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Consumer marketing is a strange fish. Those who love their Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) BlackBerry cellphone/email machines generally are very brand loyal. I know a few people who always want the latest BlackBerry when it's released, regardless of style or function or size. As long as it is the latest, they want it. Even though a BlackBerry can make work away from the office much easier, the addiction many have to it can be disturbing at times. We already have 24/7 cellphone voice access, and now we have 24/7 email access. Is it healthy? That's been the subject of quite a few psychology papers I'd suspect.
BlackBerry devices are handy for the end consumer because branding and marketing work, regardless of whether half-truths are used to communicate or not. Advertising almost always promises something it can't deliver perfectly, but that does not stop consumers from spending billions to find out.
Business information technology customers, though, don't want that. A logic-based approach that demonstrates advertised ease with real-world usage is a must. But RIM's latest push is in the consumer market more than anything, where the opposite marketing approach is required.
Does this sound like a potential threat to RIM's established business base? Depends on how smart the company is in balancing its existing, hard-core business base and a new consumer base. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)'s Gerardo Dado thinks that RIM may be spreading FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) to get customers away from his company's Windows Mobile product, which markets heavily to the business community (and rarely to the consumer). Is he right, or is RIM just trying to get the best angle on both markets (one old and one new)?
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