BlackBerry has unveiled the products it hopes will become its saviour. But, asks Alex Aspinall, will they be enough?
Back in May last year we covered the downfall of BlackBerry maker RIM, canvassing the opinion of leading B2B marketers to assess what it needed to do in order to turn things around. Nine months later, the company has shown its hand. RIM is no more; it’s now just ‘BlackBerry’. It has unveiled two new phones, launched with a new iteration of its operating system. And the company seems to be aware that in order for any of that to matter, it had to deliver a competitive ecosystem of apps.
This all sounds quite encouraging. And, indeed, many people were making positive noises immediately after the launch. But you get a sense of just how far BlackBerry has fallen when you realise that all this good work isn’t necessarily going to be enough.
When we looked at the brand’s plight last year we highlighted three areas in which it would have to improve if it was to begin to regain its glory: innovation, apps and engagement. So, how has it done?
Innovation
An examination of the BlackBerry website reveals the company has returned to the drawing board and delivered a compelling proposition. Its new flagship Z10 device looks the part, and the company is clearly leading with the message that its new phone is different.
Just as Nokia did recently, BlackBerry seems to have overhauled its operating system to deliver a new take on how people should interact with their smartphones. There is an emphasis on speed and convenience, which should resonate well with business users, and it looks very slick.
In May last year, Scott Wilkinson, planning partner at agency Bordello, was sceptically eager to see some innovation from BlackBerry. But despite what’s been created, it’s fair to say he hasn’t been blown away with the company’s new products.
He says, “If the company formerly known as RIM was going to survive, BB10 needed to be radical. So radical, that only a reinvention of the mobile phone for business users would do. Sadly, there’s no question it has failed spectacularly to deliver. It’s a remarkable feat to squander three years and billions of dollars, and then only squeeze out a reasonable imitation of Android and iOS.
“But this highlights the big difference between life and death in tech markets. The word from the Apple insiders I know is that they’ve got a host of innovations lined up and ready to ship. They’re not looking lacklustre because they can’t invent new stuff. They’re waiting for the average consumer to be ready for the next product.”
Apps
Last year Thorsten Heins, BlackBerry CEO, acknowledged the importance of a decent ecosystem of apps, and spoke about his intention to increase the credibility of its app hub BlackBerry App World. Indeed, app developers were the first outside the company to get their hands on BlackBerry 10 last summer. One of the phone company’s main objectives was to get the developers on side. So, how did they do?
The answer to that depends on how you define success, and who you ask. BlackBerry eagerly points to the impressive-sounding 70,000 apps available at the launch of BB10. Its detractors respond with justified cries of ‘quantity over quality.’ There are some pretty big names missing. And some of the big hitters present are produced by BlackBerry rather than coming straight from the owners. This speaks badly of BlackBerry’s ability to convince other companies they need to invest in its ecosystem.
James Wood, planner at Earnest, isn’t impressed. He says, “Last year BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins showed ambitions to get the app store in order. Surely the only way to make this a success was to stick to what they know and build a resource of industry-leading apps for the businessmen of the world?
“The app store did indeed change – a big rebrand from ‘BlackBerry App World’ to ‘BlackBerry World’ saw the introduction of new movies, music and games. This is a far cry from the business productivity apps we had been expecting.”
Engagement
Criticisms previously levelled at BlackBerry’s positioning centred on its muddy teenager/businessman target market. The free BBM messaging app was at odds with BlackBerry’s more traditional business focus on providing a speedy and secure email service. Who was BlackBerry for?
BlackBerry announced last year it was to focus on its traditional business audience in order to retain its relevance. This was definitely the right kind of message to be pumping out. But BlackBerry had to be careful not to take it too far and repeat ignoring something it missed previously, namely that many business people don’t want to switch phones when they get home and loosen their ties.
Fortunately for BlackBerry, its messaging seems to be aware that modern smartphone users multi-task, and switch between personas continually throughout the day. There is an implicit message within the site that the phone will work for business, even if the examples and imagery employed tend to lean further towards the cooler consumer user at times.
This, however, doesn’t go far enough for Drew Nicholson, CEO at DNX. He says, “BlackBerry gives off the perception of a confused brand. What is ringing out to me is that the BlackBerry brand needs to be as much about the heart of the brand as it is about performance of the phone to keep BlackBerry moving. Business people ‘want’ iPhones and Galaxys – will they say they want a BlackBerry again? If you look at a brand such as Apple, it has its own persona which is rolled out across devices where people are pulled into the brand and not the products. I don’t see that here.
“I will be interested to see how the roll-out of these two products plays out, but in the wider market I think it needs to come up with more than these products to start standing their ground and ensuring people buy into the BlackBerry experience. I could be wrong. But I will be keeping my iPhone just for now.”
It’s fair to say our experts aren’t blown away by BlackBerry’s new offering. Despite an improved proposition, the company appears to have fallen short of creating something that feels essential; something likely to encourage meaningful numbers of people to turn their backs on Apple and Samsung.
It’s far from game over. But the next few months will be very important for the company formerly known as RIM.
