Back after the BlackBerry break...

[Disclaimer : The opinions expressed in this post are solely of the Author and do not , in any way, reflect the views of either BlackBerry India Ltd. or Vodafone India Ltd.]

Hi guys! Have not been able to post for a long time... The days during my BlackBerry-Vodafone Live Project were hectic and the backlog created in its wake kept me busy till the exams... The exams, well, you know... But now the exams are history and am back!

Well, I did come across plenty of interesting things during this time and I had stored them so that i could share them with you guys! So, bombz away!

But first, let me share with you one of the things that I learnt from my BlackBerry-Vodafone Live Project. It's how to use service as an effective means of promotion. In class, we have learn about many types of promotions and promotional strategies. However, this was a very unique idea! Also, this project taught me as to how something as simple as a service camp could be used to serve a multitude of purposes -- just goes to show the strength of Touch Points and just how creative a mature marketing brain can get!

BlackBerry is as much a service in itself as it is a product! So the 7P's are just as applicable to it as any other service. And the aim of this camp was to focus entirely upon the 'People P'.

BlackBerry customers often complain that the BlackBerry does not tend to its customers. Its helplines are always busy, the manuals are written in Greek and run in loops and that the service centers are hardly accessible. So this camp was all about changing that perception. BlackBerry wanted to make its customers feel as if they were in a class of their own! It is extremely important to keep present customers happy and satisfied as they create the brand and image of the company in the minds of the people and are responsible for word of mouth publicity which is treated as the most believable form of publicity by people in general.

There were also a few other underlying motives. Firstly, this Service Camp was a BlackBerry-Vodafone initiative. Out of the existing 13 Telecom Service providers in India, BlackBerry has a tie up with 9. So you can have BB-Vodafone, a BB-AirTel, etc. depending on the connection that you use. Among corporate connections, Vodafone is the leader while AirTel leads in personal connections with Vodafone at number two. By helping customers , servicing their devices, solving their queries and making them feel at home, BlackBerry-Vodafone wanted to expand its capitalization of the personal connection segment and try to take the lead from AirTel by showing that Vodafone provides better all round service.

Another objective of the service camp was to boost sales of BlackBerry devices. It was a service camp, no doubt, but good service does boost brand equity. If there are a few satisfied customers, their word of mouth publicity will definitely have a positive impact on the market in general. And since BlackBerry is considered to be a niche product, word of mouth publicity in the has right circles can have a huge impact on the visibility of the product, thereby significantly affecting sales!

The image that BlackBerry has in the minds of the people is that of a brand that is meant only for Businessmen or Corporate hotshots. However, over the past year, BlackBerry has been trying to change this image. They are changing their positioning from devices meant only for corporate business users to devices for the general public. While on one hand this may create a negative impact on the existing customer base (the existing BlackBerry customers felt as if they were part of an elite club and with this change they lose their exclusiveness. So people who bought a BlackBerry just as a status symbol will not be willing to do so anymore), on the other it will broaden their overall target segment and benefit the company. They designed the "BlackBerry Boys" ad campaign specifically for this purpose with the jingle "We're the BlackBerry Boys". This Service Camp was a direct extension of the same campaign where, through these service camps, BlackBerry wants to let people know that its not something meant for the elites only. And to prove this, BlackBerry is reaching out to the customers and not the other was around, as it happens with other elite brands. The jingle for this Service Camp campaign was "BlackBerry Boys for your BlackBerry toys!" So this was another objective that BB wanted to accomplish through this campaign.

So, overall, you guys can see that we learnt a whole lot of new things from this project. Just wish I get a chance to use these at least some of the ideas myself in the near future! Hoping for the best...!