Keith Pardy, the head of marketing for Research In Motion will be leaving the company in six months for personal reasons. This makes us wonder what changes will take place, if any, and is this a good or bad thing for RIM? They will soon launch their Blackberry Playbook tablet so this notice of resignation comes as a huge surprise to RIM right before the launch.
Sources point out that the BlackBerry brand, which was once equal with Apple’s has recently withered while being under Pardy’s stewardship, according to a January ranking from Brand Keys consultancy.
“The brand’s been losing resonance over the past few years. It does not have the brand cachet to engage consumers the way an iPhone does,” Brand Keys president Robert Passikoff said.
RIM has consistently announced the PlayBook, keeping it fresh in our minds but also took their time to announce release dates or even pricing. While RIM’s still teasing us, Apple has already announced and released a second generation iPad since the Playbook was announced back in September. The iPad 2 will be shipping later this month, maybe even before the PlayBook. Come on RIM, speed up!
Nobody is saying Pardy’s departure will in fact have an impact on the success of the PlayBook and we hope it doesn’t. He was very experienced in marketing and hopefully already had the plan laid out for the PlayBooks success.
Whether it hurts the Playbook or not, I’m more concerned with RIM as a company. Marketing does play a big roll in your success and spreading the word. If they haven’t been doing such a good job lately, what will they do to change it? Do you think this will hurt RIM or make them work harder to succeed? Let us know what you think in the comments box below.
Source: Reuters