Yet BlackBerry isn't surrendering. In October, BBM was opened up
to Android and iOS, spurring 10 million downloads in one day,
according to BlackBerry. A month later, the company launched BBM
Channels, a social platform for individual users and companies
built within the messaging application. Brands like Rolling Stone, Virgin Atlantic and
MercedesAMGPetronas, the F1 racing team, added their own channels,
which BBM subscribers can sign up to follow.
Next week BlackBerry plans to introduce two new marketing
features in a bid to make BBM a cash cow: sponsored content and a
virtual goods store that opens with branded "stickers" for users to
share. They could be a harbinger of how other messaging apps will
attempt to monetize. And it may be the last hurrah for
BlackBerry---who has seen
an exodus of executive leadership,
serious cutbacks, and
waves of acquisition rumors---to resuscitate itself.
Ad Age spoke with David Proulx, senior director of business
development for BBM. Excerpts:
Ad Age: What is your strategy behind BBM
Channels?
David Proulx: Media consumption is moving to
mobile---we all know that; we all acknowledge that. The investment
in the medium from marketers has lagged, because it's hard.
Traditional forms don't really work.
SMS is still a very viable marketing tool, but SMS is by nature
lo-fi. And it's very economically upside-down, because you're
paying a carrier to traffic it. But SMS is cool because it supports
the thesis that messaging and communication are core to the mobile
experience. If you're going to reach somebody on their phone, if
you can get them inside that communication experience in a way that
is non-intrusive, you're going to win.
The other approach is to build apps. Consumer-product brands:
they're all building apps today, because they've been indoctrinated
that that's the way to get a rich consumer experience on mobile.
But it's really expensive. You've got to build multiple apps for
multiple platforms; you've got to figure out how you keep that
message 'on-brand.' Assuming you get that right, you've now got the discovery
and engagemnet part---being buried out in the long-tail of the app
store, along with the other 90% of apps that never get downloaded
at all.
So, looking at those three options---SMS, messaging, as well as
building apps for a brand---we've sort of tried to marry the best
element of all of that inside of BBM Channels. It gives you a
branded inbox on the device.
Ad Age: What do the new advertising tools
within BBM mean for marketers?
Mr. Proulx: Everything we've described is part
of the organic experience. You're getting an application built
inside BBM. So you don't have to worry about driving a download.
You don't have to worry about building the application
yourself.
It's all native. No banners to be seen. Each of the units is
expendable.
Ad Age: Will you have similar mobile ad rates
to Facebook?
Mr. Proulx: Not necessarily, no. We're not
benchmarking solely off Facebook or Twitter, but we acknowledge
that there's a market we're participating in. Right now, we're
taking the product to market. We're bringing advertisers in. It's
about how to accurately reflect value.
Ad Age: You have a
fairly extensive user base in developing countries, like Indonesia
and Nigeria. What does that mean for advertisers?
Mr. Proulx: It's a pretty cool opportunity for
a marketer. You could look at the developed world and say, Well,
I've got a whole bunch of digital and mobile enagement platforms.
What about the next billion? And in places like Asia-Pacific,
Middle East, Africa, where BBM is really, really strong, our
proposition to a marketer focused on those markets is: Here's not
just another mobile channel, but here's maybe the only digital
channel. And where the audience is dense enough, you've got near
ubiquitous reach.
Ad Age: Jan Kuom, the CEO of WhatsApp, has
pledged an ad won't run on his company's product. Can ads work
on social messaging apps?
Mr. Proulx: It's important to distinguish
between the core messaging utility with an app like BBM or WhatsApp
(which we fully agree should never be compromised by an ad) and an
experience like BBM Channels, where we're providing a vehicle for
users to find new and engaging content that they can discuss with
other BBM subscribrers. And we provide marketers or brands the
vehicle to reach those users in a way that is non-intrusive.
