For the past two years, the blogosphere has been singing a dirge about the ever-approaching death of the former king of smartphones, Research in Motion. Back in the early 2000’s, before the juggernaut of the iPhone, the BlackBerry was the phone that you had to have. It had amazing features like e-mail and text messaging! It was like holding the future in your hand!
Of course, after the iPhone emerged in 2007 in all of its touch-based glory, the BlackBerry’s physical keyboard seemed more adorable and quaint than futuristic. Fast forward to 2012, Research in Motion’s stock was on a constant slide, layoffs were cutting deep, and there was a lot of leadership change. Many begin to believe that the blood was in the water, myself included.
Now, RIM has announced that its rebranding its company as “BlackBerry,” adopting the name of its once-great flagship product.
The Problem: Why?
What’s my problem with this? My problem is the reason behind it. Why change your name, RIM? Is it because you’re desperate for anything that might jumpstart your company? Yes, I’ve heard some good things about BB10—their new OS—but if the outlook was so positive, why not wait until you were on the ascendency?
When a company changes their name in the midst or just after a serious slide in size, market share, and popularity, a name change just looks desperate.
What Does This Have to Do With The Church?
When I was in junior high, a church in my town changed its name. Why? If I understand it correctly, people were frustrate, the church wasn’t growing, and the pastor was feeling the pressure. Even if those people in that church would have balked my using the word “desperate,” I would have to persist because it wasn’t too long after the rebranding that the pastor left and the church was about to fold. When the church changed its name, no one mistook the change as one borne out of ascendency. It was seen as something done to promote growth, something borne out of a quasi-desperation.
Fast forward a few years, my church wasn’t growing per se, but we were ramping up toward growth. At the same time, this other church had hired a new pastor and was making some good steps toward rebounding. Fast forward just one more year and our churches were merging. This time, when the merged churched was rebranded, it was a sign of new life, growth, and unity.
Rebranding can be an effective way to bury the past and look toward the future, but as with most things, timing is important. In this case, I think that RIM Blackberry should have waited a bit longer: “BlackBerry” isn’t ripe yet.
[via Cult of Mac]
Brian says
I agree. i’ve been in two different churches that have closed down. Mostly, this was due to a lack of vision. The last one at least closed down before they did a desperation name change. They said they were going through a re-visioning process, but seems like everyone felt like they were forced to go through the process. The church could have been saved, but then again, the leaders were just tired of leading and decided to close the building down.
Phil Schneider says
Sorry that you’ve seen so much ill-health in your church experience. I hope you’ve found a healthy body to belong to.
Chris Ames says
Great comparison, Phil!
Phil Schneider says
Thanks, Chris.
Graham says
Disclaimer: I work for BlackBerry, and these are my own opinions.
How many people have heard of “Research In Motion” or “RIM” compared to BlackBerry? I know from my experience, if I say “I work for RIM”, people generally have no idea who I’m talking about. If I say “I work for BlackBerry”, there’s recognition, and none of the explanation and questions as to why I didn’t just say I worked for BlackBerry in the first place. Only those in the technology sphere know who RIM are – the rest of the world has no idea. Is that desperation or clarification?
Phil Schneider says
I completely agree with you, and honestly, it’s a great name change. My point, in the end, that it’s all about timing. This change should have taken place when RIM was at its peak in 2006/2007. By doing it now, it just makes the company look like their trying to generate growth/positive feelings. The same goes for this gimmick with Alicia Keys. It just rings hollow.
I have nothing against BlackBerry or their products. I totally wanted one…in 2007.