booklet new copy

Naomi Cooper

Introduction

Part 1: Past - 1984-2012

Part 2: Present - 2012- 2015

Part 3: Future - 2015 onwards

Conclusion

Bibliography

CONTENTS

Page 2

Page 4

Page 18

Page 44

Page 68

Page 66

INTRODUCTION Blackberry has had to undergo a number

of issues throughout the lives of their

company. Having had highly profitable

products (which have kept them number

one through many years) they have also

had to fight to keep their share of the

market in the falling years. (Arthur, 2013)

The aim of this marketing brochure is to

give an insight in the life of RIM

Blackberry. This will include their strategic

approaches and values through the years.

The brochure will also attempt to capture

an understanding of the future of the

business & where they will potentially go

as well as give recommendations that

could help them recover from their present

market share.

2

PART 1: PAST - 1984-2012

Heritage and History

Products and services

Mission statement

Vision and strategy

BCG matrix

Critical events timeline

4

Mike Lazaridis: C.E.O 1984 - 2012

HERITAGE AND HISTORYIn 1984 Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fergin founded RIM (Research in Motion). The business was designed to “allow users to send

data by a wireless data network.”(Smith, 2009) Due to the timing in the technology market, the software idea was unsuccessful in

consumer likeness.

During the following years RIM began launching products that were associated to the 1990 software concept. They began with a

two way pager that enabled users to communicate with each other through messaging and followed up with a “next generation”

pager in 1998. At this time Jim Balsillie joined RIM and became the Co CEO. (Silcoff et al., 2013) It wasn’t until 1999 that the first

device presented Blackberry to the market. The Blackberry name was born but RIM didn’t yet use it as the endorsed name for

their products, but as the name of their new server software “Blackberry enterprise server” (BES). (Smith, 2009)

In the year 2000 RIM launched two new handheld products, using Blackberry as their official handheld product name. The

Blackberry 5790 device similar to the RIM 857/957 (which was also launched in 2000) introduced features to the world such as

wireless email, internet, corporate data access, and more. This was not only the highlight for this particular device, but became the

foundation for all the Blackberry smartphones in the future.

During this time, RIM was able to try out a variety of different products and services, which sooner or later enabled them to

produce the types of products that consumers wanted. At this time, Nokia, their main competitor, had a large share of the market.

Due to the difference in Blackberry and Nokia products, Blackberry was very laid back in the changes that were made to their

products/services.

With the history of Blackberry being easy going in the phone market this impacted them when a new phone brand came into the

market that had potential. Instead of realising the interest that consumers had with the new brand, Blackberry blew it off with the

assumption that it would never work.

From 2000 onwards Blackberry introduced a number of diverse smartphones for their consumers. Throughout this time, the products

launched encountered mixed emotions from consumers which began the decline in sales.

6

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

From 1999 to 2011 Blackberry Ltd had a

variety of products from pagers to

smartphones. The smartphones were launched

in different series and introduced world edition

phones such as a “flip up” phone.

Figure 1.1 gives an insight of the variety of

phones Blackberry launched globally between

1999 and 2011.

Types of blackberry phones (2013)

Figure 1.1

8

MISSION STATEMENT

“RIM innovations are all about seizing opportunities the moment they happen and making the most of them. It’s that spirit of

purposeful action which drives our continuing mission to create a thriving sustainable business.” (Blackberry, 2012, p.5)

“Aims to inspire the success of our millions of customers around the world by continuously pushing the boundaries of mobile

experiences.” (http://uk.blackberry.com/company.html, no date).

RIM Blackberry also expressed their aims in five points regarding how their business would be run. These were:

• Corporate citizenship

• Public policy and government relations

• Sustainability at blackberry

• Responsibility at blackberry

• Supply chain and ethics

In short these points expressed Blackberry beliefs in community giving in places where the business operates as well as promotion

of their own products/services in agreement with the laws in all countries used in sales. The company also stated that they would

be “committed to reducing the environmental footprint through their own product life cycles”

(http://uk.blackberry.com/company/about-us/corporate-responsibility.html, no date)

From 1999 to 2011 RIM Blackberry communicated their mission statement and aim to their consumers by the production of new

and improved products. As explained previously, before Blackberry was officially launched as the product name, RIM launched a

range of different service software’s, the first being a wireless data network. Unfortunately due to wrong timing it was not picked

up by consumers; but over the next few years RIM made sure to keep an eye on the potential of the software as well as the

public’s technology needs. Through a variety of articles such as (Business Insider, 2012) it was noticed that some products were

repeated throughout the Blackberry lifecycle i.e., the Blackberry Bold that was repeated with extra features to keep up with their

competitors in 2008. Therefore throughout these years, the business mission statement was somewhat effective in the need for users

and their new technology but began to lack from 2007 in the consistency of keeping that as their overall task.

10

VISION AND STRATEGY

From the years of 1999 to

2012, RIM Blackberry had

various products that very

much incorporated the BCG

matrix. (See figure 1.2)

BCG matrix (also known as the

Boston consulting group) is “a

method used when profiling a

specified business.” (Baines &

Fill 2011) This includes,

explaining the market

growth/share that the business

possibly has. To show the

market growth and share the

matrix method is split into four

sections; stars, question marks,

cash cows and dogs.

RIM Blackberry as the BCG matrix from the years of 1999 to 2012.

(www.managementstudyguide.com/bcg-matrix.htm, no date) Figure 1.2 12

TIMELINE: KEY EVENTSFrom the birth of Blackberry to this present time, the company on a whole have been through ups and downs concerning the

business brand. Here is a look at Blackberry’s key events from 1984 to 2013. (BBC, 2011)

Business insider (2012)

Figure 1.3

During those years, Blackberry’s proposed market changed and their sales and market share increased greatly until 2007 when problems began to occur. As shown above Apple launched their first iPhone which Blackberry reportedly dismissed, (Smith, 2009) assuming it wouldn’t catch the attention of the market. Blackberry’s dismissal of the Apple iPhone was most likely due to their 1984 launch and the market not taking to their then product software. Assuming that the mind set of consumers had not changed, (that they didn’t want any new technology) the company missed their opportunity to remain a market leader; and became a business that had to fight for sales of their products and their overall continuing profit. To keep their constant profit increase this also included the project that BBM would become a messenger app available for non-Blackberry phones. (Silcoff et al., 2013) Although, this project was a major hit with a variety of different brands this meant that Blackberry’s initial USP (a messenger for users to interact with each other) wasn’t so unique but generic for all to have.

14

PAST SUMMARYTo summarise, part one introduced the Blackberry name to the world. RIM (the original company

name) presented new ideas that unfortunately never took off like they expected it would.

Implications from the past included:

• Blackberry becoming unaware of new businesses that looked to the future for ideas

• The lack of interaction with consumers when starting up

• Not understanding where the market was going

16

PART 2: PRESENT - 2012-2015

3 generic strategic positions

Current Strategy

Ansoff matrix

Performance indicators:

Financial

Social Media Audit

Independent

Competitor Analysis

Porters 5 forces

Perception map

18

Thorsten Heins: C.E.O. 2012 - 2013

INTRODUCTIONWith the roller-coaster sales and performances undergone by Blackberry, to get the company back to what it

once was (a leading smartphone brand), many changes occurred both internally and externally.

The founder and co-CEO of Blackberry resigned and a new CEO took the role in January 2012. This was

Thorsten Heins who was the former senior vice president. (Sanghani, 2013) Unfortunately the new CEO could

not help Blackberry in gaining back what they lost and eventually stepped down the following year in

November. A new CEO was appointed named John Chen that following January.

With the arrival of the CEO John Chen, many problems became evident regarding the company and all it

stood for. This included the change in their market position.

(The Guardian, 2014)

20John S. Chen: C.E.O. 2014 - PRESENT

3 GENERIC STRATEGIC POSITIONS MODEL

(Porter, M 1979)

Figure 2.1

When Blackberry was first launched, their products were very much in the niche market. Focussed mainly on

the target market of business men and women (the corporate world) they were able to make themselves

known. Gradually through the years their target market expanded to the working family as well as young

people. This was when they eventually moved into being a differentiator; as well as the position of cost

leadership by having the ability to cater to all different markets. It was only from 2009 after the launch of one

of their main competitors’ first phone, Blackberry weren’t able to continue in those positions and eventually

became a phone company that is currently stuck in the middle.

22

CURRENT STRATEGYSince becoming the CEO of Blackberry Ltd, John Chen has chosen a realistic strategic aim which he hopes will

help the company position itself in the future. According to Chen, Blackberry’s strategic aim is “To stabilize the

company, return to our core strength in enterprise and security, and maximize efficiencies.” (Chen, 2013) The

choice of using this as the initial strategic aim for the company, could help the business in finding their feet in

the market they are in. Already this strategy has and is continuously taking effect. This included the

resignations of persons such as Thorsten Heins (former CEO), Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie (RIM founders).

Figure 2.2

http://www.smartdraw.com(no date)

24

Blackberry have been grouped in a number of different markets. This includes market penetration, product development and diversification.

When first launched Blackberry was very much diversified. Throughout these years (see figure 2.2 diversification) Blackberry were producing a variety of new products in a very diverse market. They increased their market by not only selling to corporate people but to individuals.

From 2005-09 Blackberry was grouped in market penetration. These years for Blackberry were very much their peak time with a large following shown in their market share and sales. The company had a few popular products that they kept re-launching with new updates. This also aided them to penetrate the market with BBM (messenger to connect with Blackberry users). This software helped them gain a large market share for a long period of time.

From 2009 to this present day, Blackberry has moved into product development. At the moment, the company’s market share and sales have dropped greatly whilst their competitor’s sales and share of the market have doubled and even tripled (for some). This change could have come from Blackberry’s competitor’s relationship with consumers. Although Blackberry’s competitors’ products are steep in price, consumers still want to purchase their products. This is very much due to the consumer trust of the company in what they launch.

If Blackberry was trying to gain new consumers by new products their strategy should have been to make amends with the existing/old consumers they have/had by communicating to them and regaining their trust back through incentives via their price plans. These points should have been their main focus at that precise time. The increase in sales and overall competition takeover, could happen but only after these issues had been dealt with.

Telegraph(2013)

26

PERFORMANCE INDICATORSThere are a number of indicators that Blackberry can use to check their performance levels. This includes social media, financial

reports and other independent sources. Understanding and keeping these levels checked consistently will enable Blackberry to see

what they need to look at closely.

Social Media Audit

Social media was a strategic move for Blackberry in advertising to their consumers. Being involved in social media mediums such as

Facebook and Twitter, the use of both company pages, were mainly for advertisement purposes and some consumer engagement.

Both pages are consistent, with the same posts being shown to their customers, and although there is a high volume of post

consistency, there still is a low to none business to consumer interaction. This is mostly relevant to their Facebook page where most

questions posted by consumers are not answered, and only advertisements are publicised. (See figure 2.3)

Figure 2.3 (Blackberry, 2008) (Twitter, 2008)

28

FINANCIAL

30

Figure 2.5

Figure 2.6

Figure 2.4

32

INDEPENDENT

34

36

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

Porters 5 forces Potential entrants: LOW

Entrants entering the market is medium although

for them climbing to the top is very low.

Samsung and Apple have a large market share

and their sales have increase over $30million.

If they saw a threat coming with a new product

that would definitely be able to attack them with

the power they already own.

Impact:

Blackberry wouldn’t have to worry about new

entrants as their competitors would take care of the

situation

Although, it could impact Blackberry if the new

product/service launch something that consumers

wanted and Blackberry didn’t see it.

Supplier power: MEDIUMNewer operating systems

Small amount of developers that will supply Blackberry with their specific

operating system

May not have enough sales to breakeven and pay for suppliers

Impact:Blackberry incentives for suppliers will have to be very rewarding for them.

Buyer power: HIGHVariety of different phone products that the buyer could purchase.

Blackberry market share declining through the years

Impact:Blackberry has to push their products harder for consumers to acknowledge

and purchase

Threat of substitutes: MEDIUM

Depends on the impact of these substitutes.

Competitors have branched out and launched a variety of tablets i.e. Tablet PC’s, iPads (Apple) and pocket notebooks (small

screen feature).

Impact:

Phones are always needed therefore tablets are very much an add-on product.

Blackberry would want to produce a better tablet as many consumers want add-on with the same brand. I.e. iPhone and iPad

Figure 2:12 - Compiled from past and present analysis and the use of: https://prezi.com (no) date 38

PERCEPTION MAPShown below (see figure 2.13/14) gives an overview of the perception of Blackberry (past 1999-2007 and present

2007-2014) compared with their main competitors Apple and Android Phones.

Due to Apple having previous products such as laptops, their brand strength was greater than the android (Samsung

etc…) phones (see figure 2.13). Between 2007 and 09 due to Blackberry not taking initiative their once innovative,

strength and market share brand diminished. Throughout these two years, instead of Android doing the same as

Blackberry, they saw the change in technology that apple had achieved and followed their innovative mind in such

features as touch screen phones. This is what led Blackberry falling behind and becoming a follower of both market

leaders Apple and Android (see figure 2.14).

40

PRESENT SUMMARY

To summarise, the current perception of Blackberry declined tremendously in popularity. Part two

expressed the changes in Blackberry internally and externally. The changes that occurred introduced

a number of implications for the brand such as:

• Blackberry introducing products that consumers weren’t looking for

• Beginning of becoming a brand that followed other brands

• The change in how consumers perceived them as. Started as a brand everyone loved to a brand

that everyone despised.

42

PART 3: FUTURE – 2015 ONWARDS

Introduction

Active Inertia

SWOT

Potential Strategy

Brand essence wheel

Value proposition

Future market

Performance measure

Ways of communication

Conclusion

44

John S. Chen: C.E.O. 2014 - PRESENT

INTRODUCTION

Overall, the last 50 years RIM Blackberry have presented itself as a company that will stay. Overcoming a number of

problems that caused many (competitors, consumers, articles and journals) to think they would never make it to 2014,

they have continued to strive to become the best again. Figure 3.1 (active inertia) shows the state that the company is

presently in which is in a need of adjustments; but has shown that although they are in a critical position in their sales,

market share and overall interest of consumers they indeed have a chance to change.

Figure 3.1Sull (1999)

46

Figure 3.2 explores Blackberry’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) internally and externally. Points detailed in the analysis will introduce a number of strategic ideas that Blackberry can adopt for their future decisions to hopefully gain back what they once had.

Marketline (2014) Figure 3.2

48

POTENTIAL STRATEGYBlackberry are already underway with changes regarding the company and its products, which includes changes

within their internal workforce.

For their future strategy, Blackberry is in need of work regarding their relationship with their consumers (figure

3.3). If this strategy comes into effect this will support them overall in delivering value by the building of a mutual

relationship between them and their consumers. If this is achieved they will gain high value in customer loyalty.

Figure 3.3

50

MARKET AND TARGET CUSTOMERS

Considering the brands life span, it is very evident that the best sales and market share increase came about only twice in the past 20 years. This was the sales to only “business-like” customers and the introduction of their BBM (Blackberry messenger). As explained previously due to the decrease in sales overall, the company chose to sell their BBM idea. Therefore Blackberry should consider for their future strategy to go back to selling only for business-like consumers. Another idea that Blackberry could use (if they didn’t want to sale only to the business sector) is the Apple iPhone 5C and 5S concept. Apples concept wasto produce two similar touchscreen phones which one was expensive (5S) and the other low-priced (5C). This concept enabled the company to gain a large consumer based interest and ideally an increase in market share and overall sales. In the case of Blackberry they could use this concept in the production of two similar phones, one for business-like consumers and the other for people in the other working class sectors. The similarities could engage all their consumers that they all are important, and the differences could ideally suit the needs of that specific consumer. For this concept, to understand the consumer market Blackberry could communicate with customers in a variety of ways. This includes, social media as well as competitor analysis.

To understand the target market better, market sensing can be included in their strategy. This will help to recognise any changes in consumer wants and needs that they may have missed from looking at their competitors. Blackberry can use ways within market sensing to increase the understanding that they may have of public behaviour. The use of discourse, postmodernism and emotions will enable Blackberry to produce the products that consumers would want. (See 3.4)

Piercy,N. (2009) Figure 3.4

52

VALUE PROPOSITION

Studying Blackberry from the first launch of their products in 1999, it shows that their keyboard was one of their pros

when selling to business men. One of the problems that occurred when the product finally opened to individuals was the

keyboard and the optical pay consistently breaking.

Therefore as explained previously Blackberry can produce two products that could engage to different markets,

individuals and the corporate world. Researching the newer launched products one thing is common. This is their

touchscreen concept. For Blackberry to gain that market as well as be different, the company can introduce a new

concept that introduces a touchscreen/keyboard phone. This concept can be available to those in the corporate world.

Already a leader within business professions because of great security applications, to continue this success and grow into

a wider sector in regards to the public, Blackberry would have to create a distinguished design within their core

products. Therefore figure 3.5 shows an example product that incorporate both keyboard a touchscreen concept. The

keyboard be the QUERTY keyboard that many consumers enjoyed and will be integrated into the products case. This

concept will be a new and improved Apple idea. This idea introduced a Bluetooth keyboard case that consumers can use

if they didn’t want to use the touchscreen feature. This keyboard case, introduced features that many consumers did not

like. This included the keyboard being too bulky and the case being leather which meant the middle wouldn’t be as

steady as many consumers wanted.

Mobile Fun (2012)

54

Figure 3.5

56

Another proposition could be to reinvent the Blackberry Playbook.

When launching the Blackberry Playbook (previously spoken about) Blackberry Ltd suffered many complications and

regrettably was forced to discontinue the product. http://www.gsmarena.com (no date)

To reinvent the Playbook, Blackberry could introduce a USB (SD memory card) that could be used in both phone and

tablet. This would allow business corporates to carry on with their daily trade if one product battery were to die or was

in use. Blackberry could implement an idea from one of their main competitors Apple in using a security system in which

a consumer could wipe their product if it was lost or stolen. This idea could be adapted within Blackberry by its USB

portal in enabling a consumer to wipe the memory card if it were to be used by someone else. (See 3.5.1)

For security on the memory card USB, Blackberry would include either a fingerprint access or password access. This

would enable those in the corporate world to recognise Blackberry in them understanding the importance of security for

their consumers.

Figure 3.5.1

58

BRAND ESSENCE WHEEL

Figure 3.6 gives an idea of

how Blackberry would want

the product (figure 3.5) to be

seen as in the eyes of their

consumers. Both apple and

android have begun to

produce phones that

consumers in the corporate

world have chosen to use.

Therefore the words

expressed, combined both

Apple and Android phones

assumed brand essence in

consumers’ minds.

Figure 3.6

60

Figure 3.7 gives the perception of where Blackberry and their main competitors will be regarding the market.

The figure shown gives the perception that if Blackberry chose this concept they will be considered different

and initially could become the new leader of the market.

62

Figure 3.7

Apple

Android (Samsung

Blackberry

LG

Motorola

Nokia

PERFORMANCE MEASURE Vision and strategy

Figure 3.8 Kaplan, R.,

Norton, D (1996)

If Blackberry defined their value

proposition as marketing to the

professional (corporate world) where

they would have a choice to use a

keyboard or touchscreen, the company

would have to measure the

effectiveness of that (See figure 3.8). To

measure the performance, prior to

launching the product officially,

Blackberry could make a prototype to

determine whether professionals

would use it or discard it. This could

include using ethnography (factor of

market sensing) to analyse the use of

the prototype in their consumers life.

64

WAYS OF COMMUNICATION

Social media

As expressed previously (see present social media audit) Blackberry's interaction with social media is

somewhat low. To understand the market it’s in, Blackberry could communicate with the consumers they do

have to understand what they want to see, what they are missing with the product, what they could do

better and so on. This would not only help Blackberry produce what consumers want but will spark a B2C

(business to consumer) relationship. The company could look at their competitors, those that are doing well,

those that have continued to increase in their share of the market and consumer interest over the past years.

Blackberry’s two main competitors are Apple and Android phones i.e. Samsung. From the analysis retrieved

from the research gathered, has shown a constant increase in Androids market share while Apple’s has been

steady throughout. To understand consumers in the phone technology market, Blackberry could have a look

at Apples interaction, software and features that have enabled them to keep a set amount throughout the

years. Although if Blackberry wanted to lead with their sales and market share, they would have to look at

the change in Android phones. It shows the dramatic change that’s been involved in the Android shift.

Blackberry would have to consider looking at all aspects of the various android phones (especially

Samsung) to see what extent their new products may go to and understand why a significant number of

customers are choosing Android over Apple and themselves.

66

CONCLUSIONTo summarise, here is a look at the past, present and future key points that were

covered in this report.

Past

Began as an innovative company

Focussed on one target market

Blackberry’s successful period was between the years of 1999-2006 and

2009-2011

There was a decline mainly due to the company misreading the smartphone

market

Difficulty in regaining market back – Began playing catch up from 2011

Present

Began 2012 with a continuous decline in all performances

Consistently playing catch-up with their competitors

Future

Un-innovative

Clear brand

New value proposition – emerging both touchscreen (future technology) and

QWERTY keyboard) past consumer interest

Leader within business professions because of security applications

68

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Kotler, P and Armstrong, G (2012) Principles of Marketing. 14th

Edition. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited

Piercy, N (2009) Market-Led Strategic Change. 4th Edition.

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Chan Kim, W and Mauborgne, R. (1997) ‘Value Innovation: The Strategic Logic of High Growth’, Harvard Business Review, pp. 102-113

Levitt, T. (1960) ‘Marketing Myopia’, Harvard Business Review

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ByNaomi Cooper