Product details

The case study is about how Research in Motion (RIM) marketed BlackBerry in India. Blackberry is a range of smartphones of RIM, a Canadian telecommunication firm. It was launched in India in 2004, targeting the enterprise segment. Initially, the Blackberry mobiles in India were priced quite high and were affordable only to corporate employers. The use of enterprise applications made the BlackBerry attractive to corporate people and the company achieved significant success. BlackBerry gained a leadership position in the smartphone segment in India catering to high-end enterprise customers. Over the years, people in the middle and junior management levels too started aspiring for a BlackBerry. To take advantage of this demand, RIM decided to leave behind its enterprise image and target youth and teens. Some marketing experts, however, felt that in pursuit of this goal, the brand had lost its exclusivity. In order to tap the potential in Tier-II and Tier-III cities in India, RIM planned to strengthen its sales and service network in these cities. This case is meant for MBA/MS students as part of a brand management/marketing management curriculum. This case is designed to enable students to: 1) Understand the Blackberry brand promise and brand personality; 2) Examine the marketing strategies adopted by Blackberry in India; 3) Discuss and debate whether in its bid to target more customers, Blackberry had lost its exclusivity and premium image; 4) Explore marketing strategies that RIM may follow in order to reach out to a larger consumer segment and yet maintain its exclusive image. The teaching note does not include an analysis of the case.