Increasing the Profitability of BlackBerry

Limited

CREATIVE MARKETING PROJECT

DECA Chapter: 2014-2015

Riverdale Collegiate Institute

1094 Gerrard Street East, Toronto, ON M4M 2A1

Julian Dranitsaris, Oliver Cowan

January 15. 2015

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Table of Contents

I. Executive Summary

II. Introduction

A. Statement of problem.

B. Significance of the problem studied.

C. Background information.

III. Research methods and procedures used

A. Description of secondary data.

B. Description of primary data.

C. Description of chapter member involvement in the project.

IV. Findings and conclusions

A. Presentation of findings, data to support findings.

B. Presentation of conclusions, reasoning to support conclusions.

V. Recommendations

A. Recommendations resulting from the study.

B. Projected outcomes from implementing the recommendations.

C. Plan for implementing the recommendations.

D. Evidence of presentation to business officials who would benefit

as a direct result of this report.

VI. Bibliography

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I. Executive Summary

The primary objective of the 2014-2015 Creative Marketing Project was to change the marketing platform of BlackBerry Limited (formally known as Research In Motion, or RIM) such that they will see a revived customer base, and increased sales. The methods by which this will be achieved are through a primary and secondary assessment of BlackBerry’s current intake of capital/financial situation, consumer perception of their product, and its advantages/disadvantages compared to its competition. The research was also narrowed down to two primary questions:

1) What is BlackBerry lacking compared to its competition, and how has this led to their decline? 2) What are the flaws/issues with BlackBerry’s marketing strategy and product?

To answer these questions, primary and secondary research was conducted. For primary research, a sample survey was administered using social media. The survey asks questions which reveal the modern Canadian consumer’s perception on BlackBerry and products produced by BlackBerry. Additional primary research is in the form of an interview with a member of Riverdale’s DECA association. This interview is more in depth and personal than the sample survey, and its purpose is to be used in conjunction with the survey to answer the two research questions.

For secondary research, the main focus was on the specific financial status of BlackBerry, along with its comparison to other major cellphone companies, such as Apple, Samsung, and Sony. Additionally, the history of the popularity of the BlackBerry was researched, and reasons why its popularity declined were also revealed. Finally, the history of BlackBerry’s sales, consumer perception, and market share/growth in the cell phone market were also researched and analyzed. From the primary and secondary research administered and answering the two questions, a conclusion appeared.

The conclusion extrapolated is the fact that BlackBerry Limited fails to change/innovate its product and marketing strategies to meet modern consumer trends and preferences, maintain competitive with its competitions, and differentiate itself from its competition. Remedies from this study to help solve the problem include an overhauled marketing approach. This approach includes advertising through social media, televisions, and billboards. Most importantly, however, it includes advertising the Black Berry as a unique product which is differentiated from its competition. Therefore, a new function/feature of the phone which is not offered from any mobile phone competitor is recommended to make Black Berry stand out. Another addition to the marketing platform is to have BlackBerry advertise to a specific target market to begin with, and then eventually expand to include the entire consumer base. This, in turn with the innovated marketing approach, will likely see the BlackBerry’s revival.

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II. Introduction

A. Statement of Problem

The main problem in this report that will be analyzed is the fact that BlackBerry

Limited fails to innovate its products and marketing techniques. Subsequently, this has led

to decreased financial health and a failure to satisfy current consumer trends/preferences,

Financial Problems:

The first aspect of RIM’s problem is their decreased financial health. This can be

broken down into profit and price per share. To start, BlackBerry Limited has seen a

substantial net loss in the 2013 and 2014 financial year.

Figure one: BlackBerry Limited’s net income/loss from Figure Two: The average price of a BlackBerry from 2009-2014. The first financial quarter in 2008, to the first quarter of 2011.

As evident in figure one, BlackBerry has seen an exponential decay in terms of its income,

as it has experienced a net loss of ~$646 million in the 2013 fiscal year, and an even

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greater loss of ~$5876 million in the 2014 fiscal year. A lack of capital is detrimental for

BlackBerry, as it could lead RIM to file for bankruptcy. The second financial problem

BlackBerry Limited faces is their decrease in price per share for BBRY since the financial

crisis of 2008-2009. At BlackBerry’s peak on April 28. 2008, the price was $144.5.

However, this has fallen astronomically, 133.9 points to be precise. Thus, BlackBerry’s

current price as of December 29. 2014, was only $10.9. The consequences for BlackBerry is

that a low stock price inhibits BlackBerry’s ability to raise capital from its shareholders, as

a falling share price means that shareholders will have less confidence in the company.

Figure Three: BBRY’s stock price history from 2006-2014.

Marketing Problems and Problems with Product:

The first problem with BlackBerry’s approach to its various products, whether it

be the Black Berry smart phone or Playbook, it that RIM fails to benchmark its products

from its competitors. BlackBerry has not adapted to satisfy the modern consumer’s

requirements of smartphones; however more significantly, they have failed to incorporate

many features of the more popular iPhone series into their smartphone. For instance, a

study done by Silicon Alley Insider found that app selection was the third most important

factor for American consumers when selecting a smartphone. The iPhone has realized this,

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and as a result, their app store contains over 1.2 million apps. However, RIM has not made

this adaptation, with a significantly smaller app store (called ‘BlackBerry World’) which

contains less than 16,000 apps. This failure to benchmark Apple’s sizable app store is just

one example of one of RIM’s most critical problems; its failure to benchmark. However,

BlackBerry’s problem extends beyond the scope of benchmarking. The ineffective

advertising campaign exhibited by BlackBerry is another contributor towards its problems.

This is seen how RIM has shifted its target market from its traditional “business men”

consumer, to a “more adventurous” type of consumer, who is against the norm of

purchasing an iPhone. This disregards all the reasons which made BlackBerry appeal to

business people/owner, thereby decreasing their popularity among that type of consumer.

B. Significance of Problem Stated.

Significance to the Local Community and Technology Industry:

The problems with BlackBerry Limited have significant implications on the city

of Waterloo’s technology industry and community. When BlackBerry Limited’s growth

became exponential, Waterloo’s major industry changed from insurance to technology, and

has seen a third of Waterloo’s technology sector’s sales 2013. Also, it employed around

3,500 local employees from 1998-2005. Therefore, BlackBerry has had a profound effect on

the Waterloo community, in which its fall will have serious negative implications. RIM’s

decline has already been seen in terms of the unemployment rate within Waterloo, as it

increased ~2% from mid-2012 to early-2013; a time when RIM’s decline was evident.

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Figure 4: Graph illustrating a

comparison of the

unemployment rate of Canada

compared to Waterloo. Note

the effect of RIM’s decline on

the unemployment rate in

Waterloo.

Another impact RIM’s failure has on Waterloo is in the technology industry. Waterloo’s

technology industry has been increased dramatically with the success of RIM, to a point

where it became the cities primary industry. This was credited to the fact that many

graduates from Waterloo University would stay in Waterloo, as they would be employed by

RIM. However, with RIM’s decline, fewer Waterloo University graduates remain in

Waterloo after graduation, thus depriving the local technology industry of new talent.

C. Background Information:

BlackBerry Limited’s Biography:

Research In Motion Limited was founded by two ambitious Waterloo and Windsor

university graduates, Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, in 1984. At first, RIM was financed

by venture capital and institutional investors, where the Working Ventures Canadian Fund

Incorporated invested $5,000,000 into RIM. This money was used to finance the company’s

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two-way paging system hardware. Following this, in 1998 Research in Motion went up for

public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol of RIM. In April of 2000,

the first BlackBerry smartphone, the BlackBerry 957, became available to the public. It

included many favorable features, most notably the BlackBerry OS platform and keyboard.

As a result, it became popular with business and government worldwide.

Figure 5: The BlackBerry 957. Note the functional keyboard.

Following the BlackBerry 975, many other smartphones were produced, most of

which containing multi-media features like a functional camera. Its release of the Curve

8300 and Bold 9000 series saw the rapid expansion of BlackBerry users, both in enterprise

and consumer markets internationally and domestically. However, BlackBerry’s success

has reached the vertex of a parabola with a negative leading coefficient. The release of the

first Apple iPhone in 2007 marked BlackBerry’s first major competition, and ultimately

marked the beginning of RIM’s decline. Since 2007, RIM has continuously lagged behind

apple, both in consumer satisfaction and sales. RIM’s attempts to combat the rise of Apple

have largely been fruitless. For instance, their release of the Play Book to compete with the

iPad on 08/27/2010 was met with largely negative reviews, and therefore saw unfavorable

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sales. Since 2010, BlackBerry has seen continuous decline in its sales, market share, and

stock value due to increasing competition and a failure to adapt to consumer needs.

III. Procedures and Methods Used

A. Description of secondary research:

Extensive secondary research was conducted on BlackBerry to discover the reason

for its sudden and steep decline. Many of the sources used were online sources, such as

articles detailing on BlackBerry’s struggles the past several years. Sources included Global

news, kensegall.com, CTV news, The Verge, Business Insider, and The Motley Fool. By

using all of the mentioned sources, an in depth analysis was able to be obtained on

BlackBerry’s stock prices, popularity over the years, and a comparison to other large

smartphone producers. The following is a summary of the opinions of experts on

BlackBerry’s crisis.

The article “BlackBerry timeline: A look back at the tech company’s history” took a

look at the history of BlackBerry on a year by year basis. It began the foundation of the

company in 1984, to its rise, then fall, and finally the sale of BlackBerry to Fairfax Financial

for $4.7 billion in 2013. In the process, the article gave a detailed explanation on

BlackBerry’s struggles, laying much of the blame on poor smartphone features and

networks.

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Kensegall.com’s article “The great BlackBerry marketing mess” focusses on

BlackBerry’s ad campaigns, in particular the irony and naivety of them. According to the

article BlackBerry told people to wake up in their ad campaigns, when in reality they

needed to wake up to the needs of the consumer. BlackBerry’s strategy was misguided and

relied on the consumers changing, rather than themselves.

In 2012 CTV news published an article titled “Future of Waterloo, Ont. economy

unclear as RIM sheds jobs”, back when BlackBerry was beginning to lay off a significant

number of workers. Many people were worried that the financial troubles of a company as

big as BlackBerry would have a very bad effect on the local economy, as it was such an

important part. However while many people were worried, some had faith in Waterloo’s

increasing amount of small start-up tech firms, and an increasing amount of larger

companies.

A year after the article by CTV news about the concern of Waterloo’s economy

surrounding BlackBerry’s layoffs, the Financial Post published The article “In BlackBerry’s

hometown, coming layoffs hardly the economy killing tragedy many might have expected”.

The article centers on the surprising amount of optimism in the Kitchener-Waterloo region

despite all of BlackBerry’s layoffs. In a city where many people know someone who

worked for BlackBerry, the current situation doesn’t seem as hopeless because Kitchener-

Waterloo is starting to distinguish itself as a tech hub. In conclusion, in only a year, the

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attitude of people on Kitchener-Waterloo’s economy went from quite hopeless, to very

optimistic.

In the article, “High and low: what RIM's failure is doing to the people of Waterloo”,

The Verge compares Waterloo’s residents loyalty to Blackberry verses their thoughts on

the company. Almost everyone in Waterloo has a sense of loyalty towards BlackBerry. The

company gave Waterloo a sense of pride, and is a large reason for all the innovation that

can be found there today. However as The Verge explains, many people are finding that

sense of loyalty being conflicted with as BlackBerry continues to struggle due to a string of

poor decisions. Many people who once supported the company are having trouble doing it

now, because they no longer believe in the product. For a once very strong loyalty to

BlackBerry start to waver, signifies just how far it has fallen.

The article “Apple Doesn't Get It, and Neither Does BlackBerry” published by The

Motley Fool, looks at the marketing strategy of BlackBerry and compares it to that of Apple

and Samsung’s. According to the article the marketing strategy of BlackBerry and Apple is

quite poor, largely due to not being able to understand its target market. Meanwhile

Samsung conducts a very successful marketing campaign by having a large budget and

entertaining advertisements. In conclusion, ineffective marketing helped cripple

BlackBerry, and Apple may want to adjust their strategy or suffer the same fate.

“RIM's Absurd Plan to Fix Itself: Do Better Advertising In 2012” by the Financial

Post, is another article that looks at the poor marketing of BlackBerry. However in this

case, it’s about too much emphasis on marketing, and not on the products BlackBerry is

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producing. As the article points out it isn’t the marketing that BlackBerry should be

worried about, it’s the poor products they’re producing. If BlackBerry doesn’t realize this

they simply continue to struggle.

The final article used as a secondary source was “CHART OF THE DAY: What People

Care about When Buying a Smartphone”, by the Financial Post. This article doesn’t focus on

BlackBerry, simply what people want most in a smartphone. According to the survey the

two most important things by a longshot are platform and features. Both platform and

features are things BlackBerry was criticized of doing a poor job of in the previous articles.

This displays that BlackBerry isn’t meeting customers’ demands, and hurting itself because

of it.

B. Description of Primary Research:

Goal of Primary Research:

The main method by which primary research was conducted was through a sample

survey, created on survey monkey. Included in the survey are eight, well thought questions,

which serve the purpose of uncovering the problems faced by BlackBerry. Specifically,

since this survey is targeting consumers, it helps to shed light on the problems with

BlackBerry’ advertising and product, as the questions inquire on the tester’s view on

BlackBerry. Therefore, the main purpose of the survey is to answer the two primary

research questions stated in the mission statement, where questions one is regarding

BlackBerry’s standing in relation to its competition, while question two inquires

BlackBerry’s problems with marketing and product.

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Structure, Layout, and Content of Survey:

The format of the survey is relatively simple. It consists of eight; multiple choice

questions, and is only one page. The goal was to obtain 25 completed surveys. For content,

the questions are as follows:

1) What brand of phone do you currently own? A) IPhone. B) Samsung. C) BlackBerry. D) Other (please specify). 2) What is your view on products created by BlackBerry? A) Indifferent. B) They’re great. C) They’re okay. D) I dislike them. E) I despise them. 3) What brand of phone do you hope to purchase in the future? A) IPhone. B) Samsung. C) BlackBerry. D) Other (please specify). 4) In your opinion, why has BlackBerry's market share (power and influence) in the cellphone market diminished? A) There is nothing that differentiates BlackBerry from its competition. B) Overall poor value in their products (poor quality, overly expensive, et cetera). C) Other competitors simply have better products/services. D) Poor marketing strategies. E) I’ve never owned anything from BlackBerry, so I can’t have an opinion. F) Other (please specify). 5) In general, what is the main thing you look for in a phone?

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A) Value. B) Quality and variation of apps in the app store. C) Quality of Wi-Fi capabilities and ‘data’. D) Quality of call and text. E) Durability. D) Other (please specify). 6) What is your most common utilization of your cell phone? A) Texting. B) Calling. C) Accessing the internet. D) Playing games. E) Listening to music. F) I don’t own a cellphone. 7) In your view, why has Apple seen extraordinary success over the last five years? A) Excellent advertisements. B) Their products offer features that no other company offers. C) Products are of high quality. D) Other (please specify). 8) What do you estimate will happen to BlackBerry in the next 10 years? A) They will capitulate as a company. B) They will bounce back through a new, groundbreaking product/service. C) Due to their low price per share, RIM stock, and therefore BlackBerry, will be sold

How the survey was administered:

The results of the survey were collected in only one fashion: through social media.

Immediately after its creation, the survey was posted on Facebook, where the ‘friends’ of

the person who posted the survey could fill it out anonymously. There are various reasons

why social media was chosen rather than physically distributing the survey. Firstly, it is

much more efficient in terms of time to administer a survey online, as the effort to

physically distribute 25 surveys to 25 individuals is inefficient and timely. On the contrary,

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posting the survey on social media makes collecting results and finding participants simple.

Also, collecting data with an online survey is much easier compares to printed survey, as

Survey Monkey automatically organizes results into graphs and charts. Therefore, this

saves time, and with conjunction with ease of distribution, it makes it a superior method to

collect primary data.

C. Involvement of Chapter Members

Interview Excerpts: The main method, by which fellow chapter members were involved,

was through a one-on-one interview with a chapter member. In this interview, three,

critical-thinking questions were asked. Unlike the primary and secondary research, an in-

depth interview provides analysis which falls beyond the scope of a sample survey and

internet search. Below are some key excerpts from the interview. Bold text is the

interviewer, while the italicized text is the interviewee.

Q: Recall to a time when BlackBerry was popular. What do you think made them

popular? (Aka what made them excel) In your answer, try to include the emerging

cellphone market and competition.

A: Blackberry seemed to be popular back in 2010, and what I think made them popular is the

continued use of a keyboard when their competitors such as Apple started to use touch screen

keyboards, which were relatively new and unreliable at the time. The iPhone was relatively

expensive compared to the Blackberry, which made Blackberry’s much easier to get.

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Q: In your view, what do you think are the main feature(s) valued by consumers

today? How, in your view, has BlackBerry Limited failed to adhere to the needs and

wants of consumers?

A: Today, consumers look for a user friendly interface. Compared to Apple and Android, who

are consistently implementing the most current technology into their phones, Blackberry is

always late to implement any new technology into their phones. Also, Blackberry continued to

use the physical keyboard as touchscreen keyboards became more reliable, driving consumers

towards Android and/or Apple products.

Q: If you could talk to the CEO, COO, etc. of RIM, what advice would you give?

Consider this advice critical towards the future of BlackBerry's status as a company.

A: In the face of their failing company, I would advise the CEO or RIM to put their resources

into R & D to implement the most current technology into their phones to have a chance at

competing with Android and Apple. If all else fails, I would advise RIM to scrap their phones,

and focus on their software such as BBM.

Relevancy of Interview: The interview with a DECA Chapter member provided insight on

the average consumer’s point of view of BlackBerry. Also, since these opinions are unbiased

(unlike some secondary sources), creative, and can therefore be implemented in

recommendations for BlackBerry to adhere to.

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IV. Findings and Conclusions

A. Presentation of findings, data to support findings.

Data and Results from Significant Questions in Primary Research:

The results of the six most important survey questions asked are as follows:

Question One: what brand of phone do you currently own?

1) Results: Of the 26 people surveyed, 11 or ~42% surveyed currently own an iPhone, 4 or

~15% own a Samsung, 8 or ~31% currently own a phone not listed in the question, and

only 4 or roughly 15% of those surveyed own a BlackBerry.

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2) Significance: The importance of the results of this question is that they clearly illustrate

the fact that BlackBerry users are in the minority. Therefore, it helps to validate the

secondary research, as it is a specific example of BlackBerry’s decrease in customers over

time. Finally, it insinuates that BlackBerry’s products and/or advertising are lackluster,

because if a low percentage of the consumer base own product’s created by BlackBerry; it

is likely due to poor advertising and/or product quality.

Question Two: What is your view on products produced by BlackBerry?

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1) Results. As shown in the graph above, the most common opinion of BlackBerry

displayed was a neutral opinion. 10/26 (or 5/13 to be more specific) surveyed (~38%) had

an ‘okay’ or neutral view of BlackBerry. The second most selected option was an

‘indifferent’ or the ‘I don’t care’ point of view, with 8 (31%) participants selecting that

option. Surprisingly (based off BlackBerry’s current reputation), only ~19% of participants

had a negative view of BlackBerry, while unsurprisingly, only ~12% of participants had a

favorable view of BlackBerry.

2) Significance: This question is important because it opposes some of the secondary

research. This is so because in the secondary research included studies which rated the

Canadian consumer’s perception of BlackBerry as negative. The results of this question

contradict this, as the majority surveyed had either a neutral or indifferent view of

BlackBerry. Also, since the perception of BlackBerry is relatively neutral, it implies that

BlackBerry’s products and advertisements are still somewhat relevant for the Canadian

consumer.

Figure 6: Not many consumers viewed BlackBerry in this manner.

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Question 3: What brand of phone do you want to purchase in the future?

1) Results: The first thing to note is the fact that out of the 26 participants, 5 chose to skip

this question. This was likely due to the fact that there was no ‘other’ option to select (those

who skipped likely desired another type of phone). Another thing to note is the fact that the

majority (~62% or 13/21) of those surveyed selected the iPhone as their next dream

phone. The final, significant thing to notice is the total lack of desire to own a BlackBerry –

only 1/23 participant, or ~5%, selected this option.

2) Significance: The main assumption that can be made, just by analyzing the graph, is that

the desire to own a BlackBerry is almost non-existent, while the desire to own an iPhone is

significance. This implies that BlackBerry’s marketing strategies are ineffective compared

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to Apple’s (effective marketing creates desire in the consumer to purchase the advertiser’s

product). Therefore, this helps to answer the first major research question (what

BlackBerry lacking compared to its competition), with the answer simply being an effective

marketing strategy.

Figure 7: As noted in question 3, BlackBerry’s marketing methods are misguided.

Question Four: In your opinion, why has BlackBerry’s market share in the cellphone market diminished?

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1) Summary: The largest option selected was the third option, with about 46% of those

surveyed selecting it. The remaining choices were relatively unpopular, with only a slight

majority of 54% selecting the remaining four options.

2) Significance: The overwhelming fact that BlackBerry’s products are inferior to its

competition answers the first research question: BlackBerry’s products are inferior to its

competition due to the quality of products created by companies like Apple and Samsung.

Question Five: In general, what is the main thing you look for in a cell phone?

1) Summary: The results of question five are as follows: 15% (4/26) surveyed appreciate

value, 23% (6/26) appreciate quality/variation of apps, 8% (2/26) seek Wi-Fi capabilities,

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27% (7/26) appreciate durability, 12% (3/26) desire high calling and texting features, and

15% seek other qualities in cellphones not listed above.

2) Significance: The results clearly highlight modern consumer trends; therefore,

extrapolations can be made in order to recommend changes in BlackBerry to satisfy this

consumer behavior.

Question Six: What is your cellphone’s most common use?

1) Summary: The major theme with this question is the fact that the majority, ~62%

(16/26) surveyed primarily uses their cellular device for texting. The remaining options

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had few votes: calling, accessing internet, playing games, and listening to music only

obtained a combined 38% of the votes.

2) Significance: Just like with question five, question six has the theme of consumer

trends. The trend in question six is that consumers will obviously want a phone that has

optimal texting capabilities, as their primary use for their cellphone is texting. Again, these

are recommendations BlackBerry must consider.

B. Conclusions, Rational to Support:

The most effective way to summarize conclusions is to answer the two research

questions discussed in the executive summary. To start with primary research, for the both

questions, the answer can simply be seen in consumer preferences. It was revealed that the

majority of consumers utilize primarily texting on their cellphone, and that durability and

app store quality were the main features wanted in phones. This therefore insinuates that

BlackBerry’s products are not durable, text-unfriendly, and contain poor apps. Thus, it can

be assumed that BlackBerry, compared to its competition, is lacking an appropriate app

store, text-friendly interface, and durability in their products. Turning to secondary

research to answer question one, the main thing BlackBerry lacks compared to its

competition is an effective promotional strategy. It was found that BlackBerry’s target

market shifted to business men/women, to a more ‘hipster, rebellious’ consumer. This is a

very small consumer base that consists of a very small proportion of the population,

therefore, profitability is low. Apple, on the other hand, has a similar advertisement

strategy to Starbucks: both market their products as high end, desirable goods. Essentially,

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a ‘must have’ product. Thus, BlackBerry’s continued target market is a liability, and is why

compared to companies like Apple; they lack an effective marketing strategy.

V. Recommendations for BlackBerry

A. Recommendations resulting from the study

In summary of the primary and secondary research conducted, BlackBerry has been

struggling for the past several years. In recent years BlackBerry’s stock has plummeted,

and respect and loyalty for the brand amongst consumers has drastically decreased as well.

BlackBerry can’t afford to keep up their current trend for much longer, which is why this

section of the written report focusses on ways BlackBerry can improve its fortunes. Based

off of the survey that was conducted, the key recommendations for BlackBerry are to

improve its marketing, its smartphones, and to differentiate itself from the market.

A key contributor to BlackBerry’s struggles in recent years, is their advertisements

which are ineffective. The ineffectiveness of BlackBerry’s advertisements are clear because

only 4% of people who took place in the survey plan on getting a BlackBerry smartphone.

Some of the many problems that BlackBerry has with its advertisements are that they

aren’t very creative, memorable, and don’t reach the target market. The marketing

problems that BlackBerry is dealing with have created a very uninterested public that

doesn’t know what makes BlackBerry’s products special. There’s no motivation to get a

BlackBerry phone, which is a very large contributor towards their poor sales. So the first

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recommendation for BlackBerry is to greatly enhance their advertising campaigns.

Improving their marketing campaign would mean completely overhauling their current

method, which has clearly not been working. Recommendations for their new marketing

campaign include exciting advertisements that catches people’s attention and gets them

talking, which Blackberry not had in a long time. Another recommendation for

BlackBerry’s marketing campaign is to greatly increase the budget. A market budget big

enough to reach a wide audience on multiple advertising platforms would be ideal.

Currently there aren’t many BlackBerry advertisements circulating, significantly

decreasing the likelihood that someone is going to see them and buy a product. The final

recommendation for BlackBerry’s marketing campaign is to clearly identify what its target

market is, and reaches that target market. At the moment BlackBerry is claiming they’re

targeting business men and women, and that their products, especially their smartphones

meet their needs. However BlackBerry’s their phones are getting increasingly farther away

from the business aspect and closer to the casual use of Apple and Samsung phones. As a

result of uncertainty in its target market, a target market isn’t being reached. The best

course of action for Blackberry would be to identify a new target market, and target that

area.

The second recommendation for BlackBerry based off of the study taken, is to improve its

products, specifically its smartphones. According to the survey that was conducted, people

don’t think very highly of BlackBerry’s smartphones, and aren’t planning to buy one in the

future. Of people that participated in the survey, 38% of people in the survey said that

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BlackBerry smartphones are okay and only 11% currently own one because of this. It is

clear that BlackBerry’s products are lacking, and the recommendation is that they improve

their smartphones and give the public what they want. The two things that people looked

for most in their phones according to the survey, is durability and a variation of apps. So

the recommendation for how BlackBerry can improve its smartphones is getting them

made by quality manufactures, and investing in quality software and programs that can

compete with Apple and Samsung. It’s also recommended that BlackBerry put a lot of

effort into their keypad, as texting was what 61% of people spent the majority of their time

doing on their phone.

The final recommendation for BlackBerry is for them to differentiate themselves in the

smartphone market. Over the years they have become less and less unique, and more like

Apple and Samsung in their attempt to increase revenue and popularity. All of the old

attributes that made BlackBerry smartphones special are gone. Also, being similar to Apple

and Samsung doesn’t help BlackBerry because 46% of people said that their products were

better. What BlackBerry needs to do is engineer a new style of smartphone, similar to what

they did when they first entered the market. BlackBerry needs to be unique again, and

show that there are benefits to owning its smartphones over Apple and Samsung

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B. Projected outcomes from implementing the recommendations

If the recommendations stated above were implemented by BlackBerry they would

almost certainly achieve success. At the very least more than they have been. The reason

BlackBerry would benefit from implementing the recommendations is because they would

have a better smartphone, be more aware of who they were targeting, they have better

advertisements, be marketing to more people, and have a more unique smartphone that

could differentiate itself in the market. All the recommendations targeted aspects that are

very important the smartphone business, so if enhanced would likely greatly significantly

increase sales, and make BlackBerry a major player in the market again.

C. Plan for implementing the recommendations

Implementing the recommendations shouldn’t be too much of a challenge for

BlackBerry. However, the main things to worry about are the timelines and the cost for the

implementation. The timeline for implementing the recommendations should be done one

at a time. Focussing on just one recommendation at a time verses all at once would give

BlackBerry a chance to see if the changes its making is having a positive impact on the

company. In the off chance that the recommendations do not succeed, it would not be wise

to have all their eggs in one basket.

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With that being said, the first recommendation that BlackBerry should focus on is

improving its smartphones. While differentiating itself in the market and changing its

marketing campaign are important, higher quality smartphones is something that must

happen. The lack in smartphone quality is the pinnacle of BlackBerry’s struggles, and thus

is something that a lot of time and resources has to be devoted too. Once BlackBerry

believes that its new smartphone is something to be proud of and that people will want,

then it can move on to the other recommendations. The second recommendation that

BlackBerry should focus on after improving its smartphones is differentiate itself from the

market. This is something that BlackBerry should have in mind when designing its

smartphone, but also involves doing things after the product is made. Differentiating itself

from the market can include anything, from adding unique software to the phone or having

a new look. All that matters is that it grabs peoples’ attention, and becomes the deciding

factor in their decision to purchase the smartphone. Finally, once BlackBerry has its

smartphone and added on all the features that it thinks will make the phone unique in the

market, then it can focus on its marketing campaign. The marketing campaign is a very

important aspect and should have a lot of money invested into it, but it’s the last focus

because it only matters if BlackBerry has a product that is worth buying. However, once

BlackBerry has completed the new and improved smartphone it can revamp its entire

marketing campaign. BlackBerry can start by making new advertisements that are exciting

and target a specific audience. Once it has the new and improved ads, BlackBerry can show

them on social media, television, the radio, and billboards along with other public areas.

The new marketing campaign will involve spending a lot of more money, however it will be

well worth it. BlackBerry will have better ads that will be shown to a much wider audience,

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greatly increasing the likelihood of sales and profit. By following the suggested plans for

implementation of the recommendations, BlackBerry should rebound from the current

state of despair.

D. Evidence that the project has been presented to the appropriate business and/or government officials who would benefit from the study

BlackBerry is in fact the right target for this report because it focuses on ways to

improve profit and sales, of which BlackBerry has been lacking. “BlackBerry timeline: A

look back at the tech company’s history”, focused on the rise and fall of BlackBerry and

stated how stock went from a high of $149.90 in 2008 and fell to just $6.10 in 2012. The

survey indicated how many people no longer think highly of BlackBerry’s products. For

those reasons, this report would very much benefit from this report and study.

The recommendations suggested for BlackBerry are appropriate for the country it’s

located in (Canada) because none of them break any of the rules or regulations

surrounding patents and advertising. The new marketing system recommended would not

interfere with any law and regulations such as “Advertisements must not contain

inaccurate, deceptive or otherwise misleading claims, statements, illustrations or

representations, either direct or implied, with regard to any identified or identifiable

product(s) or service(s)”. Furthermore, BlackBerry can make the changes to its

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smartphones as it sees fits. BlackBerry’s products are patented and all claims to its

products are there to do whatever it likes with.

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