BRAND: BlackBerry

INDUSTRY/MARKET DESCRIPTION: [pic]

The industry BlackBerry is designated to is the consumer electronics market. This market is a huge sector that comprises of many products from audio equipment to laptops and computers. Datamonitor defines the market as such:

The consumer electronics market consists of the total revenues generated through the sale of audio visual equipment and games console products designed primarily for domestic use. The audio visual equipment includes CD Players, DVD Players / Recorders, hi-fi systems, home theatre, in-car entertainment systems, portable digital audio, radios, televisions and video recorders. Games consoles segment includes both home use and portable consoles.

In the United States, the consumer electronics market is a $168 billion dollar industry. It includes domestic and foreign companies. With economic downfall in the early 2000s, the industry has seen fall in sales. Here is a snap shot of the market:

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COMPETITORS:

Globally

|United States |Asia |Europe |
|Mobile Phones: |Mobile Phones: |Mobile Phone: |
|Apple |Ben Q |Nokia |
|Motorola |Samsung |Sony Ericsson |
|Research in Motion |LG |Phillips |

INFLUENCERS & MAJOR EXISTING COMMUNITIES • BlackBerry • Linux • Palm • Symbian • Windows Mobile • iPhone
Market Trend

• Smaller device • Larger Memory • Less Expensive • Complex, more sophisticated software technology • eCycling conducted nationwide. • Emerging Markets

Consumer trends

PR Newswire contained an article about the release of the 2011 Digital Marketer Benchmark and Trend Report. In the article included information about the trends consumers have been making and most likely to make in the future. This report it directed towards digital marketers but that data can be useful because a vast portion of our target market is also targeted by theses marketers. The trends are:

• Combining social media and email increases consumer response

• Consumers are most likely to open emails containing promotions and coupons

• More than one-quarter of the American population has little or no credit

• Seventy-three percent of adults compare prices online before making a purchase

• Multimedia

DESCRIPTION & MAJOR URL: BlackBerry.com
Black Berry is owned by a company named Research in Motion (RIM). RIM was founded in 1984 by Mike Lazaridiz, Douglas Fregin. RIM is a global leader in wireless innovation, revolutionized the mobile industry. BlackBerry® solution was found in 1999.The product line includes the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, the smartphone, and software for businesses and accessories (blackberry.com).RIM employs approximately 14,000 people by the end of fiscal 2010. This number continues to grow as RIM expands further into the global wireless market. Research in Motion’ global headquarter is in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

TARGET AUDIENCE: Professionals, particularly in the business industry All Adults between the ages of 18-49; emphasis on the older crowd

BRAND POSITIONING (OVER-ARCHING):
For professionals, age 18+, but emphasis on 30+ who are interested in connecting through email, social media, internet, apps and other multimedia capabilities through the convenience of technologies of smart phones. Consumers will choose BlackBerry to fulfill this want because it is one of the top smart phones that has all of the connecting features desired by the target audience.

AUDIT OF EXISTING SOCIAL MEDIA (IF APPLICABLE):

BlackBerry already has a presence in multiple social media channels. This new social media plan will take advantage of the sites available and improve, expand, and refocus its efforts. BlackBerry already does a great job in the social media spectrum and my plan will continue to its success. The following displays the presence blackberry already has in Web 2.0:

Follow BlackBerry • Twitter • Facebook • RSS • myBlackBerry
BlackBerry on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/user/BlackBerry

BlackBerry on Twitter

• @BlackBerry • @BlackBerryBlog • @BlackBerryDev • @BlackBerryHelp
BlackBerry on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/BlackBerry BlackBerry Community Info

• Facebook • My BlackBerry • MySpace • Support Forums • [pic]Developer’s Blog • [pic]Business Blog

• [pic]Help Blog

Campaign Social Media Objectives

• Within the fiscal year, 2011, Research in Motion should increase its viral footprint with the use of various social media sites, with emphasis on women between the ages 18-49 and men between the ages of 34-50. This in turn, should result in an increase in unit sales.

• Research in Motions wants to make at least 65% of its target market aware its new product, the BlackBerry Playbook tablet. With traditional advertising methods and online methods, we want to reach the vast segment and share product knowledge.

• BlackBerry wants to support its customers to the best ability possible and exceed expectation. Through the use of social media, we would like obtain a higher level of customer satisfaction by solving more problems efficiently.

REASONS WHY:

• It is very important to RIM increase its sales per unit and get blackberries in the hands of more consumers. Utilizing web 2.0 is a relatively new venue in which we can reach our target market effectively to sell products and promote selling of products.

• According to MRI, 31% of men between the ages of 18-49 and 16% of women between the ages18-34 own some sort of cell phone, tablet and/or pda device. We want to make sure that we reach as many of those individuals, especially our loyal consumers and make them aware that our product line is growing. We want to do this in order to keep our customers informed.

• Having great products means nothing unless they consumers are satisfied with the overall product. We would like to make sure we respond to every issue quickly, efficiently, effectively. We want to do this because we want to keep a positive position in the consumer’s mind and increase our brand equity.

UPFRONT GUIDELINES (e.g., total budget, media requirements, barriers):

CALENDER- TACTICS:

Facebook

1. Blackberry already has a presence on facebook and we want to continue this. The reason is because facebook is one of the most successful social media websites. There we can create events, fan pages, and profile pages. We can purchase advertisements for a low price and control who we want to see our ad. We also follow our success and failures through analytical tools to see who’s coming to our page, how they are getting there, and are we achieving our objectives.

2. Our short term goals would be to

a. increase our ‘Likes’ by 25% within the next quarter

b. send 150,000 like request

c. create dialogue between the customers to hear their feedback on the Playbook tablet.

3. The key measurements we would use are

a. Click thrus

b. Number of “likes” and friend requests

c. Referrals

d. Days and amount of views

4. Facebook is a free website ads are to be purchased. To buy an ad for the estimated life time it cost $350. For this reason we would allocate $16,800 to put up at least 4 ads a month for a year. Money would also be put to use for employees who monitor and manage the site.

5. 8 hours a day should be spent on facebook 5 days a week. This number can vary depend on promotions, events, and special occasions.

Blogs

1. Blackberry uses many blogs to satisfy customers who have questions, concerns, or who just want to say how much they love the products. We want to continue using this because our customers very important to us. We can use blogs to respond to brand bashing and introduce new products. We want to especially use blogging to keep a casual conversation between us and consumer.

2. Short term goals include

a. Getting more customers to our website

b. Find other blog pages that praise and bash blackberry and start a steady connection.

c. Up load at least 5 new blog entries every two weeks

3. Key measurements we would use are

a. Click thrus

b. Views

c. Referrals

d. Subscriptions

4. Every month of the year at least 5-20 entries, comments, and sharing should occur.

Offline Marketing

1. Offline marketing is very important to make sure our presence is everywhere. Blackberry partakes in this through many forms such as TV, radio, outdoors, and print ad. With offline marketing we can reach a more broad audience for a small CPM and reach many different types of segments.

2. Short term goals

a. Increase awareness and maintaining and increasing our GRPs

CONCLUSION:

Blackberry is a very successful brand that is helping people connect to fun and business all day and all night. RIM is creating new products to keep up with trends and create their own trends. If one uses strategic methods, he can create a social media plan that will keep Blackberry at the top of its game.

Work Cited

http://www.rim.com/investors/documents/pdf/annual/2011rim_ar.pdf

http://ureporter.mriplusonline.com/selectdemo.asp

http://blogs.blackberry.com/tag/social-media/

Elena Malykhina . Analysis: How Smartphone Platforms Compare. InformationWeek. January 20, 2007 http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=196902226

Anonymous.Consumer Electronics Industry Leaders Announce Groundbreaking Recycling Initiative, Unprecedented eCycling Challenge. Business Wire. 13 April 2011.

Anonymous. Experian Marketing Services Releases 2011 Digital Marketer Benchmark and Trend Report; Consumer confidence in economy shows signs of improvement in Q1 2011. PR Newswire. 4 April 2011

Clahaugh, Jeff. Consumer Electronics Associate Says Consumer Confidence Up. Washington Business Journal. 22 March 2011. < http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2011/03/22/cea-says-consumer-confidence-up.html>

Anonymous. Reportlinker Adds Consumer Electronics: Advanced Emerging Markets (Brazil, Hungary, Mexico, Poland, South Africa, Taiwan) Industry Guide. PR NewsWire. 7 April, 2011.

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Social Media Plan for BlackBerry Smart phone and accessories.

Georgia State University

Shawn Shepard

April 28, 2011

MK 4305

Professor Jake Aull

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