We wear cool suits, we wear shiny Shoes; we’re the Blackberry Boys...
Oh yeah, we’re the BlackBerry Boys…. |
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Don't the above lyrics take us back to the days when the world got introduced to the revolutionary device in the market that was meant to be the birthright of the executive high-stature class?
Doesn't it make you guys ever wonder about the origin and the rationale behind the name BlackBerry for the RIM’s (Research In Motion) most profitable product? |
 | Well, David Placek (President and founder, Lexicon Branding) is the creative brain behind this fruity name. He knew that any corporate ho-hum and unimaginative technical word for a phone would only result in increasing clients’ and bosses’ blood pressures. So his rationale was to find an appellation for this phone that is emblematic of being more entertaining, more joyful and definitely more natural. When it was pointed out that the device buttons resembled a collection of tiny |
| black seeds, the man started exploring varied fruity names and finally settled with BlackBerry because the device was black in colour at that time, and this word is delightful to most ears. |
I second Mr. Placek, because this word became a revolution and achieved phenomenal growth. Earlier this word would commonly refer to ‘an edible soft fruit, consisting of a cluster of soft purple-black drupelets’. Today, in most parts of the world, this word means a highly addictive gizmo used by corporates and non-corporates alike. Infact, it is so used obsessively by people around the world that it is sometimes named ‘Crackberry’.
We heard about the device BlackBerry when it first paved its way into the Indian market in the year 2004. The BlackBerries got affiliated to a category that was an embodiment of the lifestyle followed by the corporate ‘suits’. A BlackBerry phone became the symbol of power, position and prestige and was adopted by the executive class and the suit-clad businessmen. Anywhere you saw a BlackBerry in someone’s hand; you couldn't mistake that hand of just another regular employee or some young individual, but somebody important enough to be part of a management team of some multinational company.
| The world was practically divided between two sets of people – BlackBerry owners and non-BlackBerry owners. The latter comprised everyone apart from the aforementioned BlackBerry users, such as the young college-goers, the teenagers, the housewives, the Page 3 socialites, the young working population and obviously the Indian mango people. The interesting part was that no member of either of the group tried to experiment with or adopt the mobile devices used by the other group. |  |
 | The non-BlackBerry users were contented with the brand Nokia, the leaders in the mobile market at that time, flooding the market every few months with flashy phones loaded with fancy-schmancy features, and plainly assumed that the BlackBerry device was only meant for the uninteresting corporate and business folk. On the other side of the world, the BlackBerry owners were, well, the BlackBerry Boys after all. They considered flaunting a BlackBerry to be cool and couldn't think of a world without a BlackBerry in their hands, which lets them check their business emails on the go and be connected to people with no hassles. |
| That was also the period when social networking, specifically Facebook and Twitter were getting adopted too as a part and parcel of every individual’s life. People started to make it a habit to log on to Facebook to chat with friends, play social games, and be updated with their friends’ life events 24*7. The virtual life on Facebook was slowly becoming to be |  |
| the real world where people enjoyed being most of their time. Twitter micro blogging was another thing that succeeded in becoming a popular trend. Moreover; there was the rise of the large young population with an increasing propensity to spend. |
 | Observing this trend and properly understanding the ‘pulse’ of the youth, Ogilvy & Mather (a leading worldwide advertising and marketing agency), together with Vodafone conceptualized a new TVC for the launch of BlackBerry services for prepaid Vodafone users in the fall of 2010. That was the first time when we heard the term, ‘The BlackBerry Boys’. |
We’re the Blackberry Boys–First Video Commercial Ad |
But wait; there was a twist in the whole concept. The general ubiquitous perception about BlackBerry only being the privilege of the ‘The Big Boys’ went for a complete toss. The ad started with a few top brass execs claiming themselves as the proud owners of the cool and sophisticated BlackBerry. These were joined later with a bunch of hip youngsters claiming the same too. This concept totally shattered the prevalent notion about the usage of these phones. The youth of India felt ready to hold these sophisticated enterprise mobile devices in their hands just the way the honchos do. From the emerging class of young entrepreneurs to the tech-savvy college-going group of ritzy teenagers, these phones became the status symbol representing poise and sheer urbanity.
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| There was a widespread phenomenon, which revolved around exchanging of BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) pins among BlackBerry owners. It was the birth of a craze – a mania that made it vitally imperative for outsiders (non-BlackBerry users) everywhere to hold a BB in order to be a part of the culture in vogue. The outsiders were deemed as a part of an antiquated society that is still using obsolete devices. So basically, the TV commercial worked, because it instilled a sense of wishful desire by one and all to own something happening that is solely entitled only for the office guys, and thus become the BlackBerry Boys themselves too. |  |
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| The BlackBerry sales figures were pointing north, and there was a daily influx of new customers to the large customer base. All seemed well, until the Android OS (by Google) hit the Indian markets with its easy-to-use and faster operating system. In the meanwhile, we witnessed the advent of a newer application in the mobile industry known as ‘WhatsApp’, a similar tool like BBM, which allowed it to be used in any smartphone regardless of it being a BlackBerry. In the sidelines, Samsung revived its image too in India with its new range of Android OS touch phones |
 | heavily loaded with features and availability of the Android market that offered oodles of free and paid applications. This move by Samsung put it in the top spot in the Indian mobile device market, where the Samsung phones were getting sold like hot cakes. It was watching history repeat itself all over again, starting with Nokia, followed by BlackBerry and now Samsung. Apple, LG and HTC also |
| gained market share in this new wave of touchscreen phones being used rampantly by Indian consumers. |
After all we know the youth will remain the youth. They found a cheaper alternative to BBM, switched their loyalties and shifted to more snazzy phones with touch interfaces and a boatload of games and apps. The BlackBerry rage eased up eventually, and this became a cause of concern for RIM. Certainly something had to be done and soon too. The Vodafone team must have been restless about this too, because just a few days back, they, together with O&M, came up with a sequel to the original TVC ‘The BlackBerry Boys’. This ad portrays the fact that the BlackBerry is no more unique to the suited gentlemen with the launch of Vodafone’s more affordable BBM plan (‘Go BBM’) that will only attract more and more youngsters. They sing, “They are the BlackBerry boys” this time in a depressing tone, and focus more on the fact that the device is used for so many other ‘cool’ reasons by the youth of today. This TV commercial only hopes to cause an inception again in the minds of the young Indian population about the varied benefits of having a BlackBerry and reminding them about the cult that they used to be an element of.
We’re the Blackberry Boys–Second & Latest Video Commercial Ad |
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BlackBerry surely has a few plans chalked up for the near future related to their growth strategy in India. The Indian population is very dynamic and highly susceptible to changes in price. With some tactical expansion strategy and bringing newer touchscreen phones in the market with better pricing, who knows, maybe the BlackBerry Boys won’t have to remain depressed anymore. Only time will tell the fate of this once overwhelmingly elite device. Till then ‘Go BBM’!!!
P.S.: It’s Okay, Boysss !!! |  |
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