“Canadians Love A Great Comeback” in Full Newspaper Page Ads Across Canada
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) rolled out a marketing campaign for the upcoming Passport launch which is expected to take place on September 24th in Toronto, London and Dubai.
The full page ad run was across Canada in many Canadian newspapers lead by the Globe and mail. The ad, with Canadian colors, says “Canadians Love A Great Comeback” in big font size and reveals the a message that BlackBerry is back and moving forward with emphasis on business, security and productivity:
“At BlackBerry, we’re proud of our Canadian heritage. It’s what drives us to continuously push security and productivity boundaries, allowing those with unstoppable energy to work smarter, collaborate better and accomplish more. The soon-to-be-released BlackBerry Passport is further proof of our commitment to serious mobility for serious business.”
Seems marketing, which we haven’t seen much from the Canadian Smartphone maker, now comes at the right time after John Chen worked his magic to turn things around. He has brought costs down by initiating budget and employee cuts and made BlackBerry more streamlined.
In an internal memo, BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)’s CEO declared end of restructuring “We have completed the restructuring notification process, and the work force reduction that began three years ago is now behind us,”.
That gave way for the recruitment process to start rolling: “More importantly, barring any unexpected downturns in the market, we will be adding headcount in certain areas such as product development, sales and customer service, beginning in modest numbers.” Chen said in the memo.
No Passport Launch Event in the U.S. Yet
The official unveiling of the Passport is just around the corner on September 24th in Toronto, London and Dubai, however BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) will not hoist any launch event in the U.S. for the time being. Some reports around the Internet suggest the launch date in the United States will be in November, others put it as far ahead as February 2015. Obviously there are reasons why BlackBerry chose not to launch in the U.S. at this time. Some of those reasons could be that the device is not yet ready for the U.S. carriers and market.
When BlackBerry launched the Z30, the chosen country for first launch was Malaysia due to the growing subscriber base. It was later launched in the U.S. in mid-November.
The BlackBerry Passport is expected to carry a price tag of $700 US dollars or somewhere around there. The gold and premium versions of the Passport will definitely carry a higher price tag. See full specs of the BlackBerry Passport at N4BB.
Please check back soon, I’m researching a new article on whether BlackBerry will be profitable in 2016 and its leadership position in the Internet of Things.
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