To change your image, RIM takes BlackBerry as corporate brand

In a measure to change her image, Research in Motion announced the change of its name to BlackBerry, its most famous product. "The BlackBerry brand is very strong. Even with the rise of the iPhone, still is a reference to a lot of thing. Already the trademark RIM, few people know ", analyzes Eduardo Tomiya, CEO of brand consultancy BrandingAnalytics.
He sees a positive change, but points out that, to regain ground in the Smartphone market, the BlackBerry need to do more. "Clearly, the company lost the timing. While not solve operational problems, product launch, rebranding is not going to change that perception. The movement is positive if accompanied by a number of other actions, "says Tomiya.
And the change was informed by Canadian company Chief Executive, Thorsten Heins, precisely during the launch of the new wave of smartphones, the BlackBerry line 10. The announcement shows the company's hopes in a remodeled identity, because it is going through a decisive moment to regain lost ground in the competitive smartphone market, which already was a leader.
"BlackBerry is how we are known in almost everywhere in the world except in North America, so we have an iconic global brand, and when you have a brand so powerful, you want to make it central", says the Vice President of marketing, Frank Boulben.
The change indicates the profound attention dedicated by the advertising company amid the release of a product considered crucial to their survival. In the past, the KIDNEY was widely criticized for bungling the release of tablet PlayBook and other devices.
The BlackBerry came to that executives remain connected to customers and offices, and quickly conquered the corporate market. However, the aged KIDNEY portfolio struggled to compete with rivals such as Apple and Google's Android operating system, losing space.
In the fourth quarter, the company had participation of 3.4%, compared to 20% three years ago. In North America, establishing technological trends for the world, RIM's market share in the fourth quarter dropped to 2%, against more than 40% three years ago.
The new line presented yesterday has the fastest browsers, smart cameras and, unlike earlier models of the BlackBerry, has a large library of applications, including services such as Skype and the game Angry Birds. One of the smartphones have a small physical keyboard that RIM turned on her trademark and the other has a touch screen that looks a lot like those produced by competitors. As the company strikes back with new line, the name change will allow it raise the value of the BlackBerry brand.
"Before we had Research In Motion, BlackBerry, Bold, Curve, Torch, PlayBook — and this dilutes the BlackBerry brand, which is a fantastic asset," says Boulben. "Transfer to a branded business model allows us to focus our advertising in just a name."
This can be crucial for the company, which has implemented a management reform and a major restructuring in the period prior to the launch of its revamped line of appliances. "We feel that now would be the perfect time to accompany this change with a symbolic change," says Boulben.