Orchard Advertising wins the BlackBerry business

The brand is all set to get aggressive on the advertising front

Sources close to the development have confirmed to afaqs! that Orchard Advertising has bagged the BlackBerry business. The win is the result of a multi-agency pitch; but the names of the participating agencies could not be ascertained at the time of filing this report.

Starcom MediaVest handles the media duties for the brand.

BlackBerry was launched in 1999 in North America by Research in Motion (RIM) and was brought into India by Airtel.

Thus far, the brand has not been very active on the communication front, but has nonetheless managed to expand seamlessly. Earlier this year, however, the brand created ripples with a TVC that floated the catchphrase, "Do what you love, love what you do". This was the first time that the brand, which otherwise relied on word-of-mouth communication, rolled out a strong advertising message in the TV space.

Then, last month, Vodafone launched a much talked about advertising campaign that attempted to position the BlackBerry as a device not just for uptight corporate honchos, but also for cool youngsters. The campaign was created by Vodafone's creative agency, Ogilvy India.

The current move of bringing Orchard Advertising on-board indicates that the brand is gearing up for some aggressive communication. Educated reasoning would lead one to believe that this move is an effort to further what Vodafone started with its campaign, and alter the way the brand is perceived.

The BlackBerry is no longer only about roping in high-profile consumers belonging to the upper SECs (read BlackBerry Torch, BlackBerry Bold). Rather, it is attempting to reach new consumer segments with affordable variants such as the BlackBerry Curve. Perhaps, future communication strategies would serve to further this push.

It may be noted that RIM has been in the news of late for more than just the expansion of its product portfolio, and consequently, its TG. The company was recently hauled up by the Home Ministry to share encryption keys, in order to address national security issues.