Do you remember the massive amount of marketing that Verizon did with it’s Droid Does campaign and the original Motorola Droid? It’s been almost two years, but, I remember that Stealth Droid commercial like it was yesterday. That campaign pretty much marked the start of Android’s full frontal assault on the smartphone industry.
I believe that Research in Motion needs to launch that type of campaign for BlackBerry 7 and the new BlackBerry 7 smartphones for these devices to have any appeal to consumers that don’t already want a new BlackBerry, but, I haven’t seen a single television spot from RIM in recent memory that wasn’t about the BlackBerry PlayBook.
Word on the street is that Verizon, who still hasn’t officially announced the BlackBerry Bold 9930 or the BlackBerry Torch 9850, is working on a commercial for the new BlackBerry 7 devices that they will carry on their network. Something tells me, however, that they won’t put as much into it as the did the original BlackBerry Storm marketing campaign let alone the Droid Does campaign.
Verizon has pretty much taken the “Burn me once, shame on you… Burn me twice, shame on me” approach and I think that most of the marketing for the new BlackBerry 7 smartphones must come from RIM. Unfortunately, BlackBerry 7 smartphone marketing compared to what you saw with Droid Does, what you continue to see with the iPhone, and even what you saw with WP7, is virtually nonexistent.
When’s the last time you saw an HTC commercial from HTC. How about a Samsung commercial from Samsung. Don’t get me wrong, they do exist, but, the majority of cell phone commercials and cell phone advertising campaigns come from the carriers because the carriers are the entities that actually sell you phones. Apple has Apple Stores where you can go and buy iPhones directly from Apple so it makes sense for them to make a bunch of commercials. Not so much for the other manufacturers who don’t sell their phones direct to consumers…
I completely disagree with your view. It is true that the vast majority of mobile phones are sold by the carrier, but, manufacturers regularly provide marketing dollars to the carriers for promotion. Verizon got burned by RIM with the BlackBerry Torch and Torch 2. They probably aren’t willing to put as much skin in the game with the Bold 9930 or Torch 9850, thus, RIM must pick up the slack.
Verizon never had the Torch or Torch 2. Are you referring to the Storm?
Yeah, meant Storm and Storm2…
I see what you are saying, but, the manufacturer is responsible for getting the message out about their hardware in addition to what the carriers do, or, don’t do.
I don’t think Verizon would advertise any BB’s until RIM actually does (which is the way it should really work). Because of the hits RIM has taken in the past couple of years, I think they are waiting on feedback from the street before they launch a marketing campaign. No need to burn money if the feedback is negative. And with QNX potentially coming out the first quarter of next year, I think they’re saving up all their chips.
Hey Blue,
I like the new blog…
When you lose your marketing team, it’s hard to launch a marketing campaign…