BY

RIZWAN

DHANESH

PRATHAMESH

OBJECTIVES

Company backgroundBlackBerry – The Product-HistoryMarketing MixMarketing Strategy of BlackBerryCompetitor AnalysisBCG & SWOT AnalysisSuccess FactorsReferencesConclusion

Company background

Name : Research In Motion BlackBerry

Industries served :Telecommunications equipmentGeographic areas: WorldwideHeadquarters : CanadaCurrent CEO : Thorsten HeinsRevenue : $ 18.435 billion (2012)Profit : $ 1.164 billion (2012)Employees : 12,700 (2013)Main Competitors : Apple Inc., Nokia, Samsung

BlackBerry – The Product-History

BlackBerry is a line of wireless handheld device developed by the Canadian company, Research In Motion (RIM).

1999 – RIM introduced as a two-way Pager.2003 - In 2003, the more commonly known smartphone

BlackBerry was released, which supports push email, mobile telephone, text messaging, Internet faxing, Web browsing and other wireless information services.

BlackBerry gained market share in the mobile industry by concentrating on email.

All newer models have been optimized for "thumbing", the use of only the thumbs to type on a keyboard.

The track wheel was replaced by the trackball with the introduction of the Pearl series which allowed 4-way scrolling.

The trackball was replaced by the optical trackpad with the introduction of the Curve 8500 series.

BlackBerry PIN is an eight character hexadecimal identification number assigned to each BlackBerry device. PINs cannot be changed and are locked to each handset device.

BlackBerry – The Product-History

BlackBerrys can message each other using the PIN directly or by using the Blackberry Messenger application-BBM.

On January 30, 2013, BlackBerry announced the release of the Z10 and Q10 smart phones.

Both models consist of touch screens: the Z10 features an all-touch design and the Q10 combines a QWERTY keyboard with touch screen features.

BlackBerry – The Product-History

Marketing Mix- Product

• RIM’s most notable product is easily a “Blackberry”.

• It has long been known as the phone with email access on the go, with security that has been difficult to match for its competitors.

• Also, the BBM service is its core competence as well as a differentiating factor from other smart phones available in the market.

• Main features that a BlackBerry smart phone offers are:1. Push Email 2. Instant messaging features (BBM)3. Mobile Telephone 4. Text messaging5. Internet Faxing 6. Web browsing7. Multi-touch interface

Objective:

To create awareness about the BlackBerry brand in the youth market segment.

Positioning Blackberry as the ‘Smartphone’ of choice for the youth and young professionals.

Highlight BlackBerry’s beyond email capabilities.

Marketing Strategy of BlackBerry

Segment method : 1. OccupationBusiness professionalsQuickly access sales, product and organizational data in any

database Remove the requirement to be near a desktop to view critical data Support decision-making with automatic alerts and automatically

refreshed data Provide at-a-glance performance monitoring for accelerated

action and decision making Be willing to pay more for the newest products that provide the

function they need

Marketing Mix-Target Market Segment

2. behavior segmentationInnovators : Successful, take charge people, High self-esteem, Change

leaders, Very active consumersPursue the most fashionable products with advanced technology Like the fashionable design Like to purchase the products of leading brand Be willing to pay more for the newest products

3. IncomeAbove 30,000/MonthPurchase the expensive personal productsPursue the fashion products

Marketing Mix-Target Market Segment

Marketing Mix-Target Market Segment

Blackberry provides the solution to target market combined with the business professional, innovators and high income segments.

Positioning : The place a product occupies in consumers’ minds

relative to competing products.Blackberry is a smart phone that ensures consumers

to receive all kind of information instantly, and be able to browse the Web, make or receive phone calls, organize the day and much more.

“To busy mobile professionals who need to always be in the loop, Blackberry is a wireless connectivity solution that allows you to stay connected to people and resources while on the go more easily and reliably than the competing technologies.”

Marketing Mix-Target Market Segment

Introduce BlackBerry, for the new market segment

• 18-24 years

• Tier I cities

• Youth and young professionals

Brand personality

 

• lifestyle;

• imagination;

• innovation;

• dreams and aspirations;

• power-to-the-people through technology.

BlackBerry Appeal

• All the features of the parent brand

• Classic in look and display.

• Available in youthful colors.

Marketing Strategy of BlackBerry

Positioning BlackBerry

Gap analysis suggested a position of a

smart phone for the youth.

Blackberry’s serious image

vis-à-vis Blackberry’s cool, funky

image.

Cool features, great look and

low price. BlackBerry is the

way to go!

BlackBerry stormed the market by focusing on enterprise sales and getting corporate to push the brand among their employees.

To increase market share and popular mind space, BlackBerry made its smart phones accessible to even middle class professionals.

They placed phones in all price ranges starting from Rs.12,000

upto Rs.30,000, as well as with different features to suit different needs, has enabled them to straddle a wider target segment.

BlackBerry – The Pricing

BlackBerry Q10Rs. 38,500

BlackBerry Bold 4 9900Rs. 26,899

BlackBerry Z10Rs. 25,849

BlackBerry Bold 3 9780Rs. 25,470

BlackBerry Q5Rs. 23,157

BlackBerry 9720Rs. 14,787

BlackBerry Curve 9360Rs. 14,100

BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300Rs. 13,490

BlackBerry Curve 9320Rs. 11,160

BlackBerry Bold 9650Rs. 10,180

BlackBerry 9330Rs. 8,400

BlackBerry – The Pricing

Promotion Plan for BlackBerry

• Engage a youth icon, Ranbir Kapoor, as the Spokesperson and endorser for the brand. The target audience would be able to relate to a young endorser and this would leverage the positioning of the brand.

• RIMs young officials would also serve as the spokesperson for the brand.

• Create a lot of ‘buzz’ amongst the youth by employing the youngster as Buzz Agents in colleges and youth clubs. The buzz agents would promote the brand through online viral campaigns and word of mouth.

Promotion Plan for BlackBerry

Promotion Plan for BlackBerry

Competitor Analysis

Nokia was the 1st foreign player to enter the Indian market in 1995.Gained its foothold by offerings basic mobile phones in affordable

price ranges.Recently, Nokia launched its latest range of touch screen and hi-end

phones, which are getting quite popular with Smart phones lovers of India. 

Brand Focus:o Gaming optionso Multimediao GPRSo Faster Internet options

Apple iPhone is a revolutionary mobile deviceOne of the most hyped devices in history

o Complete web experience, wi-fio Creative appso iTunes marketplaceo Slick UI, Touch screen

Competitor Analysis

• 2001 – Samsung enters the Indian market• Introduced affordable Smart phones in the market such as hi-tech multimedia features, camera phones, design phones, music phones, and web and email phones.

SWOT Analysis-BlackBerry

StrengthsHas developed an established brandHighly secure phonesStrong focus on narrow customer segmentBlackberry brand loyalty amongst niche market of corporate/

business customersExpanding global consumer baseHas a loyal market share.

WeaknessesInability to market the brandBlackBerry OSPoor presence in the tablet marketLosing brand loyalty amongst non-corporate customersMarket perceptions of devices being for “professionals”R&D limited on innovation capabilities

SWOT Analysis-BlackBerry

OpportunitiesZ10is launching with “hub” feature- unique to BlackBerryGrowth of tablet and smart phone marketsObtaining patents through acquisitionsIncreasing Apps market (over 100,000 apps goal)Expanding marketing of Niche Business-class consumers

(small/ large businesses)

SWOT Analysis-BlackBerry

ThreatsRapid technological changeSaturated smart phone markets in developed countriesLarge carrier refusing to sell Z10 model.

SWOT Analysis-BlackBerry

BCG MATRIX-BlackBerry

Question Mark ? : BlackBerry TabletOne of RIM’s current products that may be classified as a

Question Mark is its tablet. This product is still in development and is rumored to be called the “BlackPad”.

If designed as speculated, this tablet will be an answer to the already developed Apple’s IPad and Microsoft’s Android tablet.

While expected by the market and desired by loyal Blackberry fans, it still remains to be determined whether this Blackpad will be worth the capital investment RIM is placing in its R&D.

BCG MATRIX-BlackBerry

Rising Star : (Blackberry Smartphone Z10, Q10 )Looking at the key trends in smart phone market, we can

characterize this market as a rapidly changing market with constant product introductions.

Typically this market has strong competition, aggressive pricing, need for prompt imitation of technological advancements and highly price sensitive customers.

BCG MATRIX-BlackBerry

Cash Cow (Blackberry Bold, BlackBerry Curve)Development of RIM’s Blackberry devices was made possible by

the success of RIM’s Bold & Curve model, RIM’s first genuine Cash Cow product.

The Cash Cow from the BCG model is described as being a highly profitable.

 With a full QWERTY style keyboard and display, the allowed users to receive, respond to, and initiate messages, Email, Push mail and continual two-way communication via BBM.

BCG MATRIX-BlackBerry

Cash Cow (Blackberry Bold & BlackBerry Curve)The product emerged as the market leader due to its ease of use,

long battery life. There was a high demand for this product in numerous settings

for applications such as wireless e-mail, portfolio management,

BCG MATRIX-BlackBerry

DOG : (BlackBerry PAGER)According to the BCG Model, a “Dog” is a product that has both

low market share and growth potential. As a result, its ability to generate cash is severely diminished.

It is at this point where product lines like the InterActive Pager, with its technology that initially made it RIM’s Cash Cow, begins to become the company’s “Dog”.

Success Factors

Creative Technology: The single, most compelling benefit that the BlackBerry provide

to its target customers to do both work hard, and play hard all in one device.

Blackberry device to use as a business tool, but it also include new features so t it perceived as a social or networking tool.

With these new features, BlackBerry not only be perceived a professional tool for business consumers, but also as a fun social networking device that attract early college students, tech‐savvy individuals, and regular users who enjoy the latest smart phone with the newest, most innovative features.

Innovative Technology:SurePress touch screenStaying social‐ Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,

Myspace etcHD 8 MP camera with flash and video recordingMulti‐tasking Superb battery lifeMAXimized multimedia‐ 12 GB of memory available

and up to 32 GB with a microSD card!More business apps‐ features all the traditional

tools for businesses and business professionals

Success Key Factors

Rich PC web browsing ‐ includes a full HTML webkit browserEco‐friendly design‐ Small, compact but will all the power of a

genius, smart phone, made in part with 25% recycled plasticIncluded phone tracking and locater‐ never lose your precious

phone again, just download thesoftware on to your PC or Mac!

Success Factors

References

Case studyMarketing text bookwww.rim.comhttp://forums.crackberry.comhttp://gizmodo.comwww.wikepedia.comwww.apple.com/ca/iphone

Conclusion

RIM has proven to have a strong track-record in the telecommunications industry.

Its products have been technologically sound and versatile enough to be a household name while remaining specialized enough to target business users specifically.

As the BCG model stresses, the Cash Cow products must be used wisely to position the company for long-term success. If this means divesting or cutting losses on its Dog products, or partnering with competitors on its Rising Stars, RIM needs to act fast to take the appropriate steps. Its well-established business followers will be ready to follow their lead.

THANK YOU