackberry 10, have brought about falling equipment incomes and generous
3
BlackBerry
misfortunes. This has prompted a circumstance where the organization has needed to roll out
noteworthy operational improvements (McQueen, 2013)
Marketing Problem/Opportunity
Blackberry’s smartphone market has significantly declined across Canada.
Marketing Research Problem
Why is there a decline in blackberry sales in Canada?
Research Objective

To study the factors responsible for the declining sales of Blackberry phones.

To study the customer preferences in choosing a smart phone.
Research Design
Information requirements – Exploratory
Field Methodology – Focus Groups & In-depth interviews will be conducted to collect the data.
Targeted respondents – We will be interviewing current mobile smartphone users in Toronto who
are working professionals, between the age group of 28 to 60, both males and females. We are
targeting this population as Blackberry Smartphone is majorly popular and used by working
professionals.
Number of focus group interviews: 1
Number of participants per Interview: 6
Estimated Length of interview: 1 Hour
4
BlackBerry
Project Budget
BUDGET
Amount $
SALARY FOR 3 EMPLOYEES (Desk + Field research)
6240
TRANSPORATION
500
PARTICIPANT REIMBURSEMENT
390
RENTAL SPACE
400
OFFICE SUPPLIES
500
TOTAL
8030
Project Schedule
S.NO
1
2
3
4
6
7
9
10
STEPS INVOLVED IN CONDUCTING RESEARCH FOR BLACKBERRY
IDENTIFYING A RESEARCH QUESTION
REVIEWING THE LITERATURE
DEFINE THE OBJECTIVE
DEFINE THE SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH WORK
DEFINING THE POPULATION
DEFINING THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
COLLECTING THE DATA/INTERVIEWS/SURVEYS
ANALYZING THE DATA
DURATION (DAYS)
1
2
1
1
1
1
10
3
START DATE
06-10-2014
08-10-2014
13-10-2014
14-10-2014
15-10-2014
16-10-2014
17-10-2014
31-10-2014
FINISH DATE
07-10-2014
10-10-2014
13-10-2014
14-10-2014
15-10-2014
16-10-2014
30-10-2014
04-11-2014
Category Segmentation
Blackberry is regarded as a business phone and is not targeted towards a particular segment of
age group and is targeted towards the business segment. There is no social class for the
blackberry because it targets the whole business segment. Blackberry offers business features
like access to e – mail wireless internet and many other but the most remarkable feature it has
is the blackberry messenger by which a person can send and receive text anywhere, anytime in
the world free of charge.
Market Share
5
BlackBerry
Operating System
2012 Market Share
2013 Market Share
Google, HTC, Samsung, LG, Sony
69.0%
78.6%
I phone
18.7%
15.2%
Nokia
2.4%
3.3%
BlackBerry
4.5%
1.9%
Others
5.4%
1.0%
Brands using Android operating system has been benefited the most from the rapid growth of
the smartphone market over the last two years. Not only has it eaten into the market share of
BlackBerry, but also that of Apple.
Android ecosystem encompasses handsets from a wide range of leading manufacturers,
including Samsung, LG, Sony and HTC. By way of contrast, the iOS and BlackBerry operating
systems rely on a much more limited number of handsets that are exclusively manufactured by
the owners of each respective system. Blackberry's global market share has fallen to less than
one percent in the second quarter, while iOS and Android both made gains during the three
month period.
Recent product innovations:
Pressure from Android and Apple smartphones has significantly eroded Blackberry's share of the
market over the past couple of years. Loss of consumer appeal and the relative failure of its latest
operating system. BlackBerry 10, have resulted in plummeting hardware revenues and
substantial losses. This has led to a situation where the company has had to make significant
operational changes.
SWOT Analysis
6
BlackBerry
BlackBerry Limited (formerly Research In Motion Limited) (BlackBerry or “the company”) is
engaged in the research, design, manufacture and sale of wireless communications products,
services and software. The company has leadership position in the enterprise market that will
facilitate competitive advantage.
STRENGTHS

Enterprise niche provides a favorable
WEAKNESSES

competitive environment

Strong focus on product design,
Delayed product launches could
negatively impact business

Declining financial performance
engineering and research and
development

Diversified geographic presence
OPPORTUNITIES

Positive outlook for smartphone and
THREATS

tablet markets

Partnership with Foxconn to provide
strong volume growth

Robust growth in enterprise mobility
management market to drive sales
7
Technological changes and short
product-life cycles

Declining average selling prices may
strain margins
BlackBerry
FOCUS GROUP REPORT
Introduction
This focus group was conducted to discuss the current thoughts and opinions about the quality
improvement program for Mobile Devices and their functioning. The focus group discussion was
held with 6 students on 18th November 2014. The focus group was conducted as part of the
College’s Market Research Project. The participants provided information in two ways: written
responses and group discussion.

What Operating Systems do they prefer mobile device and what primary features do they
consider while ranking mobile OS?

Blackberry brand positioning

Would they buy Blackberry and how do they make the purchase decision?

What features do they like or dislike about Blackberry Phones?

Which other brand do they prefer over Blackberry and why?

Which characteristic drive them Price, Status Symbol or Features?
Participant Demographics
Six male students, 4 students were 18-21 years old; 2 were 22-24 years old; 1 was 25-30 years
old.
Evaluation
Importance
Cellphones are very important for day to day life and has become a necessity, and has played
important role in bridging the gap between people. It helps us to connect with people and
communicate, at the same time smartphones are used for other purposes like sending emails,
clicking pictures or for entertainment and listening to music.
Comparison
Most of the participants prefer android as it is easier to download applications and it is user
friendly as well. Whereas what they don’t like about IOS is that there are very limited applications
that can be used and few of them are paid.
8
BlackBerry
A few like IOS for the fact that the software is updated more often whereas this doesn’t happen
on other OS that regularly, whereas, Android for its open source code and its easy accessibility.
Each has its own strengths like IOS for its user friendliness; Blackberry for its security features
and professional use and Android for its applications. While making their buying decision some
just prefer brand image they don’t care about IOS, and few look at the price and the user benefits.
Positioning
Blackberry used to a market leader but over the last few years it has failed to impress the masses.
It has only concentrated on its niche market forgetting the new generation and their needs. They
defined Blackberry in words like: BBM machine, outdated, business phone. Blackberry used to
stand out for its BBM but recently WhatsApp has captured that market.
Conclusion
Mostly people won’t prefer buying a Blackberry at this point of time. They would rather prefer
Samsung, apple and HTC.
Recommendations
Blackberry needs to reposition itself and create a different Brand image. Redefining its target
market and understanding consumer demands.
9
BlackBerry
ON-LINE SURVEY REPORT
Introduction
This online survey was conducted to discuss and assess the current situation and customer
perception about Blackberry mobile phone and also assess that what is customer’s overall
expectation when planning to buy a mobile phone. BlackBerry brand is facing decline in sales
over time and this survey is an attempt to establish the factors contributing to it in terms of
consumer’s expectation from a mobile phone brand. The online survey was created on November
18th 2014. In total 20 participants have responded to the survey. The online survey was
conducted as part of the College’s Market Research Project. Following questions were asked as
part of the survey 
BlackBerry brand perception?

Which brand’s products do you currently own?

If you had to buy a new mobile phone/smartphone/PDA today, which brand would you prefer?

What kind of keypad you prefer?

Approximately how much money do you estimate spending on your mobile phone (per month)?

What is the primary feature you will consider while buying a mobile phone?

What factor do you consider most while purchasing a mobile phone?
Price, Brand name, Design or Features?

What is the primary feature you will consider while buying a mobile phone?

Mention any advantages or disadvantages of BlackBerry Phone?
Participant Demographics
20 participants, 10 males and 10 females. Out of 20, most of the respondents were from under
25 age group, some from 25-30 and few from 31-40 age group.
Findings
We tried to capture the BlackBerry brand perception in consumer’s mind to establish what
consumers think about BlackBerry as a brand. As a result only few agree that it is an innovative
brand and a fun brand. Most participants agree that it is a brand for business. Some participants
agree that is all lifestyle brand and some of them says it is a brand for status.
10
BlackBerry
Apple IPhone is the most popular brand as most of the respondents currently own Apple
IPhone, Second most popular is Samsung and rest of the participants have Nokia, Motorola and
LG. None of the respondent own BlackBerry Mobile.
When asked which mobile phone will respondents prefer to buy if they have to buy a new
phone, most of them wants to buy an IPhone, some of them wants buy Samsung, few said Sony
Eriksson, Nokia and Motorola and only very few said they want to buy a BlackBerry?
In terms of Key pad preferences most of the respondents wants to buy a mobile phone with
touch screen and only very few prefer to buy QWERTY key pad phone.
In terms of approximate per month spend on mobile phone, Most of the respondents spend
$50-$100, some spends $30-$50, few spends less than $30 and very few spends more than
$150
Out of 20 respondents most of the respondents prefer a better functionality as a primary
feature in phone when looking to buy a new phone, some chooses battery life, quality &
reliability, and some respondents prefer brand name and few respondents prefer Camera as a
feature in mobile phone.
In terms of primary deciding factors to buy a mobile phone, 52% respondents consider features
as primary factor, 42% consider design, and 37% consider price and 21% brand.
Following are the responses when asked for advantage and disadvantage of Blackberry Mobile
Phone:
NEGATIVE
POSITIVE
 Not many native applications
 Nice battery life, good OS
 Security is a concern
 Blackberry is great
 It does not have any good apps on it.
 It is good phone for business use
So suggest you to get them.
 Keyboard is disadvantage
 Weak app support
 Out of date
 Found it stylish earlier not anymore
11
BlackBerry
Conclusion
As per the report findings BlackBerry is strongly positioned as a brand for business. Some of the
preferred features are good battery life and operating system. But on the contrary, it is not
considered as fun brand to have and a brand which suits all lifestyles. It lacks innovation in its
products. Today’s young generation do not prefer to buy BlackBerry mobile and they rather
prefer IPhone, Samsung and other available brands. One of the biggest disadvantage BlackBerry
has its QWERTY key pad. Majority of consumers prefer touch screen mobile phones these days
which most of the BlackBerry phone models lack. Also BlackBerry Phone lacks good applications
to support it. Consumers find it out of date due to lack of innovation. Looking at survey findings,
majority of consumers prefer Mobile phone features and design of a Mobile phone as a
deciding factor.
Recommendations
BlackBerry is considered only as a brand for business which is now outdated and lacks product
innovation. BlackBerry needs to reposition itself and create new Brand image. BlackBerry needs
to come up with new innovative products considering the changing needs for its target market
and understanding changing consumer demands.
12
BlackBerry
Appendix A
SCREENER
Current mobile smartphone users focus group respondent specifications:

All to be between the ages of 28 and 60 years old.

All to be current mobile users.

All to have annual household earnings above $25000.

A mix of genders.

A mix of racial and ethnic groups as defined by screener.

All to be technologically sophisticated as evidenced by owning and using at least one
mobile

All to spend at least five (5) hours a week using cellphone for calls.

All to spend an average of at least $35 per month for mobile operator’s services.

All to be professional workers, who use mobile phone for calls, messages, e-mails, office
documents apps.
Security / past participation:

Non to have family members employed in the following industries: market research,
marketing, advertising, mobile communications, mobile services.

None to have participated in more than five (5) focus groups ever.

None to have participated in any focus groups in the past year.

None to have participated in focus group research on the topic of mobile smartphones
using and preferences.
13
BlackBerry
Screening questionnaire – working professionals focus group
Interviewer:
Date:
Time:
:
Name:
Address:
Day phone:
Evening
phone:
E-mail:
Initial screening
Reduction: Hello, this is (name) with (company). This is not a sales call. We are conducting a brief
survey about uses of mobile smartphones. Would you please help me by answering a few
questions? All your responses during our phone conversation today and during the interview will
be kept strictly confidential.
1. Do you currently use mobile smartphone?
No = Terminate
2. Describe how you use your mobile phone.
response = Terminate
3. Approximately how often are you involved with the use of mobile phone?
roximately 25% of total participants
4. Approximately how much money do you estimate spending on your mobile smartphone?
14
BlackBerry
- $30 = Terminate
- $50 = Approximately 25% of total participants
- $100 = Approximately 25% of total participants
- $150 = Approximately 25% of total participants
5. What is your profession? ________________________________
ents above = Continue
6. Which of the following categories includes your present age?
-30 =
-40 =
41-50 = Equal distribution of all interested age groups
-60 =
7. Have you participated in any market research projects in the last year?
8. Do you or any of your family members work for mobile communications services?
15
BlackBerry
9. Invitation and Schedule
Thank you for answering my questions. I am pleased to invite you to participate in a group
discussion with about five other individuals to brainstorm on the future of mobile smartphones
usage. The group will last approximately 90 minutes. In return for your efforts, you will be
rewarded. Can I schedule you for a meeting?
need
16
BlackBerry
Appendix B
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Welcome, Introduction and instructions
Welcome and thank you for volunteering to take part in this focus group. You have been asked
to participate as your point of view is very important to us.
This focus group discussion is to assess your current thoughts and opinions about the quality
improvement program for Mobile Devices and their functioning. The focus group discussion will
take about one and a half hour. I will keep the record of opinions for quality improvement
purposes.
The discussion will be anonymous. The transcribed notes of the focus group will contain no
information that would allow individual subjects to be linked to specific statements. You should
try to answer and comment as accurately and truthfully as possible. I and the other focus group
participants would appreciate it if you would refrain from discussing the comments of other
group members outside the focus group. If there are any questions or discussions that you do
not wish to answer or participate in, you do not have to do so; however please try to answer and
be as involved as possible.
Ground rules

There are no right or wrong answers in this discussion

The most important rule is that only one person speaks at a time. There may be a temptation
to jump in when someone is talking but please wait until they have finished and note down if
you forget it often.

You do not have to speak in any particular order

When you do have something to say, please do so. There are many of you in the group and it
is important that I obtain the views of each of you

You do not have to agree with the views of other people in the group

Does anyone have any questions?

OK, let’s begin
17
BlackBerry
Warm up

First, I’d like everyone to introduce themselves. We can start from my left. Can you tell me
what your name is?
Introductory question
We are going to discuss about different mobile device. Can anyone give any overview of usage of
mobile phones these days?
Guiding questions

What Operating Systems do you prefer for the mobile device? Can you rank them according
to your liking? (Gives Ranking from iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows & Symbian)

What is the primary features you consider while ranking mobile OS?

What do you think when you hear ‘Blackberry Mobile Phone’?

Do you prefer using Blackberry Mobile phones? (Yes/No)

If the answer for the previous question was “NO”, than name brand you prefer.

Mention any good and bad features of Blackberry Phone, if any

If, you are preferring mobile phone other than Blackberry, then which one is that?

Why do you prefer another phone over blackberry?

Would you buy Blackberry phone if it had the same features as your favorite phone?

What do you consider the most while purchasing the mobile phone? Price, Status Symbol or
Features?
Concluding question

Of all the things we’ve discussed today, what would you say are the most important issues
you would like to express about mobile phones?
Conclusion

Thank you for participating. This has been a very successful discussion

Your opinions will be a valuable asset to the study
18
BlackBerry

We hope you have found the discussion interesting

If there is anything you are unhappy with or wish to complain about, please speak to me later

I would like to remind you that any comments featuring in this report will be anonymous

Before you leave, please hand in your completed personal details questionnaire
Please, write your report based on the results of the focus group. Please remember to maintain
confidentiality of the participating individuals by not disclosing their names.
19
BlackBerry
CITATION

"Blackberry Limited." Blackberry Limited - Does It Have A Future In The Consumer Market
(2014): 1-26. Business Source Complete. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.

"Blackberry Limited (Formerly Research In Motion Limited) SWOT Analysis." Research In
Motion Limited SWOT Analysis (2014): 1-9. Business Source Complete. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.

Song, Ian. "Blackberry 10: The New BYOD Superstar." Network world Asia 10.1 (2013): 39.
Business Source Complete. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.

Hugo, m. (2013, january 30). RIM Changes Company Name to BlackBerry. Retrieved from
http://www.bloomberg.com/:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-30/rim-
changes-company-name-to-blackberry.html

McQueen, M. (2013, september 24). Smartphone Wars: 5 Things BlackBerry Could Have
Done
to
Stay
Competitive.
Retrieved
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228549
20
from
http://www.entrepreneur.com/: