RIM's ‘Be Bold’ ad campaign is a bust and didn't aid sales in February - according to analyst
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If you’ve been watching a good amount of television of late, you’re probably well aware about the recent “Be Bold” advertising spots on TV – yeah, the ones where people are spilling the beans about their love for recent BlackBerry smartphones like the Bold 9900. Unfortunately, it seems that this ad campaign has failed to translate over to any concrete sales figures with existing handsets.
In a research note late Sunday night from Canaccord Genuity analyst Mike Walkley, he said, “our February checks indicated weak sell-through trends for BlackBerry 7 smartphones despite increased marketing efforts.” Well, that honestly doesn’t bode well for RIM, especially when you consider what they’re currently facing in the industry right now – and more importantly, the rest of the year. Walkley goes on to mention, “with very strong share gains for the iPhone 4S, increasingly price-competitive Android smartphones, improving Windows smartphones, and the likely March 7 launch of the iPad 3, we anticipate increasing competition across all of RIM’s products during 2012.”
As we know, newly appointed CEO Thorsten Heins made it his top priority to retool RIM’s market strategy, and before anyone can say anything about poor judgment, just be aware that the company’s “Be Bold” campaign was already in the works long before his arrival. With so much attention placed on these ads, it really makes you wonder if RIM will be as bold the next time around figuring out its next advertising spot. Honestly, did these commercials inspire you to be bold?
via BGR
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19 Comments
4. squallz506 posted on 05 Mar 2012, 14:01 4
i love nutella, but it is full of saturated fat, sugar, and artificial flavoring.
2. Chronos posted on 05 Mar 2012, 13:51 9
RIM should focus more on releasing up-to-date phones than awful campaign ads.
3. Roomaku posted on 05 Mar 2012, 13:59 1
Oh man :( I wanted RIM to to better, love there phones but ad's with hip people with Blackberry is kind of laughable. Especially with companies grabbing iPhones or Android devices over Blackberry. I hope OS 10 isn't as weak as the mock up ideas are, because people wont jump ship for more of the same with a touch-friendly UI. Honestly the only reason I see to stay with Blackberrys is the keyboards, but even then I might be switching to WP7 unless OS 10 devices are amazing/.
5. ilia1986 posted on 05 Mar 2012, 14:47 6
I used to be bold, until I took a Nokia phone to the knee..
12. Droid_X_Doug posted on 05 Mar 2012, 19:33 1
I used to own an original Bold 9000, but now I don't.
6. DigitalJedi_X2 posted on 05 Mar 2012, 15:12 2
I actually kind of liked their BeBold campaign. At least their doing something. I just don't get why everyone is acting as of BB7 wasn't supposed to be anything more than a stop gap between it and BB10. I think BB10 will be competitive enough. And RIM is still the fourth ecosystem(with Android, iOS and Symbian being the first three). And RIM is still making a profit outside of the United States. They have more than enough bank to weather this little storm so I guess we all need to just wait and see what BB10 brings.
7. MoToMoTo posted on 05 Mar 2012, 15:30 3
RIM just like Nokia is struggling in the US market but thriving in other markets eg the fast growing African market.
8. jcpwn2004 posted on 05 Mar 2012, 15:52 3
selling cheap phones in emerging markets isn't going to save RIM though.
9. christianqwerty posted on 05 Mar 2012, 18:47 2
I would have bought the bought the Bold, but if its not upgradable to BB10, then whats the point
22. Lwazi_N posted on 09 Mar 2012, 00:47 0
If you remember the Monaco- 9860, which runs OS 7, it was spotted in some videos running BB10. Might come as a surprise that some OS 7 phones be upgraded to BB10.
11. tobin_o posted on 05 Mar 2012, 19:15 1
Sorry, RIM, but these commercials are only bold in how laughable they are. They show off the people who supposedly buy their phones now: people riding glow-in-the-dark bicycles at night, and unknown DJs who sound high. Great example, RIM - I suppose you might have to be stoned to buy one of these phones today...
13. Whateverman posted on 05 Mar 2012, 22:14 2
So what are you saying here PA? That kick a$$ line "We need tools...not toys." line didn't work at all? Shocking!
15. Lwazi_N posted on 06 Mar 2012, 07:10 0
Amazingly, the number of people owning BlackBerry's has increased by 4 million so far this year... And RIM is dead. I suppose the media and bloggers really want RIM to die.
17. Whateverman posted on 06 Mar 2012, 10:49 2
Most people don't. We just want RIM to put out some decent product, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. They just keep putting out the same old boring Blackberrys that we've seen a million times before. ONX should have been ready last year, and now it won't even be out until Q4 or maybe Q1 of 2013. It's not that we want them to die, but we're tired of watching them committ the extremely slow and painful suicide.
18. cepcamba posted on 06 Mar 2012, 10:55 2
They could try Androiding their line-up :p Then die hard BB fans won't lose their BBM :p
21. Lwazi_N posted on 09 Mar 2012, 00:43 1
I have struggled to reply because what you have just said is all-truth
19. digicon posted on 06 Mar 2012, 15:43 0
Plus , these aren't the most manly men i've seen . When that guy smiles at the end , it looks like he has dolphin teeth .
