Frank Boulben on Upcoming Blackberry 10 Devices

By Thea Neuman (Google)

RIM is gearing up for the much awaited launch of BB 10 smartphones. And though it is not at all skeptical about the manner in which its fans would receive the new devices, it still needs to ensure that the launch includes a perfect marketing campaign.

RIM is betting its bottom dollar on forthcoming BB 10 models, hoping that they will bring the company back in the league of tech leaders. But in today’s world no matter how good your product is, you can’t keep strategic marketing mix campaign at bay. This is where RIM might experience a little problem because it will have to tighten its belt regarding allocating financial resources towards different kinds of marketing tactics.

Apple was luckier than RIM in this particular aspect because it had sufficient financial resources to launch a perfect marketing campaign for its iPhone. And many experts believe that Apple got ahead not because of its products, but because of its marketing.

In the opinion of Frank Boulben (RIM’s new CMO), 78 million loyal blackberry subscribers are like a secret weapon behind upcoming BB10 models, who would stimulate RIM to wage a war against its competitors.

Boulben stated in an interview recently that he is convinced about a fact that ‘word of mouth’ publicity would be the biggest marketing weapon of RIM regarding unreleased BB 10 smartphones and it is none other than die hard Blackberry fans who would contribute in spreading good words about upcoming BB 10 models. He further added that he will initiate the campaign by making existing BB owners familiar with upcoming smartphones via online videos, so that they can make others aware about features of these devices.

He also made it clear that he is not relying solely on ‘word-of mouth campaign’ but his company is working on developing the best marketing strategies.

He revealed that instead of releasing physical keyboard, RIM will first unveil touch-screen based smartphones, but they will neither resemble the iPhone nor any Android smartphone. The USP of BB 10 model featuring touch-screen is going to lie in the user interface which is also called as ‘Cascades’.

The specialty would lie in multitasking, as BB 10 smartphones would facilitate users to browse different apps at the same time.

Well, though we can’t call that cutting-edge technology because Microsoft has already offered integration of data and apps in its Windows phone 7 but if RIM takes this thing one step further then it might still make some sense. RIM is not doing well in the US market and in order to gain a strong foothold, it will have to ensure that US market doesn’t get unnoticed while framing out marketing plans for upcoming BB 10 smartphones.

As far as Boulben’s role is concerned in leading the company towards sound growth path, he is certainly trying his best. After working with Orange, S.F.R and Vodafone, which are basically wireless carriers, he joined RIM so he brings a good work experience along with him.

Considering the fact that the company doesn’t have enough time and top management can’t chop and change all the time, they will have to ensure personal supervision at all cost to ensure that whatever strategy has been planned out, is being implemented properly.