RIM can also choose to employ an “Accessibility Team” whose main responsibility is to understand the wants and needs of customers in order to find and implement accessibility features and solutions for Blackberry smart phones and Blackberry Software. This team can also work with third party developers to create mobile applications that are accessible to customers and that support large customers and carriers.
Pricing Decisions
RIM may choose to set lower prices upon introducing Blackberry to the UAE. This “market penetration pricing strategy” may help the company achieve a large, if not dominant market share. If successful, this pricing strategy may lead to large sales volumes or market shares. Furthermore, costs per unit may decline as a result of both economies of scale and experience. The potential disadvantages of this pricing strategy include the likelihood of competing suppliers imitating the strategy by also reducing their prices, thus nullifying any advantage of the reduced price. The impact of the reduced price on the image of the Blackberry can also be another disadvantage, particularly where customers associate price with quality.
Wholesale pricing and volume discounts may act as a catalyst in the adoption process of the Blackberry smart phone, particularly in large firms and businesses. These firms have the incentive to purchase Blackberry phones in bulk since wholesale allows them to obtain lower prices from suppliers. By providing volume discounts as incentive, RIM can have their products purchased and made available for sale across a wide number of consumers. A business firm can improve the efficiency of everyday operations by distributing Blackberry phones to their employees, which will provide constant connectivity to everyone in the organization.
Place Decisions
The collaboration of RIM with Etisalat and DU in the distribution of Blackberry phones will help RIM more effectively tap the fast growing mobile communications market in the Middle East. Since these local service providers work closely with Blackberry customers, they can easily work in partnership with RIM to address dynamic customer needs. Through this tie up, software upgrades and additional applications may be developed faster in response to market opportunities. Nonetheless, RIM should make sure that it tests and authorizes all software applications developed by these service providers.
Promotion Decisions
RIM may choose to advertise the Blackberry smart phones as an ultimate status symbol. With regard to aspiration groups, the Blackberry can be positioned as a necessity for the Class A lifestyle, a way to stay connected to work at all times. They can utilize a marketing strategy that is based on status appeal, asking “What does it say about your organization if you don’t have a Blackberry?”. RIM may also leverage the distribution channels by letting them handle marketing. They may also invest in the channel to provide sales training. RIM should realize that it is essential to teach retailers how to sell the product and carry out the brand message. The only boundary to using aspirational groups is the quality of the people that are referred to. For example, the brand should avoid associating itself with Barack Obama, who is a prominent Blackberry user, if the current US president is going to encourage war in the region. Many other possible endorsers are available who are more in tune with the Arabic-speaking market.
VII. RECOMMENDATIONS
Our group recommends that Blackberry implement the following programs to address the different decisions in relation to the marketing mix, which includes the following: product, pricing, place and promotion. It is important that they build an Accessibility Team whose main task is to understand needs and wants of customer through market research. Subsequently, they can acquire knowledge on the suitable features and services that the market seeks out. For pricing decisions, they can adopt wholesale pricing and volume discounts. This will be feasible especially because they are dealing with the business market where there are large firms that buy in bulk. This strategy will allow Blackberry to quickly penetrate the market. As a result, businesses will have an incentive to buy, increasing demand on a larger scale. Cost per unit will decline as a result of economies of scale. We also recommend that they collaborate with Etisalat and DU in their distribution activities of Blackberry phones. With their help, they can easily respond immediately to the needs of market in terms of software upgrades and additional applications. Lastly, the promotion decision will be the most critical decision they will make. They need heavy promotional campaigns emphasizing Blackberry’s benefits to our dynamic environment and, more urgently, the ease of adapting the technology. A brand launch may be useful in increasing awareness of the brand. They can develop websites, distribute brochures, advertise to potential customers through the different media, and build information centres where people can obtain information about Blackberry. In line with these, the company must implement sales training programs and workshops so that salespeople will be well-educated about their products in order to carry out the brand message and its benefits to interested buyers. In this way, they can justify the price against its numerous advantages which no other brand provides. Moreover, they will position Blackberry as an ultimate status symbol.
VIII. ACTION PLAN
In its implementation of our recommendations, Blackberry should keep in mind how the decision process of potential customers will be affected by these plans. Therefore, each step in the process of adopting a new product should be addressed effectively.
Framework for Action Plan:
Stages in the Adoption Process
This process deals with the stages that a consumer goes through in deciding whether or not to purchase a new product. The process consists of five stages: awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption. Awareness is when the consumer becomes aware of the product but still knows little about it. Interest is when he begins to look for information regarding the product. Evaluation is when the consumer speculates whether buying the product makes sense. Trial is when he actually tries the product in order to gain new views about it. Adoption is when he decides to make full use of the product.
The Blackberry smart phone is a new product in the Middle East and majority of the market is still unfamiliar with it and its features. That is why most of the consumers are still going through this process. What the company should do is to help the consumers move along this process from the awareness stage all the way to the adoption stage.
To create awareness, Blackberry should conduct a solid brand launch with heavy advertising and promotional activities. The company can host events with top executives and other interested parties, and include the testimonials of current Blackberry users from the region on the benefits of using Blackberry’s push e-mail feature in their advertisements. Direct marketing to business customers will help the company assume a more active stance in promoting their products, in addition to the advertising campaigns on TV, print and on the radio for the general public. Value-added deals with Etisalat and other providers, such as providing discounts and bundling important software when a business purchases Blackberry phones for entire teams, can be advertised to businesses and other firms in the UAE.
To promote interest in their products, Blackberry should put up a website especially for the region, written in the language of the people and with information that is relevant to their needs. This is because although the advertising campaign will create awareness, it will not be able to answer all the questions that a potential buyer may have about the product and its features, given the limitations of traditional media. The company can divide the website into different sections that discuss the features of Blackberry’s products, how they can improve the lives of customers, how issues such as security are addressed, and other important topics.
To assist customers in evaluating Blackberry smartphones, the company should maintain the premium price that their products currently carry but thoroughly discuss how the benefits of owning a Blackberry demand their present market value. Again, potential buyers should be exposed to testimonials from prominent users of Blackberry in the region and their experiences with the product. This premium positioning will encourage buyers who refer to aspirational groups to spend more for the high-quality product that is Blackberry in the emerging economies of the Middle East. The availability of information is critical at this stage, thus the need for the website is still very important.
Blackberry and resellers in the region can conduct free trial programs where customers can experience owning a Blackberry smart phone for two weeks without charge. The customer can then purchase a phone after the trial, or return the handset if it does meet their expectations. This method is used with numerous products in the US and in Europe, where Blackberry has a large market share. Given the superior qualities of Blackberry phones, this free trial program will only encourage more people to buy Blackberry phones of their own.
Once a large enough market of Blackberry users exists, user-generated applications from customers around the region will increase the value of owning a Blackberry smart phone. Also, more input on which features should be included, and which should be removed, will be more available with more users. Thus, the value of owning a Blackberry will increase even more with more people owning their products. Blackberry should start a Blackberry User Group where users can share information and other tips and tricks when using their Blackberry phones, to encourage creativity in designing programs for the Blackberry.
