BlackBerry’s ‘Wake Up’ campaign strategy labelled ‘pre-digital age’
The strategy for BlackBerry’s teaser “Wake Up” campaign has been labelled 15 years out of date by the boss of a rival agency.
Speaking on this week’s Mumbrellacast, Mike Wilson, chairman of Naked Communications, praised the execution of the campaign but said the strategy was “pre-digital age”.
The Wake Up teaser campaign has seen a series of stunts with campaigners holding up placards outside the Apple Store, in the background crowd on Seven’s Sunrise and elsewhere. Paid media activity has focused on a website countdown.
The strategy is being led by Sydney based agency Tongue. Among Tongue’s management are former Naked staffers John Du Vernet and Jonathan Pease.
Ha ha
For a campaign that so many here call a “fail” it sure is getting a lot of attention, several articles alone just on this one site. and “pre digital age”: half a million youtube views in a week aren’t digital enough? ha ha ha.
Someone’s jealous.
@Bob surely we all agree that attention and articles on this site count for nothing……we are dissecting the campaign, not being influenced by it. i laugh when people say “it’s got you all talking” because generally that’s the exact opposite effect these campaigns have on the 99.9% of people who aren’t in the industry, and go about their lives without a second thought to the activities of the self-important gits who are.
Ha ha. That’s weak commentary by Wilson. He continues to bag ex staffers. Pathetic
It would be a huge success Bob if we deemed success on amounts of stories on a b2b site for people in media. But I assume RIM had grander expectations.
Really classy to make a negative public comment on a competitor’s work.
Awareness for the poor execution of a strategy is not the same thing as awareness of the product.
We were pulling stunts like this in London 1995, they usually involved alcohol and were innovative enough to create a positive response for brands with very limited budgets. This stuff however is cringe worthy and misses the point to say the least. On one hand you’ve a 2 hour show on TV last night underlining Apples intrinsic vision of style and function, on the other, a bunch of drop kicks screaming like school kids on a rainy day in Sydney. I’ve no doubt it’s got tongues wagging – and have no doubt that the team at Blackberry will look back at this, in the same way as I look back at photo’s of my bouffant hair in 1987. Heads (and their respective tongues) should roll.
Jonathan Pease strikes again. Witchery now this. As for Wilson making negative comments on Wake Up – wouldn’t think it’s needed.
Apple has 9% of handset market share, RIM less – battle of the light-weights.
Wow, this really is what makes our industry great. jealous much mike? I think your ‘strategy’ is showing!
How on earth can you make fun of the intelligence of your prospective customers and expect to be successful ?
Yes it has received a lot of attention. But not the good kind.
@Me
Apple also has > 90% of the profits from the mobile industry.
Market share is not the most important metric.
Australia is generally a bit pre-digital though, isn’t it?
Oh absolutely, Eurotrash. But we’re hoping that once we get 24 hr power supply and someone can get some post-Amstrad computers into the country that we can be just as good as you. Someone told me about this thing called the Internet but I can’t see anything in my 1968 Encyclopaedia Brittanica about it – I think it may have been a joke!
@Mike
Yes, Apple do. And you don’t earn 90% of the profits by offering value for money.
Apple’s ecosystem is about screwing the faithful for as much money as possible. Anything you can do on an Iphone you can do on something else better, cheaper or for free.
@Me.
You sound like you worked on the campaign.
Telling people that they are being screwed over and are suckers who just need to ‘wake up’ and realise the alternatives has never worked. Ever.
@Mike
Nah, I’m not industry – well, not your industry. (New Media journo, Australian, but make my bucks out of Holland.)
I have an Android handset crippled to hell and back (security), loaded with opensource and ripped content/software. Rarely costs me more than $10 a month and the specs and functionality are far superior to an Iphone4S (with the added bonus of Apple not being able to track my every move, google UDID).
I just hate watching people being conned into paying money for something they don’t need, or don’t need to pay for. But then, maybe your job is to convince them that they do?
Me, you appear to be comparing Apples and Oranges. Forgive the pun.
You also appear to also be falling into the trap that you, your needs and your technical understanding, are anywhere near the mainstream.
And what does your niche Android setup have to do with RIM and their terminal decline?
aah @ eurotrash.. yet another snippet from the legions of FILTH (Failed in London Try Here). Tired of hearing from you twats from the future who grace us with your presence. Roll on post LAHFA life. As for the campaign another over-hyped yawn gimmicky piece of pap that will never be meaningfully measured for it effect
From an outsiders perspective (I am not in the advertising industry), I am still a little confused about this one. I went to the website when there was just a countdown, and really wanted to find out more but there was no info available. I hit the site today and there is just an audio clip and words scrolling on the site. The only other info is on a Facebook page.
Little strange that there is no product info on the site or any links to the RIM site at all. For a person like me that actually wants to know about their new products it seems to be really confusing.
@AdGrunt
Agree with everything you wrote.
Which is why I devote a small amount of time each day trying to educate the mainstream that they don’t need to pay for most of what they pay for.
Disgusts me to read about “bill shock,” which is MSM code for gouging. Apple turned people’s handsets into defacto credit-cards, hid the true costs and laughed their arses off all the way to bank. That’s their successful business model, nothing to do with innovation or service or functionality.