BlackBerry has launched a series of mobile ‘takeover’ ads in support of its Z10 smartphone, released in the U.S. on March 22. The ads first appear as display ad banners on websites or in-app ads, but when clicked they transform the consumer’s phone into a demo of the BB10 operating system.
“Let’s say you’re exposed to a BlackBerry 10 link,” BlackBerry chief marketing officer Frank Boulben told Mashable, “You click on it and it will take over your screen and, for instance, show you the BlackBerry 10 keyboard and at the end ask ‘Does your smartphone do that? If not, visit blackberry10.com.’”
The ads show off BB10 features like Time Shift, a camera function that lets users select one frame from a series, in case someone blinked or sneezed, and its touch keypad with a typing challenge designed to compare the BB10 typing experience to the one on the consumer’s phone.
At a pre-launch event in Austin, Texas, Rob Glen, BlackBerry’s senior director of brand marketing, told Marketing the company is targeting consumers outside of its traditional stronghold in the business sector, a strategy that aligns with the new ads targeting Android and iPhone users. Glen also said the company’s early sales data from its partners shows consumers are switching to the Z10 from Android and BlackBerry at an equal rate.
BlackBerry’s Keep Moving campaign launched at the Super Bowl (with an ad that failed to impress Marketing readers) after months of PR preparation, including improving developer relations and seeding the phone with influential tech personalities.
Though BlackBerry posted big numbers on its first day of sales in the U.K. and Canada (it sold more Z10s on day one of its release in Canada than any device in BlackBerry’s history –though sales were undoubtedly encouraged by BlackBerry loyalists who had long been waiting for a new device), early signs point to a more lackluster debut in the U.S., a market that’s considered vital to the company’s success.
The Financial Post reported Monday that several analysts have cut their ratings for the company due to low levels of inventory at U.S. stores, noting that many called BlackBerry’s U.S. launch a “disappointment.”
On Thursday BlackBerry will announce its fourth quarter earnings, revealing how well the Z10 sold following its Canadian and European launch and how aggressive an approach it will have to take with the Keep Moving campaign going forward.
Here’s the brand spot BlackBerry used to promote the Z10 in Canada and has continued to use throughout the U.S. launch. Another TV spot is expected soon, though BlackBerry has not confirmed a date.
And the less successful Super Bowl spot.
