In late January RIM replaced its co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis with COO Thorsten Heins. As a now-former Blackberry user (I just switched to the HTC Rezound) this news certainly got my attention.

I expected to hear Heins address all the concerns of Blackberry users like frequent “white screen of death” issues, latency and even my chief concern (since I am becoming kind of a nut about this stuff), Blackberry models having some of the highest radiation in the industry.

Instead, the headlines were that Heins believes no major changes were necessary, or as Bloomberg Businessweek put it, RIM is “Staying is the Course”.

Bloomberg’s Peter Burrows and Hugo Miller’s article essentially skewered Heins for this – and used a Blackberry buried in a grave to depict where they really thought RIM is headed. This is about the worst image a PR person wants to see, yet it was no great shock because Heins didn’t say the right things in his interviews. This is a shame because it was his golden opportunity to do so. A new CEO’s first public outing is the chance for him/her to state goals, address challenges, explain the way forward and, ideally, re-shape people’s perceptions.

Had I been on the public relations team counseling Heins I would have told him to accentuate the positive while acknowledging challenges. I’d have counseled him to state the big ones, which would give him a chance to explain the steps the company is taking to tackle problems. Everyone knows RIM has serious issues. It is ridiculous to try to hide them. The trick is to re-frame the discussion while addressing how problems are going to be fixed.

The old adage “honesty is the best policy” may sound a bit old fashioned, but when you are talking about a company like RIM, and the state it’s in, they would have been better served by being open and honest. Unfortunately it is too late for Heins’ public introduction.

Perhaps moving forward RIM will learn from its mistakes and carve out a better public relations outcome. To change perceptions they must publicly acknowledge the obvious – significant products are necessary not only to stave off Apple, but also to stay relevant in the mobile marketplace.

Maybe they’d even win back former customers like me.

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Technorati Tags: RIM Blackberry Public Relations PR

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by Sam Friedman

If you’re a shareholder with Apple, you’re quite happy: shares are up about $30, or 4.3%, since Tim Cook took over as CEO of Apple from the late Steve Jobs. If you’re a fan of the iPhone, you’re in good shape: the iPhone 4S sold over 4 million units in its launch weekend, even without the presence of Jobs. Apple said about 20 million people activated their free iCloud accounts in its first week, a record for mobile software.

Cook has big shoes to fill. People associated Apple computers with Jobs, who along with Steve Wozniak (who actually built Apple I) and “adult supervisor” Ronald Wayne (who later sold his share of Apple stock for $800 and received a total of $2,300 from the whole ordeal-his 10% stake would have made him $22 billion now), designed the first Apple computer in 1976. Although Jobs was exiled from Apple’s management from 1985-199 , he returned with a new vision-to make Apple and its Macintosh computers the most dominant OS on the market. For the next 15 years, Jobs oversaw the rise of Apple from a second-tier program to Bill Gate’s Windows PC giant to the most dominant and wealthy corporation on the planet.

Tim Cook, who has been with Apple since Jobs hired him in 1998, served as Apple CEO briefly in 2004 when Jobs was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He also served a brief stint as CEO in 2009 when Jobs underwent a liver transplant, so it isn’t as if Cook is a stranger to running Apple. The question is: how will he manage Apple’s success following Jobs’s death? Whereas Jobs was visible, and associated with Apple, Cook is described as being more reserved, someone who is laid back and prefers things to be kept in the boardrooms until the final moment. Gartner analyst Michael King is quoted in a CNN story as saying by August 2013, 2 years after Jobs resigned as CEO, his effect on the company will have worn off, and everything after that will be part of the Cook legacy.

Cook has been handed a gifted opportunity as CEO of a corporation even the other 499 Fortune 500 CEOs would love to have. So far, all indications appear to show Cook is prepared to continue the work Jobs did, and not make any bold, radical changes to a winning formula.

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Technorati Tags: Apple, Consumer, iPhone, Mobile, Steve Jobs, Tech, Tim Cook

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In this episode of PRobecast, Renatta Siewert joins me in talking about the idea of voting via smartphone, Disney and YouTube’s $10M deal and social media not being one-size fits all.

Voting with a Smartphone – Did you vote on Election Day? A Mashable writer suggested that many people don’t vote because voting is inconvenient. There’s the time limit, the specific locations as to where you can vote – all these things can often be roadblocks and the reasoning behind people not voting. He suggests the idea that smartphones could change all that. With all the apps available, a secure application could be created allowing people to vote directly from their mobile device. With people now being able to purchase things via their smartphones, why not vote?

Disney’s Deal with YouTube – Disney and YouTube have put together a deal to produce co-branded video content. Disney is trying to attract a bigger audience by teaming up with the video giant. On the other hand, YouTube is trying to better their reputation with parents by teaming up with this family-friendly company. Is this a good move for both players? Will we see more companies trying to partner with YouTube?

Social media: Every Channel Doesn’t Need to be Tapped – An article in PRWeek discusses how when it comes to social media, don’t jump in blindly. Companies need to be strategic as to which forms of social channels they decide to join – and have a plan as to what their ultimate goal is. Having a twitter account that isn’t geared towards your target audience is not going to help your presence. Being on Facebook, but not having any information about your company isn’t going to grow your “like”ers. When it comes to social media, brands need to be smart.

Now it’s time for the PRobecast PR Power Ranking – which is when we go around the room and pick the story that we think ranks the highest PR-wise – meaning any aspects of PR could be the reasoning behind the pick. Is it the story itself, good data that was used, what’s getting the most pickup, was it a good PR move the company made, etc.

This week we chose the Disney/YouTube deal as the story that comes out on top. This deal makes perfect sense for both parties, bettering the images of both parties. Disney needs to expand their audience and seem “cooler,” whereas YouTube wants to better its sometimes explicit image with parents concerned about what their children are viewing.

Who do you think should have won?

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Technorati Tags: Disney and YouTube deal, How to use Social Media, Voting via Smartphone

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