Public Relations Plan of Blackberry - Essay Example

A Public Relations Plan of Blackberry A Public Relations Plan of Blackberry Introduction (situation Analysis) Things arent looking fine for the BlackBerry mobile these days. Its been losing market share in past quarters, both to the different devices anchored on market-leading Android platform and iPhone (Narasimha, 2012). It has seen some widespread service outages in the previous year, throwing its reliability into doubt; third-party application developers, the backbone of successful mobile platforms, are making exodus from BlackBerry like a burning house (Tench & Yeomans, 2014). BlackBerry maker has experienced its stock price drop more than 70 per cent in past year, as its strategic route looks unclear at best (Ferry, 2010). Moreover, the ailing complementary PlayBook tablet. But one of BlackBerrys major strengths has all the time been information security. As written by enterprise mobile security expert Lisa Phifer, the BlackBerry OS includes a thorough collection of original security capabilities, for instance strong support for password security, AES encryption of data embedded on the device, automatic remote wiping and integrated data transport safeguard, all easily managed through flexible policies via BlackBerry Enterprise Server. At the moment, consumerization of IT has worn out what once was the BlackBerrys point of strength in enterprise (Pople & Turnbull, 2012). BlackBerry security has assumed a backseat to competitor`s flash and functionality, as most users are more concerned with introducing sexy back to devices in their pockets and also needing a solo device for both personal and business use (Tench & Yeomans, 2009). Most enterprise security teams, a few pressured by their executives, have tacitly permitted these mobile devices into their networks, opting to look the other way instead of identifying and addressing security problems these hugely unchecked devices present (Du, 2000). Now the security worry on consumer-centric mobile devices has become impossible for Blackberry to ignore and this is what warrants the establishment of public relation plan. Objectives The objectives of this plan is to: Make the company strong financially, be technologically savvy and well-positioned for the future. Continue to build out the company`s leadership team with people who poses the skills and passion to take BlackBerry back on track to profitability. Make quick and impactful changes to guarantee that our customers’ investments into BlackBerry’s infrastructure as well as solutions are secure. Focus on Blackberry`s core business drivers and relocate to a fresh operating unit structure: Enterprise Services, QNX Embedded business, Messaging and the Devices business. Be the leader in enterprise with a worldwide enterprise customer base beyond 80,000 so as to have three times the customers of MobileIron and AirWatch combined. Make many in regulated industries, those with most stringent security requirements, and the government to depend exclusively on company to secure mobile infrastructure. Make the company`s messaging service, BBM, popular and distinguished in regulated industries as being the highly secure mobile-messaging service. Audience Blackberry considers its target market to be people who are hyper-socially connected as well as true multi-taskers who require getting staffs done. In simple terms, Blackberry believes this is approximately a third of the entire available market globally. The company believes this target audience needs both a professional and Personal balance with simplicity. I’d also bet most of the users need this. For the past two months, close to 50 million new Android and iOS users have registered to exploit the company`s messaging service, BBM. So as to reach out to this audience, Blackberry will carry on to invest in the popular messaging service and build on its features as well as its channels, with a plan to transform it into a revenue inlet in the coming years. Blackberry Hub is a distinct approach to exploiting apps and services. Just by a first glance, it looks more of a unified inbox for text, email, Blackberry messenger as well as social media such as Facebook and Twitter. However, since the user may both view as well as respond to each of those communications without having to leave the Hub, most government have become the audience of this service by Blackberry. All the seven of the G7 governments in one way or another uses this service and so they will also be the target audience. Message in the plan Openness and privacy should not be tradeoffs. While customers propose that ‘security’ is a responsibility of the company`s service, ‘privacy’, is considered as the responsibility of every individual. Privacy is viewed to be within user’s control, and is subject to human choice: what info you share, who you share with and how you opt to self-censor. Users have been precise that they need features which assist them take the lead in controlling their privacy. BBM has constantly come up with privacy features that are in-built. It’s in Blackberry`s DNA (Galloway & Kwanash-Aidoo, 2005). The matchless PIN number assigned to every BBM user enables them to opt to connect anonymously or with no divulging details such as their email address or phone number. The double opt in course for becoming contacts guarantees that both parties involved are willing participants in any conversation and consent to let each other into their own respective inner circles. Moreover, BBM has all the times made it simple for users to govern their contact list by allowing them to block and/or erase contacts at any time. Even though some will argue BBM ought to remove privacy measures all together as a trade off to greater openness, it should be known that Blackberry has heard from users that when implemented in a right way, privacy features provide more discretion and freedom when utilizing IM. Having that in mind, Blackberry will carry on with introducing new features that give customers control over their own privacy. However, it will that in a way which encourages openness and promotes the building of a big and thriving BBM community. It`s worth noting that the ‘Find Friends’ feature offers a good example of reaching a balance between privacy and openness. To assist users find and also add BBM contacts, Find Friends assists in identifying contacts in users` smartphone address book which are also exploiting BBM and enables user to send these friends a private PIN invitation. When a match is obtained between a user in ones address book and BBM user, their last and first names are populated from ones local address book utilizing information the person already have concerning that contact. You cannot receive any extra personal identifiable information concerning the BBM user up to the time they accept the sent BBM contact invitation. Privacy and Security will stay integral to BBM As the company continues to bring fresh experiences to our consumers you have Blackberry`s commitment that privacy and security will stay a top priority and also integral part of BBM. Blackberry shall continue to innovate around creating the service secure and allowing customers the control over their privacy while introducing fresh experiences that will help them to share and connect with friends, colleagues and family in innovative and exciting ways. Strategy In a span lesser than two months, the company`s team shall have engineered a strategy to stabilize Blackberry, return to the company`s core strength in enterprise and security as well as maximize efficiencies. As part of the strategy, Blackberry`s top leadership has decided to surround itself with a talented panel of industry leaders, including new leaders for enterprise, strategic planning, corporate development and marketing. Companys Board of Directors will form a Special Committee to look into strategic alternatives to improve value and increase scale so as to hasten BlackBerry 10 deployment.  The alternatives might include, amongst others, potential joint ventures, alliances or strategic partnerships, a sale of company or even other possible transactions.  The Special Committee of this Board shall comprise of Richard Lynch, Barbara Stymiest, Thorsten Heins, and Bert Nordberg. Dattels Timothy will be the chairperson. With the announcement of this Special Committee, Prem Watsa, CEO and Chairman of Fairfax Financial is expected to resign due to possible conflicts which may crop up during the course of action and may hinder the committee`s actions.  Fairfax Financial is the biggest BlackBerry shareholder. However, Mr. Watsa is expected to continue being a strong supporter of Blackberry, as well as the Board and Management in their work during this process.  The management and Board shall lay more emphasis on the launched BES 10 and BlackBerry 10 platform so as to establish a strong financial position. They shall also evaluate the best approach to deliver long-term value for users and shareholders. Given the significance and strength of Blackberry`s technology, and as an evolving and competitive enterprise, now is the precise moment to explore strategic alternatives. The company`s special Committee shall focuses on exploring alternatives and continue with the strategy of driving efficiency, reducing cost, and hastening the deployment of BES 10 besides driving embracing of BlackBerry 10 smartphones. It shall also ensure more launching of such like multi-platform BBM social messaging service as well as pursue mobile computing opportunities through leveraging secure and reliable company`s Global Data Network. JP Morgan Securities LLC shall continue to serve as financial advisor to Blackberry while Skadden, Arps, Slate, Torys LLP and Meagher & Flom LLP will still serve as legal advisors to Blackberry. There may be no guarantee that this exploration procedure will result in some transaction. Blackberry does not presently intend to disclose more developments in regard to this process, except and until the Board of Directors endorses a specific transaction or even concludes a review of strategic alternatives. Tactics to be employed Months of hard public relation strategy is expected to result in those positive reviews and legwork required to refurbish the brand. An all-inclusive plan and comprehensive execution strategy will definitely reach out and build links to every person from Piers Morgan to influential name technology writers; persuading blogosphere influencers as well as app developers alike. Resolving to learn from its previous mistakes, Blackberry rallied to ensure Z10 would meet an approachable audience ready to offer the brand another more chance. Moreover, the management had made an assurance to be transparent with its strategy and how it will execute them. The issue is whether the industry is able to handle onslaught of point solutions and fresh security issues which are emerging as enterprise mobility is now a requirement. And, will users be able to handle and comprehend the multitude of security vendors’ offerings and also who is dependable to work with. Most vendors allege to have the capabilities and experience to meet the broad breadth of needs which organizations have. However, only BlackBerry poses the capability of meeting end-to-end demands of extremely secure environments and the flexibility of more free, multi-platform BYOD infrastructures. It`s especially true for regulated industry, where security needs are the highest. Enemies of Blackberry were saying alleging that customers were speculating BlackBerry can’t handle other devices. However, BlackBerry CEO has rebutted saying, BlackBerry has offered multi-platform OS management for close to two years now and it will not relent any time soon. Good Technology can talk about 5,000 customers but Blackberry will boast of more than 30,000 new BES10 servers fixed in the last year alone and so the allegation will come to rest. Pure play vendors like Good Technology are able to build healthy competition in mobile MDM space, but it must be difficult for them to evolve beyond being merely an MDM provider. The approach that security may be ‘good enough’ which Good Technology and other vendors are advertising is habitually not good for customers. Blackberry will maximize on this opportunity to provide an excellent security provision to its users. This will especially be targeted at those in regulated industries for instance healthcare, financial services, insurance, and government where maximum security environments are required. The company is also hatching a strategic move by spending in a fresh architecture that goes past EMM (enterprise mobility management) to an application-based atmosphere and ecosystem which provides an extremely productive end-user experience. The new enterprise mobility platform shall be executed by BlackBerry’s President of Enterprise Services, John Sims who declared a new roadmap of distinguished and secure services and products tailored to meet every enterprise’s end-to-end mobility requirements. This shall include new enterprise mobility foundation as well as devices and applications, together with a new eBBM suite for the enterprise customers. Blackberry will fully be transparent with their customers concerning what they get from the company; the new pricing structure will be crystal clear and most significantly, unlike other companies, Blackberry will mean what they say. When the company says something is free, it will definitely mean that it’s free. This will see the new EZ Pass promotion offers customers the chance to migrate for free to BES10 from BES or some other secure MDM platforms. As company executes on its long term vision, it assures customers they will be able to effortlessly move forward with Blackberry. Regardless of the changes which EMM market is experiencing, BlackBerry is trusted and used by every of the G7 governments who identify that BlackBerry offers the needed approach to EMM with the best-in-class security, management as well as ease-of-use which is demanded by their own industry and end-users (Carden & Zappala, 2004). Target Media Blackberry plans to reach out to all sorts of media that has ever existed. Through press media, social media and broadcast media Blackberry hope to expand the influence products and services so as to obtain exceptional international attention and social buzz. The company also seeks to explore digital technology as well as website to improve the interaction with the target audiences so as to promote selling. The idea to reach out to more media is in line with the company`s objective which is to improve its status through media so as to attract more international brands as well as edgy designers. Evaluation of the plan To measure the level of the public relation plan`s success, various evaluation strategies will be considered (Barrow & Brown, 2012). The evaluation of this public relation plan must be proactive and a forward-looking process of constant systematic gathering of the information utilized to plan future activities much more effectively. According to (Beard, & #The #Institute of Public Relations (Yorkshire, Great Britain), 2002), effective evaluation strategies will be developed at the start of communication process to identify possible problems, needs, opportunities, or omissions prior to implementing an expensive campaign. Thus, the public relation plan will adopt both the evaluation methods classified in two ways as follows: Closed System evaluations: this will focus on messages and the events as well as their impacts on intended publics.  They will rely heavily on media and pre-testing messages and then a comparison of these to post-test outcomes to see if at all the activities achieved planned effects (Leinemann, & Baikaltseva, 2004). Open System evaluations: this evaluation strategy will recognize the fact that factors outside control of public relations campaign might influence results and so it will enables Blackberry to look at wider considerations while trying to measure the success of their plan.  This method for a fact, considers public relations in general organizational effectiveness. According to (Diggs-Brown, 2012), the above methods will also be broken down into two major research methods as follows:  Quantitative Research: this will be occupied with numerical data of the public relations in which computer programs will be used to search for common themes, for instance the number of press releases, geographic distribution, and radio air time among others. The success will also be evaluated by comparing sales from the previous month/year/quarter. It`s recommended that the public relation plan be put in action prior to or in the start of a sales period in order to compare. A similar approach follows when a new service or product is being introduced into the market. Blackberry knows their effort will go to waste if their timing isn’t right. Qualitative Research: this will concerned with gathering random data and searching for rising and common themes, for instance, product and service awareness and Pre/Post Testing (Watson & Noble, 2007). 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