Forget about the UFC. There's a new heavyweight brawl in the making. I'm talking about the on-going smartphone battle between RIM and Apple. In recent days, the rivalry between the competing companies has heated up.
The reality is that Apple is easily winning the profit war over RIM, but RIM has been doing whatever it can to take a bite out of Apple. First, they released the BlackBerry Torch, their effort to offer devoted RIM clients a phone that is designed to compete with the iPhone while still maintaining a full QWERTY keyboard. Now, they are trying to market the PlayBook in an effort to attract corporate iPad users.
However, the two rivals have recently, and publicly, dropped the gloves. The public relations departments at RIM and Apple, and even Steve Jobs & Jim Balsillie, are willing to throw any punches necessary to defeat the other. "I don't see them catching up with us in the foreseeable future," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. He also went on to say that all of RIM's PlayBooks will be dead-on-arrival when they hit the shelves. In response, RIM CEO Jim Balsillie referred to the distorted world of Apple and Jobs himself.
It seems rare to see rival companies debating and throwing jabs so publicly. You never see McDonald's bluntly ripping apart Burger King.
That is all.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
The Do's and (Mostly) Don'ts of Building Fan Loyalty
In most cities, people feel they have a natural obligation to cheer for their home-town team. Consequently, most professional sports teams will do all that they can to ensure that their fans feel appreciated. After all, if you were the president or CEO of a sports team, you would want to go out of your way to build fan loyalty and show appreciation, wouldn't you? Most would agree, but the executives sitting around the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment boardroom table don't.
MLSE's Major League Soccer team, Toronto Football Club - commonly known as TFC - is a young team of just four years of age. However, ticket prices this season were nearly double the ticket prices of year one. Over the last couple years there have been two off-season sporting events that fans could easily do without. First, the Brett Favre annual tear filled retirement press conference followed by the annual Brett Favre tear filled un-retirement press conference. Second, the MLSE off-season announcement of higher TFC ticket prices.
How is it that TFC fans are expected to fork over more cash to see a poor quality team that has no hopes of playing in a playoff game? According to a recent article in the Toronto Star, fans are starting to fall out of love with the TFC. They're starting to feel that they're not appreciated. To quote one disgruntled TFC fan, "...they’re driving us out of the stadium with their ticket-price increases.”
The PR/community relations crew working for TFC certainly have a lot of work to do. Fans are upset, and many current season ticket holders may not renew for the 2011 season unless there are drastic changes. The PR team need to come up with some creative ways in which they can build fan loyalty, and they need to do it quickly.
MLSE's Major League Soccer team, Toronto Football Club - commonly known as TFC - is a young team of just four years of age. However, ticket prices this season were nearly double the ticket prices of year one. Over the last couple years there have been two off-season sporting events that fans could easily do without. First, the Brett Favre annual tear filled retirement press conference followed by the annual Brett Favre tear filled un-retirement press conference. Second, the MLSE off-season announcement of higher TFC ticket prices.
How is it that TFC fans are expected to fork over more cash to see a poor quality team that has no hopes of playing in a playoff game? According to a recent article in the Toronto Star, fans are starting to fall out of love with the TFC. They're starting to feel that they're not appreciated. To quote one disgruntled TFC fan, "...they’re driving us out of the stadium with their ticket-price increases.”
The PR/community relations crew working for TFC certainly have a lot of work to do. Fans are upset, and many current season ticket holders may not renew for the 2011 season unless there are drastic changes. The PR team need to come up with some creative ways in which they can build fan loyalty, and they need to do it quickly.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Branding 101
Over the last two weeks of class, a topic that we've been learning a lot about is branding. Because of my involvement with numerous political campaigns, I started the two week stretch with a slight understanding of how branding works in the world of politics; but I was unsure about the tactics that businesses use to promote and maintain their brand as much as possible. Since the Loyalist PR professors' are better than good, I now have a fairly solid understanding of all the basic aspects of branding.
This past Wednesday we took a class trip to Toronto. Throughout the day we visited Steam Whistle, RBC, and CBC Studios. I was able to see first hand how businesses such as Steam Whistle and RBC have successfuly created and even re-created their brands using some of the strategies that we have discussed in class. The entire day was great, but I don't think I'm alone when I say that I will never forget where The Power of a Dream can take me.
Lastly, I read an interesting article a couple days ago about how mixed messages are damaging Obama's brand. The President, who started his term with a 70% approval rating, ended the month of September with a 45% approval rating. The Democrats blitzed the White House in 2008 with a message of hope and change, but a majority of the independent voters who voted for hope and change feel that the Obama Administration has lost all hope. To date he hasn't accomplished much of what he said he would, he still hasn't done what he said would be his first priority; close Guantanamo. Many independents are already saying that they will not be voting Democrat in 2012, and the Republicans are in line to regain power unless Obama can quickly re-create his brand.
This past Wednesday we took a class trip to Toronto. Throughout the day we visited Steam Whistle, RBC, and CBC Studios. I was able to see first hand how businesses such as Steam Whistle and RBC have successfuly created and even re-created their brands using some of the strategies that we have discussed in class. The entire day was great, but I don't think I'm alone when I say that I will never forget where The Power of a Dream can take me.
Lastly, I read an interesting article a couple days ago about how mixed messages are damaging Obama's brand. The President, who started his term with a 70% approval rating, ended the month of September with a 45% approval rating. The Democrats blitzed the White House in 2008 with a message of hope and change, but a majority of the independent voters who voted for hope and change feel that the Obama Administration has lost all hope. To date he hasn't accomplished much of what he said he would, he still hasn't done what he said would be his first priority; close Guantanamo. Many independents are already saying that they will not be voting Democrat in 2012, and the Republicans are in line to regain power unless Obama can quickly re-create his brand.
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