Therefore, to counter the long, the very long delay I must say, of the race towards excellence, BlackBerry was still relying on its existing niche market and the company continues to rest on its laurels, which it considered to be a well-deserved break after being labelled as the reference in the business. Just like Aesop's famous tale; the hare and the tortoise, BlackBerry was overconfident about retaining its business-oriented customers while its competitors took the opportunity of its lethargy and its over-optimism and they keep paving on the way to innovation.
Moreover, BlackBerry’s rivals continue to cook up delicacies, for instances useful and interesting features, for their customers. They followed the trend dictated by the market. Customer is King! They have understood it more than anyone else and they were dedicated in serving the King, who is really very exigent and spoilt as well. The King is fond of novelty and is always hungry over new delicacies presented before him, may it be a nice touchscreen with the latest technology, say the Super AMOLED Plus or a quad core processor or an 8 or 13 megapixel camera.
This is where BlackBerry has failed, to fulfil the basic concept of marketing, that is to give satisfaction to its customers by providing them with top notch updated and advanced devices. BlackBerry’s marketing team also failed to retain existing customers and to capture/conquer market share. Furthermore, the Research and Development team is also pointed finger over BlackBerry’s free-fall. They were short of innovation, creativity and proactivity and facing the law of the jungle, the toughest would survive, whereas the weak would consequently perish due to their self-emanated helplessness.
At the point the Toronto-based company was being bullied and intimidated by the other players, the company finally heard the wake-up call. We people when we are stuck in a nightmare which invades and torments our sub-conscience, we would get through it when hearing the wake-up call and we would jump on our feet, terrified for a moment, but safe and sound. However, it is surely not the case for a company which plays global and with vicious and hungry vultures waiting to make a feast out of your body once you are left with no water, no amenities, nothing, in that deadly desert.
As such, though analysts tagged BlackBerry as the underdog of the industry, the company remains optimistic over turning the table and to keep its head above water, significantly to get a breath of fresh air. BlackBerry put its cards on the table by betting, for the last time, on the overhauled operating system BlackBerry 10 and the Z10 and Q10 respectively. The specifications of both handsets would have created a wow effect if it was launched 2 years back, hence putting in its armor and valiantly go in the battlefield with a notorious Samsung Galaxy S2.
Despite the Rebranding, Innovation and Celebrity Endorsement which are the usual recipe for success, the strategy driven by BlackBerry is now obsolete. Changing RIM to BlackBerry is a mere marketing exercise of rebranding comprising the restructuring of the company to bring it back to its glory days. The appointment of Alicia Keys is yet another marketing strategy to force the singer’s fans to get themselves a BlackBerry. While BlackBerry has chosen the following slogan ‘Re-designed, Re-engineered, Re-invented’, will the company succeed to ‘Re-capture, Re-glorified, Re-dress’? Only the future holds the answer!
