A t-shirt emblazoned with the “BlackBerry by choice” slogan

“Marketing 101 dictates that you generally don’t point out your own product’s shortcomings in your own advertising.” One would assume that this would be instinctive to marketers hired to fix image problems of well-established companies. Yet, as Peter Nowak points out in a recent blog post, RIM’s “BlackBerry by choice” campaign (introduced as a response to the suggestion that people only use BlackBerrys if forced to by employers) is indeed fixating on the negatives of the product rather than any positives. As Nowak states, “saying that users are there ‘by choice’ highlights a sort of defiance against something many find more desirable,” and “proclaiming that you’ve chosen something that isn’t very popular also highlights the fact that there may be reasons for why it isn’t popular in the first place.” I agree that “by choice” is a poor slogan for any product; it begs the question, “What’s wrong with it?” It is implied that some people are beingforced to buy or use it.

I recommend Nowak’s blog post to those new to the subject of marketing. The post is a fun, easy read yet provides thought-provoking insights on how to be successful in the world of marketing.