The Blackberry’s recent introduction as a new Classic model offers food for thought and potential lessons about going back to basics during a company turnaround.
The new Blackberry Classic, a mobile telecommunications device, goes back to basics in that it targets Blackberry’s traditional market of corporate users. The Classic has a keyboard, a feature associated with Blackberry’s roots in its past days of glory. Yet, it is a feature some customers have indicated that they want. The Classic also offers good security, which is something Blackberry has been known for and its corporate markets value. And, the value of Blackberry has been enhanced now that the media is crediting Blackberry as a savior in the recent hacking attack at Sony.
Before the media crowned Blackberry as a rescuer of Sony, some early press about the new Blackberry Classic had portrayed it favorably. Yet, skepticism had also been expressed about the success potential of the new Classic–with its tiny keyboard and small screen, it may seem out of sync with today’s latest technology. Predicting how well the Blackberry Classic model will perform in the marketplace is beyond the scope of this blog post. But, even without trying to assess how well the newly introduced Classic will do, there are some important points here that offer lessons about dealing with disruptive change.
As markets change, it is ever so important to take a good, hard look at the basics. It is crucial to evaluate whether and how those basics can continue to play a key role. If the basics include features associated with older technology–such as the Blackberry’s keyboard, for example–it is important to evaluate whether or not those basics associated with older technology still offer an advantage in the marketplace.
This does not mean denying the realities if changes in the market are truly making a company’s products obsolete. And, in less dire situations, it does not mean ignoring the fact that changing conditions are slowly eating away at the business. These kinds of realities must be addressed.
Still, looking at the basics is generally a good early step when dealing with a changing marketplace. If the basics offer an advantage, the company needs to reap the benefits of that advantage. This allows the company to move forward from a position of strength. And, moving forward from a position of strength is far better than trying to compete in areas of weakness. This does not rule out ultimately developing new strengths. But, it lets a company move forward in a productive way where building upon strengths can ultimately pave the way to a more prosperous future.
Blackberry appears to be doing this. Blackberry faced a dire turnaround situation, so it is too soon to say if their future will be prosperous. But, they identified strengths from their roots, and are offering the new Classic model, which focuses on those strengths. Their strengths in security can be appealing since security breaches have affected major companies, and impressions created in the media have portrayed Blackberry as a rescuer after Sony was hacked. Blackberry is also working to build the software side of the business, which will continue to focus upon their strong heritage with their corporate customers. And, while focusing on those customers, the company will also take its software business into newer high growth areas. Unlike many companies that attempt shifts into new growth markets, however, Blackberry appears to recognize the importance of moving forward with the new without throwing away the advantages of the old.
Regardless of how well Blackberry ultimately does, this approach follows a framework that generally gets far better results than ignoring the basics and going off in new, often unrelated, directions. So, an important takeaway is: when markets are changing, evaluating the basics and building on those basics–steps that Blackberry seems to be taking—can point a company in the direction for future success.
