Thursday, September 29, 2011

Ch. 5- Developing a Global Vision

BlackBerry has done their research by bringing an easy and effective stage to which marketers can reach their target market. Customers now have the option to update, customize, and add application and software onto their "BB" like never before. BlackBerry has now developed its own application superstore, BlackBerry App World, and it has been successful on its own since its launch. This is a phenomenal strategy to get customers interested in the product because it offers something new to the market and promises to be a competitor, which by far, it has done a superb job since they established themself when they launch the product.  
     
BlackBerry is becoming one of the most global company’s out there in the market with launches of devices in China, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Spain, Singapore even as far as Australia, Austria, India, the Philippines and so many other areas of the world which I can’t name them all because that would take forever. Since the launch of the BlackBerry 9900 on September 7, 2011 in South Africa, BlackBerry has proven that they are going above and beyond the normal limitations set by the market to expand their business. Even though Blackberry does distribute to places all over the world with their excellent service advantage, they are still overall mainly popular in their country of origin, Canada. China on the other hand produces the parts for the devices but they are not manufactured there; in fact they are assembled right there in Canada. Think of it this way then: China and Canada are the brains of the operation, Canada is the heart that pumps blood to make the body survive (which in this case it’s the device which is the blood); and the other countries make up the rest of the body which makes it functional and all the other future countries which they want launch in are the extra protection the body needs to stay strong.

Think of BlackBerry as one of the main frames of the wireless market. Since founded, it has proven that it is not going anywhere and that’s going to keep expanding it services around the world ‘til they are in every country.



Sunday, September 18, 2011

Ch. 4- The Marketing Environment

BlackBerry as a company planned mainly to make their product appealing to corporate america executives who are very business savvy from Generation X which are people born between 1965 and 1978. These individuals who pay keen attention to the latest technology and recreational product that would help to make their life go easier. These are the people who always needed to be connected to the world, their jobs and their everyday life. Now however, it has spread like wildfire to Generation Y which are individuals born between 1979 and 1994 who want the same thing to be connected to the world.

Generation X / Corporate America

Individuals including myself who fall in the category Gen Y refuse to give up their BlackBerry because it keeps us connected at all times to our programs which are apart of our everyday life such as Facebook and to our friends on BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) which is a good thing that BlackBerry has over its competitors. Just the fact that a program can allow us to stay connected while we go on vacation to other countries and keep informed on what's going on back home. A BlackBerry allows us to plan things in advance as young people who love to know where or what we are gonna being doing at every second of everyday. The fact that we can do so many things from our BlackBerry makes going through life so much easier to handle. This also allows us to have some form of accountability because everything goes to our BlackBerry and we can never miss out on anything and say we didn't get the information. 

Generation Y

BlackBerry has widen its marketing environment just by simply changing their designs to appeal to the market consumers. By giving consumers choices it gives them room for improvement and by giving consumers these choices they get to figure out what consumers at what age generation is looking for from their phones. 

Friday, September 16, 2011

Additional Information to Ethic and Social Responsibility

According to http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-01/blackberry-expansion-at-risk-as-governments-tighten-curbs-on-mobile-e-mail.htmlResearch In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry smart phone, faces increasing challenges to its overseas expansion as developing countries tighten restrictions on mobile e-mail.


The United Arab Emirates, home to Middle East business hub Dubai, said yesterday it may suspend BlackBerry e-mail services in October because of concern the devices could be used in crimes. The move comes days after an official in India said that country may ban BlackBerry e-mail use and reports that Saudi Arabia could take similar steps.
“It’s a reflection of fears of cyber-security and espionage that now extend to mobile phones,” said Ron Deibert, director of the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, who helped colleagues uncover a plot against the Indian government that involved computers in China. “It’s the type of thing that will become more common for RIM as they grapple with public policy and ethical issues in emerging markets.”




Security Concern

For RIM, the pioneer in handheld e-mail devices, security is one of the main advantages it touts over competitors. E-mails its customers send are encrypted and sent through RIM’s own servers and network operation centers, with much of the equipment located in Canada. That security has made BlackBerry’s popular with companies and government officials including Barack Obama, who kept his BlackBerry after becoming U.S. president.


However, the system also makes it harder for governments to monitor BlackBerry communications than messages from other smartphones, which typically travel across the Internet. That has made RIM’s devices an issue for countries concerned mobile e-mail or messaging could be used to coordinate a terrorist attack or bring down a government.
“RIM respects both the regulatory requirements of government and the security and privacy needs of corporations and consumers,” the company said in a statement. “RIM does not disclose confidential regulatory discussions that take place with any government.” In a separate statement for corporate customers, RIM said each company’s e-mails are encrypted with a unique key and even RIM can’t decode such messages.


After reading this article I do feel that it is a good thing that they do with encrypting their customers e-mails because who wants the world to know what they are sending especially the government. However, this can also be looked at as a security precaution to help prevent terrorist attacks; so this door can swing both ways depending on the point of view of the individual.  

Monday, September 12, 2011

Ch. 3- Ethics and Social Responsibility

What are ethic and social responsibilities? Why do companies do this? BlackBerry is a clear example of this definition. Research In Motion is involved in many community activities 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 is 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.

If I were them I would start placing emphasis to support events/places in the U.S just like what they are doing in Canada and other places because mainly most of their sales do come from the U.S and what better way to show their appreciation that to actually do something for the U.S.


Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Ch. 2- Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage




Mike Lazaridis, the founder and CEO of BlackBerry, stayed true their company’s goal to put the customers first and integrated that in their strategic planning. BlackBerry has shown that their strategic plans and focus is market orientated. This simply means that they depend mainly on their customers input when they create their products. They look for what the customers want and give them exactly what they want and more.

The design of their BlackBerry Torch 9810 and the BlackBerry Torch 9860 were most definitely based off their customers’ needs and wants. According to my source who is a BlackBerry Representative which cannot be disclosed at this time, they researched and found that there are customers who liked the design of the torch that gives you the option to either use the slide keyboard or they one on the screen and then there were customers that liked only they touch screen accessibility; so they gave customers exactly what they wanted. An option to get the BlackBerry Torch 9810 with both the slide keyboard and touch screen or the BlackBerry Torch 9860 that has only the touch screen accessibility. They also had customers who complained about the buttons on the front of the phone being too raised and so they made a new design where all the buttons are flat. Their customers also wanted new colors, they were tired of the normal black and white phone so they still stayed true to the customers that liked the white which in research was very popular and kicked the black to the curb and made a titanium silver color.





BlackBerry Torch 9810



BlackBerry Torch 9860





Also the apps that they make are based mainly on their customers. For example of the apps which I think is great cause I use it is  Pageone app that puts your entire bank, credit cards all in one place you can keep track of their balance and due dates so you could never be late on a payment. The newest and most inventive app I have seen recently is the BlackBerry Music Cloud (BBMC). According to my source this allows individuals on BlackBerry Messenger to share their music with each other. The service will offer unlimited play, and users will be able to keep stack of 50 songs to carry around and advertise to their contacts, swapping 25 a month in and out of the library. Users can grow their playlist by inviting more users. Playlists can be shared or built up from other playlists. This also allows users to talk to each other about their playlist. The BBM view of the world, which is naturally timeline-based, will include friends' music activity. As you'd expect, songs can be stored for offline use. Funny enough they also have an app that appeals only to woman. They have a lot more apps than their competitors for free which appeals to those that don't want to or can't afford to buy them.


BlackBerry Apps


Having this kind of strategic planning for competitive advantage gives them an edge over their competitor mainly Apple by giving customers a new way to talk to people around the world by just having a BlackBerry PIN to access BlackBerry Messenger (BBM). This allows people to share their pictures, voice notes and videos no matter how far you are from each other. This even allows you to be in a group and talk to a bunch of people just as you would if you were on a computer. They have so many market advantages over their competitors which I will discuss later in this blog.


                       Iphone       BlackBerry



This is one thing that I believe they do very well. The most important thing to a business is its customers and a company that uses their customers input to create their product whether the review is good or bad and use that to show their customers that they are listening and improve on it based on what their customers say, then I believe that company will be in the market for a very long time. As consumers we like when creators and business owners give us exactly what we asked for and improve on the product that we want, we will most definitely continue to be a supporter of the product and forever be “Team BlackBerry”.