Russell Shaw from BBHub makes a very good point about how BlackBerry maker, Research in Motion, is shifting from a company that up until recently, released very little information about future BlackBerry devices and features coming down the pipe, to a company that “that embraces the online world- including blogs- as a way to spread anticipation excitement about forthcoming features.”
To make a long story short, RIM is starting to see the value in allowing people like Russell and other mobile technology bloggers, myself included, to talk about BlackBerry gear yet to be released in order to generate “buzz” and interest.
Take the Motorola Q for example. Even though it is a battery hog, reboots twice a day, and will crack wide open if you even think about dropping it, has to be seen as hugely successful. Motorola and Verizon hyped this thing up for months and that hype worked because stores cannot keep them on the shelves.
I personally was probably a week or two away from buying a Q myself and carrying it as a personal phone until I heard that a BlackBerry with a camera (image capture as RIM calls it), removable memory, an MP3 player, and GPS is on the horizon. I still may buy a Q, however, I will at least wait bit longer to see if this new BlackBerry will be offered on Verizon’s network.
When you think about it, getting me to wait a bit longer is the whole point. Even though the Treo 700w did extremely well, it didn’t do as well as it probably could have because people waited for the Motorola Q. They waited for it because they knew it was coming as every gadget freak with a blog talked about just how cool it was three to six months before it ever came out.
It looks like Research in Motion has quickly learned as they move into the individual consumer market that “buzz” is everything.
I agree completely…any device manufacturer or carrier is crazy not to “leak” info on new releases as a form of viral marketing.
Plus, do you really want to have a customer purchase a device, only to have the real device they wanted released shortly thereafter, and thereby have a dissatisfied customer?
Pre-release info only generates positive anticipation for forthcoming releases; that is a good thing, and something any company should covet.
It works both ways though. Pre-released info on a new model also cannibalizes sales of existing products. Why buy model D when now when the new and approved model E is coming any day now.
Joe,
You are correct in that pre-release info can and to a certain extent surely does cannibalize sales of existing products.
However, it can also save a customer who was going to defect; it can also create an anticipation and buzz that creates more sales than otherwise. Also, a customer holding out for model E rather than existing model D doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing for business; if model E sports more features, costs more, and offers an opportunity to sell more services, than the carrier and manufacturer both benefit in the long run.
But for me the bottom line is this: any free market economy works best with maximum information distributed to people. More information overall leads to better decision making by customers, which in the long run means more satisfaction among customers.
Let’s take Robb’s case as an example. Suppose Robb buys a Moto Q now, only to see a BB hit the market a few months later with the features he wanted. Robb at that point is not going to be as satisfied a customer as if he had waited. That’s not good for Verizon.
Overall, I trust consumers to make the right decisions for themselves. My motto is this: give consumers the max info, and trust them.