Brand Selection: BlackBerry
Blackberry is a Canadian brand that attained prominence for its pioneer innovative mobile devices and software solutions. Founded in 1984 by Douglas Fregnin and Mike Lazaridis, the firm revolutionized the communications and mobile landscape. The brand was popular because it introduced smartphones, the trade-mark QWERTY keyboards, and numerous email capabilities. The BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) was a revolutionary messenger service that allowed its users to communicate using instant messages practically for free (Seth, 2023). The 1990s and early 2000s saw the multinational grow by leaps and bounds. Following the launch of the iPhone in 2007, BlackBerry’s dramatic fall began. By 2009, half of the customers had shifted to larger tech firms.
Historical Analysis
The brands heyday was in September 2011, when its products and services were popular with celebrities, professionals, and politicians. At the time, there were 85 million BlackBerry subscribers globally. Before the 2007/2008 depression, the USA consumer market accounted for 55% of the firm’s total market (Patel, 2019). Ultimately, the company’s share price tanked from a high of $ 147 to less than $ 4 today.
A number of external and internal factors contributed to the decline of Blackberry. One internal concern was the apparent lack of innovation compared to rival companies like Android and Apple, which entered the market during the touchscreen trend. This proved detrimental to Blackberry’s going concern (Seth, 2023). The multinational responded in vain when touchscreen devices like BlackBerry Storm were poorly received in the market. Another internal factor was the ineffective consumer prices strategy. Blackberry 10 was launched in 2013 as a symbol of rejuvenation, but it failed to get developer support from the consumers who were not impressed with its app ecosystem.
Externally, a consumer shift in preferences put an end to Blackberry’s power in the market. Instead of focusing on entertainment, multimedia, and apps, Blackberry stuck to business features that targeted a limited audience like corporates and government officials. By substantially improving their measures, competitors like Android and iOS highlighted the weaknesses in Blackberry’s ecosystem. The success of the rivals was attributed to their popular ecosystems among consumers (Hult, 2023). More so, delays in the release of BlackBerry 10 significantly disadvantaged the corporation. A second macro-issue was the global economic recession. In the late 2000s, the global economic system was crushed leaving consumers poor and lacking in spending appetite. The firm’s premium devices lost its edge as consumers opted for cheaper options.
Besides, the decline of BlackBerry’s market shares further pushed away investors and loyal customers. In 2007, for instance, the firm underperformed the market by 152% (Patel, 2019). Consumers shifted towards multimedia capabilities and app ecosystem. App stores popularized Apple and Android devices, leaving Blackberry struggling to keep the last of its customers. Its marketability was further crushed by failed products like the Blackberry 10 operating system and the Blackberry PlayBook.
Current Consumer Analysis:
Surveys & Focus Groups
Currently, Blackberry provides Internet of Things (IoT) and cybersecurity services. The main focus group are individuals between the age of 25 and 44 because of their relatively high earnings. A majority of the population above the age of 65 need to be tech-savvy meaning that they are the least likely to purchase the firm’s products and services. Key focus regions are the USA, China, and India. The company offers offline and online solutions in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa with the goal of offering premium services in wealthier parts of the world. The corporation’s global market size was valued at $ 1295.26 million in 2022. This is projected to grow by 6.2% by the end of 2023. BlackBerry’s market has positive nostalgia, particularly among government and corporate customers. This consumer segment values customized and secure software enabling its clientele to effectively execute tasks in government, corporate agencies, and financial service groups.
Competitive Landscape
BlackBerry’s current major competitors are Apple and Samsung. Apple has a huge client base and strong brand loyalty because it emphasizes premium quality, design, and user experience. In contrast, BlackBerry emphasizes security and privacy. In retrospect, many consumers opt for Samsung products because of the diverse product portfolio, which includes wearables, tablets, and smartphones. Besides, Samsung’s camera features and display technology make it a globally recognized brand.
Today, BlackBerry should leverage the increasing demand for secure cloud-based services and obtain patents to produce products that are synonymous with or better than the competition. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a service that involves designing virtual computing infrastructure, including networking resources and virtual machines. Another cloud-based platform is Software as a Service (SaaS), which delivers software applications over the internet. Given the growing demand for such services internationally, BlackBerry can venture into these online software development and storage spaces.
Influence Factors Identification
Several social, psychological, and personal factors will affect the revitalized brand. Social class, cultural influences, and reference groups determine consumer behavior. BlackBerry has a premium and secure option that attracts clients of high social class. Customers look to influencers, their peers, and colleagues for positive endorsements. Cultural factors such as the professionalism, security, and confidentiality of the cloud-based services will influence the company’s marketability.
Personal factors include personality, preferences, and lifestyle. BlackBerry largely appeals to brands and professionals in the corporate and public service sectors. These individuals treasure security, efficiency, and privacy (Craddock et al., 2019). Customers who prefer innovative and reliable services will be attracted by BlackBerry’s integration with machine learning and artificial intelligence. Lastly, the psychological factors are motivation, perception, and cognitive dissonance. Consumers still have a negative attitude towards the company’s products. Although many trust the reliability of the products and services, they are affected by the failure of the company in the past. Therefore, reinforcing the consumers’ attitudes is vital if BlackBerry is to regain its historical prominence. Through excellent customer service, post-purchase cognitive dissonance will be a thing of the past.
Revitalization Blueprint:
Product/Service Reimagining
Blackberry can revitalize its prominence by focusing on shifting the brand image away from the smartphone legacy to providing security and software-focused solutions for the modern consumer market. Some of the key strengths of the firm’s devices were security, privacy, and efficiency. BlackBerry should capitalize by providing alternative security offerings in the artificial intelligence space (BlackBerry Market, 2023). Starting with its 100 million subscribers, the marketing department should launch a campaign highlighting the integration of unique applications in the Blackberry device. Besides, the management should approve investment in enterprise software. Today’s consumers need collaboration platforms and communication tools relevant to the post-Covid work model that largely entails remote working (Hult, 2023). By orchestrating an effective marketing ecosystem, BlackBerry can expand globally through intelligent integration and sharing of resources with strategic partners.
Marketing & Communication Strategy
Brand image rebuilding should be the pioneer marketing strategy for BlackBerry’s marketing team. Blackberry’s strengths, such as reliability, innovation, and security, must be emphasized. For instance, smartphones and the app ecosystem should be integrated with machine learning and artificial intelligence to provide predictive analytics, enhance security measures, and impress on the consumer’s experiences. By aligning the customer needs and the company’s strategies, the firm will recover its lost glory. Hult (2023) notes that delivering the best customer experience should entail a strategic mix of quality, cost, and speed. Providing the best user experience will naturally create customer evangelists who will sell the brand’s name for free. Customer recommendations are powerful in the online marketing space.
Engagement and Experience
To rebuild goodwill and improve the relationship between the consumers and the brand, BlackBerry must invest in environmental sustainability initiatives. Since today’s customers are conscious of the environmental impact of smartphone and other device manufacturing companies, they are likely to be receptive to an organization that values the environment. Besides, implementing user-friendly innovation improves the consumer-brand relationship (BlackBerry Market, 2023). The firm must innovate user-friendly interfaces and a feedback system that demonstrates responsiveness to the needs and preferences of the consumers. An engaging app ecosystem entails customization and personalization of smartphone apps, products, and services for the benefit of the consumer. Lastly, BlackBerry should sanction a customer loyalty program that rewards consumers for continuously supporting the brand.
Potential Challenges and Recommendations
One probable challenge is a legacy perception from the consumers. Many clients view BlackBerry as the brand that collapsed during the pre-touchscreen era. The company does not resonate with today’s Generation Z, who have grown up consuming Apple’s products. The solution here is to launch a multi-level marketing campaign by leveraging strategic partnerships and collaborations with artificial intelligence and machine learning institutions (Craddock et al., 2019). To improve the brand image, the company should engage in brand activism across the board. Social activism entails supporting gender and human rights by funding education and other social services. Legal and business activism will create a sustainable environment characterized by good governance and adherence to tax and employment laws.
Another problem is product and price competition in the fast-paced technological space, specifically because the existing Blackberry business produces limited niche products and services, mainly in the cybersecurity space. Competitors like Samsung, Huawei, and Apple have a large collection of products for their consumers. A lack of a creative workforce and high costs of the products hinder the firm’s marketability (Craddock et al., 2019). This problem can be solved by expanding commercial relationships with the suppliers and forging strategic collaborations to enhance economies of scale and acquire much-needed knowledge and expertise. Through diversification to third-party applications, BlackBerry will be edging closer to Samsung, Apple, and the like.
References
BlackBerry Market. (2023). BlackBerry market trends insights 2023-2031: seizing business growth with future challenges.
Craddock et al., J. (2018, Jun.27). Brand activism. Darden Business Publishing.
Hult, T.M. (2023, Mar. 14). 8 best practices for creating a compelling customer experience. Harvard Business School.
Patel, M. (2019). An analysis of BlackBerry’s strategic options failure. Academia. An Analysis of Black Berry Strategic Options Failure | Malin Patel – Academia.edu
Seth, S. (2023). BlackBerry: A story of constant success & failure. Investopedia. BlackBerry: A Story Of Constant Success & Failure (investopedia.com)
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