By Patrick Avenell
It’s been three weeks since Research In Motion, manufacturer of BlackBerry devices, launched its Wake Up campaign. Part of that campaign was a countdown to a reveal, which matured on Monday this week.
This campaign was heavily criticised in the media — unfairly, according to this reporter — yet many questions still remain about the campaign, its execution and its value to the smartphone and tablet vendor.
Current.com.au’s requests this week for an interview with a suitable Australian Research In Motion representative were rejected. In lieu of a proper interview, we sent a list of questions to Research In Motion, with the opportunity for the company to provide considered responses in an email. That approach was also denied.
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So far, the only correspondence RIM will provide on the matter is the following statement:
“BlackBerry launched an integrated marketing and advertising brand campaign in Australia to provoke conversation on what 'being in business' means to Australians. A wide range of activities have taken place during the teaser portion of the campaign. Images and videos are available upon request. Today the campaign is entering a new phase as it unveils a manifesto based on what 'being in business' really means to Australians.”
Here are the questions I sent Research In Motion:
-Overall, is RIM happy with how the Wake Up campaign played out between the initial teaser campaign and the eventual reveal?
-There’s some confusion over who this campaign was targeting: is it a return for RIM to its enterprise roots or another attempt to energise the general consumer market?
-Some of the criticism of this campaign has been vicious — does RIM have any regrets about any elements of this campaign?
-The guerrilla aspect of Wake Up has been described variously as being like ‘Gabbo’ from The Simpsons and “pre-digital” — do you think the mystery aspect of this campaign was out of touch with the modern consumer? Are consumers less willing to accept an element of mystery from marketers?
-Did the constant association of this campaign with Samsung hurt RIM vicariously? What was RIM’s reaction to stories on popular websites incorrectly attributing the campaign to Samsung?
-Does RIM agree with my assertion that media types intentionally set out to vilify this campaign to disguise their own inaccuracies in attributing the campaign to Samsung?
-Has there been any noticeable uplift in business since the Wake Up campaign commenced?
-As a journalist who follows what RIM is up to very closely, I was surprised that the campaign did not end with a new product release or the actual launch of new software (as opposed to a developer release) — was it a mistake to invest so heavily in a campaign without a new product to attract consumers?
-Can RIM please provide five reasons, without using any buzzwords, why a businessperson should be using a BlackBerry instead of any other device?
-How exactly does one eat opportunity for breakfast? And if they’ve eaten it, are they not forfeiting it? Can one truly have their opportunity and eat it too?