Rim Loses Marketing Chief

RIM Loses Marketing Chief

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) announced that its chief marketing officer Keith Pardy, has decided to leave the company. This happens weeks before one of the most significant products rollouts in years for the company.

The implications are huge since Mr. Pardy was hired in early 2009 to manage the pressure of losing share to Apple’s iPhone and other devices that run on Google’s Android operating system.

According to Jack Gold, principal at J. Gold Associates, a technology consultant firm, RIM had never been a strong marketing company in part because their products and system sold easily and they never had the need to be strong in marketing.

Perhaps Mr. Pardy’s move is a consequence that many mobile market-watchers agree that RIM’s PlayBook tablet will not remake the company as their usual corporate-workhorse, the BlackBerry phones. Instead, critics say that the PlayBook has suffered ever since it was announced last year from confusion over whom it is supposed to appeal to and what market it will satisfy.

The product’s target might not be clear. On one side, the company stresses that the PlayBook is very useful to businesses and it will be potentially popular among corporate technology officers. On the other hand, the company also shows off the tablet’s ability to play video games and watch movies.

RIM’s BlackBerry phones are still selling strong overseas, but competition is exerting huge pressure. Now in addition to the current market situation, its chief marketing officer resigns. What the company does in the months ahead will be worth studying.