Remember when having a Blackberry was a status symbol? Remember when Blackberry was cool?

As of January 2011, Blackberry still holds the #1 market share position for smart phones (Android is #2 and iPhone is #3). Yet something is missing. Blackberry is no longer a must-have item. They used to be Bacon, but now they are on the precipice of two cliffs:

  • Losing the conversation. This is completely anecdotal, but in the decision-making hierarchy, Blackberry likely comes in 3rd. And maybe now 4th behind a Windows phone.
  • Becoming a niche product. Like hockey, Blackberry will continue to have a core loyal following. But also like hockey, they will have to figure out to make money with a much smaller market.

So what happened?

I have no inside knowledge. But I am a former customer. I owned the original Blackberry, then the Pearl. But that was 3 years ago.

  • Playing catch up. At the time of their release, Blackberry was innovative. Not just innovative, but accessible. Owning one was cool. They were like Elvis from 1956 – 1962. Then came The Beatles (like the iPhone). They made Elvis irrelevant to the next generation of music fans. Blackberry has never really recovered from the iPhone – and Android has made it worse. This has forced Blackberry in to a game of we-have-that-too. And that doesn’t create conversations or relevance. Playing catch-up flooded the market with lots of different Blackberry options. Because they were built for Enterprise (see below), the user experience compared to the iPhone and Android was inferior for individual consumers.
  • No differentiation in advertising. Watch a Blackberry ad. While visually well-executed, there is virtually no differentiation. Ironic to my analogy above, they even used a Beatles song in one of their campaigns! The most damning ads are the ones with the hip Gen Y person talking about all the things they use their Blackberry for – none of which are any different from Android and iPhone. They remind me of when Tiger Woods endorsed Buick. Of course he drives a Buick! Wink, wink.
  • Forgot their core audience. This issue is likely the #1 reason for Blackberry’s slow trudge to the Oatmeal bowl. They started in the Enterprise market – and still dominant it. So why change focus? I don’t know, but it smells like fear and ego. Or maybe they just needed to spend their ad budget. Either way, they have greatly diluted their brand. Instead of going after the consumer and SMB market, they should have gone the way of CISCO. Remind people how much business is done on a Blackberry. Be the grown-up, not the hipster. Be the serious professional, not the amateur. Is it too late to go back to their core? Probably not – simply because they do have a loyal fan base and still own the Enterprise market.
  • Poor handling of PR. Blackberry used to seem invincible. They could make no mistakes. And when they did, they were back-page issues. Unfortunately, when you lose relevance, you increase the opportunity for criticism. So from lawsuits to network outages, what are probably fairly common business issues became amplified – adding to the chorus of “What happened to Blackberry?”

It sucks to go from Bacon to Oatmeal. Very few brands ever make it back. Old Spice, Jack in the Box, the NBA and … ???.

But Elvis made it back for a few brilliant years. Then his demons got him. But he did become relevant again by returning to his roots, being truly different from other acts, and connecting with his audience. All of which Blackberry could do if they have the political will. Thank you very much.