Blackberry Storm wishes to overtake the iPhone in the smartphone market. The iPhone has similar features to the Blackberry Storm but dominates the consumer market, while Blackberry dominates the industrial market. Apple's sales tripled between 2005-2007, reaching $19 billion. To compete, Blackberry's marketing plan is to introduce a "Blackberry DiY" option that allows customers to customize the exterior of their phone, appealing to multiple target markets. The plan will market and test the new Blackberry DiY in Vancouver before a full product launch near Christmas to target gift buyers. Feedback will be reviewed and the plan modified if needed.

1. 1 Storm Vs. Iphone By UBAM Hammerheads

2. 2 Case Background

3. 3 Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) Rim the parent company of Blackberry founded in 1984 Founders were 3 engineering students from Waterloo Uni (Mike L, Doug F, and Mike B ) Originally the company was meant to answer friends tech needs but later blew up into what it is today

4. 4 Rim’s Early Years First Product was the inter@ctive 950 which was a two way pager (developed with Ericcson) Was meant to be a direct competitor with SkyTel which was developed by motorolla Many other products followed including the first Blackberry in 1998 A year later (1999) the Blackberry 850 was released and featured the first QWERTY keyboard Source: wikipeida.org(Left: BlackBerry 850)

5. 5 Later Years After the release of the BlackBerry 850 many different models of followed More recently, the Storm has been released The Storm is now seen as a direct competitor to the Iphone and has many similar features such as a touch screen, applications, built in camera and more Storm wishes to overtake the Iphone in the smartphone Market

6. 6 Iphone The Iphone, developed by apple, has revolutionized the way consumers think about phones It features and innovative interface that’s both friendly and easy to use Apple has been dominating the smartphone market ATM with $19,000,000,000 (billion) in sales in 2007 alone This number is triple that of its sales revenue three years earlier.

7. 7 Prices Iphone:4GB model = $499 8GB model = $599 Blackberry Storm:$469.75 to $699.90

8. 8 The Big Question! The current market situation poses us with the question: What can Blackberry do to compete with Apple and other contenders in the consumer market?

10. Other companies are trying to grasp a part of the market share

12. 11 Key findings

13. 12 Goals and Values of RIM Our focal marketing value is Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Our marketing plan should be flexible enough to be prepared for the best and worst case scenarios

14. 13 Research: Comparison between Blackberry Storm & iPhone

15. 14 Target Markets

17. We also used psychographic segmentation to determine lifestyles as our second target market.

18. The majority of current Blackberry users are business professionals, who are very busy and enjoy the efficiency of Blackberry’s.

20. 17 SWOT Analysis

21. 18 Strengths Award winning Products for every need Excellent customer support (technical phone support open 24 /7) Highest sales for smart phones Worldwide sales and production (made in Hungary ,Mexico and Canada) Loyal supporters

22. 19 WEAKNESSES RIM has only one product brand - Blackberry RIM is limited in market, since RIM is not a cell phone company like NOKIA, nor a electronic complex like Apple.

23. 20 Opportunities Diversify the products – increase the product line’s breadth or depth Learn from Apple, increase the accessory market Work on the mobile network, find a new mutual-benefiting way with a network provider Expand in other areas, e.g. PDA, PC telecommunicating.

24. 21 Threats RIM might not be able to defeat Apple by lowing the price Other threats: Sony Microsoft Palm HP There will be more competitors entering the Smartphone market

25. 22 Competitive Analysis

26. 23 Identification of Alternatives

27. 24 Cost Management (Production plan) Moving production and manufacturing to a developing country Which lowers of operation costs so we can reduce the price, which will increase sales May lose profit/ or generate revenue

28. 25 Design your own Blackberry- Customize (DiY Blackberry) Having the option of customizing the exterior Creating variations to your satisfaction ROYGBIV, silver, gold, white, and transparent Customizable prints by sending in orders to BlackberryDiY.ca

29. 26 Change the Camera Upgrade the camera from 3.2 MP to 5.0 MP Improve the flash

30. 27 Evaluation of Alternatives

31. 28 Alternative 1: Cost Management (Production Plan)

32. 29 Alternative 1: Advantages Blackberry’s will be sold for a cheaper price, keeping the profit constant Production costs will be cheaper Cheaper shipping costs

33. 30 Alternative 1: Disadvantages Unethical because it may involve child labor Start-up costs to open a brand new production would be really big Operating costs may be larger than profit for the first few years

34. 31 Alternative 2: DiY Blackberry

35. 32 Alternative 2: Advantages Appeal to a larger, and multiple target markets Giving customers multiple options Adds style & personality to the phone

36. 33 Alternative 2: Disadvantages It will costs more to make different templates Extra labor & training Time

37. 34 Alternative 2: Change the Camera

38. 35 Alternative 3: Advantages More clear and vivid pictures Clear video recording quality Eliminates the need for consumer to purchase an actual camera

39. 36 Alternative 3: Disadvantages Upgrading camera pixel would increase production costs May not be a significant improvement to the blackberry storm Battery life will be shorter

40. 37 Solution: Blackberry DiY

41. 38 Blackberry DiY We chose this solution to expand our target market and include Generation Y. Trying to compete in consumer market with iPhone with a more significant and practical change Though marketing expenses would increase to advertise the new option, The labour and production costs will be cheaper than creating a whole new smart phone

42. 39 Plan of Action

43. 40 Product Development The RIM design team will create visual images of the products Step 1

44. 41

45. 42 Market Testing We plan to use the Test Marketing method to introduce our new product to a small geographical region (Vancouver, BC) We will estimate the demand for the entire market based on results we receive Although this is time consuming, we are able to study actual consumer behavior Step 2

46. 43 Product Launch To ensure our product launch is successful we will have a marketing team who will be advertising Blackberry DiY: Train our technical support staff to be able to answer consumer questions, and education them as well Ensure that there are products available at convenient and popular locations We will start with a high price, and lower the price when sales drop We are choosing November 1st as a date to launch the product because it is near Christmas season (gifts) Step 3

47. 44 Marketing Mix

48. 45 Evaluating our Results We will review if the product launch was a success or failure We will analyze the performance of the product, customer acceptance, and if the product satisfies our financial requirements Step 4

49. 46 If Plan of Action fails

50. 47 Plan B If Test Marketing fails, the project will be terminated But since the product isn’t launched worldwide, we won’t lose that much money Collect feedback and complaints Go back to design team and modify the plan accordingly.

51. 48 Course Concepts Used The Strategic Marketing Planning Process- Chapter 2 Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning- Chapter 8 The 4 P’s: Marketing mix

52. 49 Schedule http://www.blackberrycool.com/2008/10/05/blackberry-storm-product-positioning-document-leaks/ www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvMITVn41LA&feature=PlayList For more info . . . List location or contact for specification (or other related documents)

53. 50