BlackBerry Torch 9800 Review

The Marketing Environment - Cool, Calm, Collected

 

Imagine an atmosphere of extreme success, longevity, and developments. This environment is ideal for any entrepreneur or small business in the market yet; few ever achieve this heightened success. One such company who has grown tremendously and still maintains strong market share: Blackberry. In this environment, marketing is an essential and crucial necessity that has been utilized from the creation and development of Blackberry by Research In Motion.

When Blackberry set out in the late 90’s, it wanted to create a user-friendly device that enabled the consumer to run 24-7; and that it did.  The target market for the brand was traditionally business professionals and the everyday cellular user was not a part of their market. Fast forward 15 years and you’ll find Blackberry has opened its target market to Generation Y and beyond. Helping them to hold their established and loyal customers and gain a deeper market penetration for new customers in a competitive environment.

Consumers want a phone that works and works well. Performance is crucial and if you intend on having any bit of success, you should start at product development. Research in Motion has invested a considerable amount of money and time into this area. With product development, goods have the ability to reach newer markets, ultimately creating new initiatives and objectives within the organization.

Blackberry, most recently, teamed up with MetroPCS to offer the Blackberry Curve and service, giving Blackberry a new market: Low Income families and individuals who couldn’t afford the old Blackberry price tag. Until recently, devices still had a hefty price tag affixed to them thus distancing themselves from consumers who couldn’t buy. By providing the Blackberry device and services with MetroPCS, Blackberry joined the 2.8 Core Market consumers and 4.6 million customers and was able to tap into an even larger consumer base. Considering 51 percent of MetroPCS’ customers are under 34 years of age, Blackberry made a smart move in this effort.

The environment is simple at Blackberry and anyone that is a part of the organization can attest to this. Devices are faster, thinner, and cheaper than in times past and loyalty is formed through those efforts. Holding fast to core values and objectives while serving the consumers needs is equally profitable and successful with Blackberry. As long as their marketing environment is strong and creative, they will continue to blossom.

In Deepwater: Social Irresponsibility

We would imagine that corporations and businesses in today’s world would uphold social and moral standards but that isn’t always carried through. Some corporations emphasize their involvement in the community, dedication to reliable products, and social responsibility. The most recent blunder in the media happened approximately 250 miles southeast of Houston, in 4,132 feet of water on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig.

After the rig had caught fire, 13 crew members abandoned the rig and were rescued with no major injuries. The same cannot be said about the 11 crew members that lost their lives in April 2009. The break in the pipe released oil into the gulf destroying eco-systems, harming wildlife, and drastically halting the surrounding local fishing industry.



A disaster like the Deepwater Horizon rig cost millions of dollars and angered many around the globe. This sort of action, although not foreseen, was irresponsible on BP’s behalf who managed the rig. The irresponsibility wasn’t related to the disaster itself, but by the response of former BP CEO Tony Hayward on the event. It seemed that his interests were ultimately with the rig and BP, not with the environment it was destroying.

People were outraged by the lack of social sympathy shown and quickly voiced their outrage. Hayward, as of October 1^st 2010, will no longer be the CEO of BP and some credit this happening to Hayward’s irresponsibility. This is a perfect example of how corporate irresponsibility can be found in one’s negligent actions or reactions and not always from defective or harmful products on the market.

Country of Orgin

Social Responsibility of RIM and Blackberry

Research In Motion is involved in many community events and sponsorship opportunities. Unfortunately, one of their recent ‘involvements’ was during the wake of Haiti Disaster. Blackberry users received a BlackBerry Messenger message with regards to the relief fund setup.

Over the past few days some BlackBerry owners have received a new BBM stating that RIM is donating 35 cents every time the BBM is passed on. According to RIM, that's not true.

The message was marked with a Red Cross symbol. It read:

"Because of what has transpired in Haiti recently, Blackberry has decided to help out and give 35 cents for the cause when you pass this message along to your friends on BBM (btw how blackberry sees this is through their Red Cross symbol)."

This fake fundraising message put Blackberry in a bad social light. Especially since the Haiti efforts were something not to be taken lightly. RIM responded to this falsification of information stating it was indeed a ‘spam’ effort and made sure the public was aware.

Research In Motion has been involved in numerous sponsorships, most notably sporting events and fundraising campaigns. Blackberry has sponsored the Asian Tour, a golfing event and the Formula 1 racing event.

Blackberry is the current sponsor for U2’S 360 degree 2010 Tour. This comes after it sponsored the Black Eyed Peas World Tour. They have been backing large groups as these for some time now and have branded everything imaginable at these events. Commercials have been made and distribution materials given out at the event, etc.

Blackberry teamed up with eBay this past month to support the Motion Picture & Television Fund which been caring for the entertainment community. The MPTF provides healthcare, child care, residential living and care for older adults, as well as social and charitable services.

RIM is an intricate part of the Canadian workforce and the community as a whole. Internally, RIM provides healthcare services, onsite massage services and discounted gym memberships to promote the wellness of their employees. They support education and are involved many charitable events even having a Philanthropy Team established that is responsible for reviewing new proposals and continuing their community involvement.

This involvement is crucial in surviving in an ever-changing world and enables the company to gain support by those a part of these causes. Although very little support and social responsibility has been placed in the America’s, Research In Motion continues to be a valuable link to the societal chain in Canada, its home base.

Strategy and CSR of Research in Motion

Blackberry, over the years, has evolved and grown into a global brand but, where did this evolution stem from? When the device was first released, its marketing strategy was simple: The phone that has the features they don’t. Blackberry was the first of its kind and the consumers learning about its kind quickly became aware of this. How then did they become the largest mobile phone manufac
turer? One word: Strategy.



Since those early days, Research in Motion has made titanic changes to its marketing strategy. The device itself started losing momentum after the release of Apple’s Iphone and RIM had to act quickly. The brand was shifted from the phone’s performance to the features it contained.


Probably one of the smartest and most emotional marketing objectives, Blackberry formed the brand around the concept that this wasn’t just a phone with bells and whistles rather, a lifestyle. This lifestyle pulled in consumers from all ends of the spectrum. Gone now are the days of business men and woman lugging around their Blackberry Curve’s for constant notification and communication with their employers. Consumers were buying for reasons such as entertainment experience, quality video and sound, and uncanny service. This strategy propelled the brand into the upper echelon of mobile technology and service, winning numerous awards, accolades, and notoriety.


Competitors to Blackberry similar to Iphone devices could not keep up with this product innovation thus creating a sustainable competitive advantage. Since the target market shifted from strictly business professionals, the brand has grown to incorporate a younger, hipper, tech-savvy consumer, bringing to their core market social networking fiends and more.


RIM has been an intricate part of society and cooperates with giving and donating time, goods, services, and of course money. Substantial expenditures have been made to Canadian-based facilities to promote education in the physics realm. The most recent involvement has been with environmental sustainability giant Greenpeace, seeking solutions to environmental dilemmas and promoting positive eco-friendly choices within society (http://www.greenpeace.org).


Bottom line here is: Research in Motion has had tremendous growth in an ever-changing, expanding market and continues to strive for excellence. Creating a strong brand, engaging the customer’s needs, and have a position in positive social affairs will keep Blackberry and RIM on the platform of worldwide domination.

BlackBerry Mission Statement and Brief History

Blackberry is a brand that was created by Research in Motion’s (RIM) Founder Mike Lazaridis in 1996, providing wireless web enabled devices across multiple networks. RIM is a Canadian based company founded in 1984 that formally worked with RAM and Ericsson, developing a two way paging system and wireless email network.

The company’s goal and vision is clear: “to provide solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market, including the software that allows the BlackBerry Smartphone to provide mobile access to email, applications, media and the Internet.” (RIM website: http://www.rim.com/company)

Since the creation of Blackberry, it commands over 20% of the world’s Smartphone sales, available in over 91 countries on over 500 mobile service operators. Blackberry has sold over 100 million devices and still trumps the Iphone is sales since its development.


With the development of the New Blackberry Torch we see the progress that Blackberry has made. Not only does Blackberry dedicate so much time and funds to research and development, but they have successfully built the brand strong and have reached different demographics in the past 5 years than any other company.


There is no doubt that Blackberry has been, and will continue to be, the leader in research and development in wireless realm.