5 Ways BlackBerry could turnaround its business.

The following is an excerpt from an ABC News article that quotes visiting marketing professor Brett Robinson on how the BlackBerry could turnaround its business. To read the entire article visit: BlackBerry could turnaround its business.


Can a group of investors turn around BlackBerry?

On Monday, BlackBerry announced a tentative agreement to be purchased and turned private by an investment group called Fairfax Financial.

The proposed purchase price of $4.7 billion values the business at zero because it's roughly the value of BlackBerry's cash and its patents, according to Brian Colello, analyst with Morningstar.

....

Here are five ways BlackBerry might be able to turn around its business:

Sell Security

Colello said BlackBerry's core base has been corporations and governments, but the company still faces cutthroat competition in that space.

"They've seen a decline in sales to those customers in the past few years as companies shift to a 'bring your own device' model," he said. "BlackBerry has a history of doing well there but competition has eroded BlackBerry's market share with this customer base. They'll fight to win that share back, but we still think that's an uphill battle."

Brett Robinson, University of Notre Dame visiting professor of marketing, said, "This narrows BlackBerry's sweet spot to those companies that have very specific security needs. They will need to own this segment in a way that Android, Apple and Microsoft have not."

Robinson added that the company needs to convince potential customers about the need for security.

"BlackBerry needs to tell a compelling story about the vital importance of data and messaging security at the enterprise and government level," he said. "This narrative should resonate given the spate of information leaks that have plagued the federal government."

/news_and_events/news_articles/article/13384/5-ways-blackberry-could-turnaround-its-business