Despite its new CEO promising a renewed focus on marketing, Research In Motion hasn’t been known for effective campaigns of late. The company launched a sizable advertising blitz earlier this year that focused on its new BlackBerry Bold smartphones, but the commercials had no apparent impact on smartphone sales in key markets including the United States. Late last month, RIM and its Australian marketing agency Tongue began a campaign that takes a different approach to raising brand awareness, though it’s one we have seen numerous times in the past: bash Apple and its customers.

Samsung and Apple are tangled in a number of legal battles around the world, and Samsung carried the companies’ squabbles over to a recent advertising campaign that built up to the launch of its supersized smartphone, the Galaxy Note. As such, many thought Samsung was behind a recent guerrilla marketing stunt that saw a bus-load of men and women stage a protest outside an Apple Store in Australia.

After Samsung denied being involved with the stunt amid media backlash, RIM stayed quiet on the matter until a bit of digging revealed that it was indeed responsible for the mock protest.

RIM’s “Wake Up” stunt has now culminated in the launch of a website that continues to target Apple, the iPhone and iPhone owners. The wake up, be bold site states that BlackBerry owners are the type of people who “take action and make things happen.” Taking a shot at Apple’s well-known slogan, RIM goes on to note that BlackBerry users don’t just “think different,” they “do different.”

“It’s a simple choice,” the website continues. “You’re either here to leave your mark and eat opportunity for breakfast or you’re satisfied to just float through life like a cork in the stream.”

RIM gave the world its first glimpse at the next-generation BlackBerry 10 operating system last week during the BlackBerry World conference, though the first smartphone powered by the new platform is not expected to launch until October. In the meantime, the company will continue to push its BlackBerry 7 smartphones.

Research In Motion’s newly appointed chairwoman of board Barbara Stymiest vowed on Thursday that the changes sweeping the struggling smartphone vendor will continue. RIM announced late last month that company co-founders Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis were stepping down from their roles as co-CEOs and co-chairmen of the board following more than a year of investor unrest. Replacing them atop RIM’s management team was Thorsten Heins, and Barbara Stymiest was named chairwoman of the board. Heins got off to a rocky start but promised that more change was coming, and now Stymiest has gone on record making a similar vow that the shake-up at RIM isn’t over. Read on for more.

Investors including Jaguar Financial, one of several firms that had been very vocal leading up to last month’s corporate shuffle, have voiced concerns that with Balsillie and Lazaridis still on RIM’s board, the company hasn’t yet done enough to right the ship. RIM’s new chairwoman argues that RIM is is still a work in progress, and while more change is coming, she appears confident in the company’s new leadership.

“Driving change in an organization means a high-performing board and a high-quality management team,” Stymiest told Bloomberg Businessweek in an interview. “You get those two right and you can drive change quickly and effectively.”

As Heins did during a conference call with investors, Stymiest points to execution as a key area where RIM must focus. ”We can improve on product execution and Thorsten is well-positioned to do that,” she said. Execution is of the utmost importance, of course, as RIM prepares to launch new breed of devices powered by the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. The BlackBerry London is expected to launch late this fall as RIM’s first BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

Stymiest appears confident that RIM can deliver. When asked by Businessweek if she planned to personally invest further in RIM, Stymiest replied, “I’m well exposed to RIM and continue to accumulate.” Former co-CEO and co-chairman Mike Lazaridis said he plans to invest an additional $50 million in RIM stock as a vote of confidence.

Research In Motion released the first set of commercials from its new “Be Bold” advertising campaign on Thursday and while the ads feature new faces, they are nearly identical to the campaign RIM has been running for months. The Waterloo, Ontario-based smartphone vendor was quick to point out that the team of four awkward superheroes that starred in an infographic RIM recently posted were not part of its upcoming advertising blitz, but perhaps they should have been. RIM’s new ads feature BlackBerry devices in real-world situations and they do a good job of showcasing key features like BBM. What the ads are not, however, is different or memorable. RIM’s new CEO Thorsten Heins named the company’s marketing strategy as one of the first orders of business he plans to address in his new role. With an exciting new breed of devices like the BlackBerry London on the horizon, marketing and advertising will be more important than ever for RIM as the company continues struggling to maintain its footing in key markets. A pair of Be Bold ads can be viewed after the break.

Research In Motion’s newly appointed CEO Thorsten Heins said during his first day on the job that hiring a new marketing boss and revamping the company’s marketing strategy was among his first orders of business. If some of us were unsure why finding a new CMO and revamping RIM’s marketing efforts are such a priority, this new campaign should help clear things up. RIM on Monday introduced four new cartoon superheroes who will help the company spread the word about its products. Gogo Girl can save the day with her “brilliant strategy, a smile or a spatula,” Max Stone is “tough, proud and a little wild,” Justin Steele is “always ready to stick up for his friends and Trudy Foreal is “not afraid to call it as she sees it.” We’re not afraid to call it like we see it either, and we sincerely hope this new cartoon superhero campaign dies on the vine. RIM’s super infographic starring The Bold Team follows below.

UPDATE: RIM posted a note to its blog on Tuesday to clarify that The Bold Team is not a part of its new advertising campaign.

[Via Mobilesyrup]

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As 2012 approaches, we thought it would be fun to look back on 2011 one last time and share our biggest stories of the year with you. Here they are in order, from our post popular post of the year to our tenth most popular post:

1. Open letter to BlackBerry bosses: Senior RIM exec tells all as company crumbles around him
2. BlackBerry Messenger will launch on Android and iOS
3. Samsung Galaxy Nexus full specs revealed; Verizon Wireless exclusive
4. BlackBerry Dakota gets pictured; the touch and type BlackBerry you’ve been waiting for
5. Google’s first Ice Cream Sandwich phone to be manufactured by Samsung, possibly dubbed ‘Nexus Prime’
6. Live from Apple’s WWDC 2011 keynote with Steve Jobs
7. Apple testing iPhone for T-Mobile USA
8. Google Nexus 4G detailed – 720p display, 4G LTE, Android 4.0
9. BlackBerry Bold 9900 review
10. Inside RIM: An exclusive look at the rise and fall of the company that made smartphones smart

Have a great and safe New Year.

We’ve just heard from a tipster that the BlackBerry Bold 9790 — think of the BlackBerry 9900 and mash that up with the BlackBerry 9700 — will be launching around the end of November. The device will feature a 2.45-inch 640 x 480-pixel VGA touch display, 8GB of built-in storage and of course, a full QWERTY keyboard. New here is the redesigned (hideous) menu buttons a la BlackBerry Torch 9850. The device was incredibly clean before, but the new buttons ruin it for us. RIM also made the same move with the BlackBerry 9850 before it was released, changing the design from flush buttons to individual physical keys. Additionally, we have been told that RIM’s first major update to OS 7, OS 7.1, will launch later this year. This is expected to be the last OS release from RIM before the company unites its smartphone and tablet operating systems with the BBX platform.

Updated with clearer image.

T-Mobile subscribers who thought $250 was a tough pill to swallow for the BlackBerry Bold 9900 will be none too happy with this morning’s news. T-Mobile on Wednesday finally announced the imminent launch of its Bold 9900 variant, which will become available on August 31st for a whopping $299.99 with a new two-year contract. What’s more, that price is after a $50 mail-in rebate, so subscribers looking to nab the latest flagship out of Waterloo, Ontario will have to part with $350 to do so. Ouch. “T-Mobile is excited to add a BlackBerry smartphone to T-Mobile’s best 4G product lineup ever,” T-Mobile VP of product management Andrew Morrison said in a statement. “With the new BlackBerry Bold 9900, we are offering our socially-active and business-minded customers a powerful device with a unique proposition — the pairing of a nationwide 4G network with the mobile communications efficiency that has become synonymous with BlackBerry smartphones.” T-Mobile’s full press release follows below.

T-Mobile Launches the BlackBerry Bold 9900,
Its First 4G BlackBerry Smartphone

Featuring the new BlackBerry 7 operating system, the smartphone will be T-Mobile’s fastest BlackBerry to date, leveraging a 1.2 GHz processor and America’s Largest 4G Network

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Aug. 17, 2011 — T-Mobile USA, Inc. today announced the upcoming nationwide availability of the first 4G BlackBerry® smartphone to run on America’s Largest 4G Network™ — the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900. Available today in an exclusive pre-sale for T-Mobile business customers and launching nationwide on Aug. 31, the 4G-capable BlackBerry Bold 9900 is the thinnest BlackBerry smartphone ever (at only 10.5mm) and the first to offer the perfect union of a high-performance keyboard and brilliant touch display integrated within the iconic BlackBerry Bold design. Featuring a range of powerful hardware enhancements including a 1.2 GHz processor, Liquid Graphics™ technology 24-bit high-resolution graphics and advanced sensors, the new smartphone is designed to deliver the ultimate in communications, multimedia and productivity.

“T-Mobile is excited to add a BlackBerry smartphone to T-Mobile’s best 4G product lineup ever,” said Andrew Morrison, vice president, product management, T-Mobile USA. “With the new BlackBerry Bold 9900, we are offering our socially-active and business-minded customers a powerful device with a unique proposition — the pairing of a nationwide 4G network with the mobile communications efficiency that has become synonymous with BlackBerry smartphones.”

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 is powered by the new BlackBerry 7 operating system, which introduces a next-generation BlackBerry browser with a significantly faster, more fluid Web browsing experience that is among the best in the industry. Additional enhancements to this next-generation BlackBerry browser have also optimized zooming and panning for smoother Web navigation and optimized HTML5 performance for incredible gaming and video experiences.

“We continue to deliver innovative products for our customers, and we’re excited to offer our first 4G BlackBerry smartphone,” said Femi Lakeru, vice president of business sales, T-Mobile USA. “Since T-Mobile offers 4G speeds in more places than any other wireless broadband network in the U.S., CIOs can trust that the BlackBerry Bold 9900 will give their employees the ultimate combination of speed, productivity and security.”

T-Mobile’s high-speed 4G network continues to expand and is now available in more than 190 markets, reaching more than 200 million people nationwide*. With the addition of the BlackBerry Bold 9900, T-Mobile now offers a wide variety of 4G devices including smartphones, tablets, laptop sticks, a netbook and a mobile hotspot. Running on America’s Largest 4G Network, the BlackBerry Bold 9900 helps make life truly mobile — all at 4G speeds. Whether accessing email, sending an invoice, getting directions or uploading photos, T-Mobile customers stay connected and informed virtually anywhere life takes them.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 smartphone continues the tradition of delivering a leading mobile communications experience with a highly refined and integrated suite of phone, email, messaging and social apps to keep users connected and productive throughout the day. Recent enhancements include the newest release of BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger), and an updated Social Feeds (2.0) app. The new Facebook® for BlackBerry smartphones (2.0) app introduces features like Facebook chat and BBM integration that make it easier for users to connect with their Facebook friends in real time.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 is also the first device to come preloaded with T-Mobile’s new MobileLife® Family Organizer application. Powered by Cozi, MobileLife Family Organizer makes managing families’ busy schedules easier with centralized calendars, shopping lists, to-do lists, and family journals that allow family members to share updates with each other on the go. Calendar reminders can be sent by text or email allowing customers to avoid missing their kids’ soccer practice or an important shared appointment. More information about MobileLife Family Organizer can be found at http://www.t-mobile.com/calendar.

Availability

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 is expected to be available in an exclusive pre-sale for T-Mobile business customers beginning today, Aug. 17. The smartphone is expected to be available at T-Mobile retail stores and at select dealers and national retailers nationwide starting Aug. 31. For more information about T-Mobile products and services, please visit http://www.t-mobile.com.

T-Mobile’s 4G network has expanded to additional markets, including Atlantic City, N.J., and  Florence, Ala. A complete list of all the markets where T-Mobile’s 4G network is live can be found at http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/articles/4g-fact-sheet.

For more information about T-Mobile’s 4G products, please visit http://www.t-mobile.com.

*T-Mobile’s HSPA+ 4G network not available everywhere

We first saw the BlackBerry Bold 9900 during BlackBerry World earlier this year, but we figured we’d bring you a fresh new look since we’re up in Toronto checking out the release version. We’re loving the thin design just as much as the first time we saw it, and it’s definitely the most elegant BlackBerry Bold to date. The metal bezel gives it a premium feel that will be right at home in an executive’s hands — or a BlackBerry die-hard’s hands — and we also appreciate the extra power under the hood for moving around RIM’s new BlackBerry 7 operating system quickly and smoothly. AT&T said that it will carry the BlackBerry Bold 9900 beginning later this month, so ahead of our full review, be sure to check out our hands-on gallery below.

Research In Motion on Tuesday announced a major milestone for its on-device software portal BlackBerry App World: 1 billion downloads served. ”The BlackBerry App World storefront launched a little over two years ago, and over that time, we’ve made many feature improvements, enhanced the look and feel, and added a ton of compelling apps,” RIM’s Alex Kinsella wrote on the company’s blog. “BlackBerry App World is now in over 100 countries, seeing an average of 3 million downloads per day, and we recently crossed the 1 billion app download milestone!” While the achievement is still impressive, RIM did confirm to BGR that the 1 billion figure includes application updates, however, and not just initial application downloads.

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Research In Motion on Thursday announced some serious heat in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region — the BlackBerry maker said it recently added more than a million new subscribers in less than three weeks. ”BlackBerry continues momentum across EMEA with 1 Million+ new subscribers added in less than 3 weeks,” RIM posted from its Twitter account. RIM no longer includes subscriber additions or totals in its quarterly earnings reports, but when it last did in the three-month period ending November 2010, the vendor had netted more than 5 million new subscribers for a total of just over 55 million. Last quarter, RIM said it shipped 13.2 million BlackBerry smartphones and 500,000 PlayBook tablets despite a very difficult quarter.

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BlackBerry fans on Bell won’t have to wait long for a new Torch, Bold, or Curve. TechFIBE picked up some leaked documentation that suggests the carrier will sell the new phones — which we leaked in April — in just a few months. Specifically, Bell will launch the BlackBerry Torch 9810, BlackBerry Bold 9900, and the full-touchscreen BlackBerry Torch 9860 in late August, followed by the BlackBerry Curve 9360 launch in September. BGR reported this past May that the Monaco 9850 and Monza 9860 could launch under a new “Volt” banner or the BlackBerry Torch brand, and according to this document it looks like RIM may have gone with the latter. Bell also confirms what we already knew: that the Torch 9810, Bold 9900, and Torch 9860 will all offer 1.2GHz processors, while the Curve 9360 will be powered by a slower 800MHz chip.

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Sprint will have a busy third quarter as it preps a number of new handsets. According to Thisismynext, the carrier will launch the Samsung Epic 2, the BlackBerry Bold 9930, and a new “full touch 4G” device from Samsung. The Epic 2 will sport a 1.2GHz processor, a 4-inch display, and an 8-megapixel camera. Given Samsung’s recent introduction of the Infuse 4G on AT&T and DROID Charge on Verizon, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the Epic 2 offer the same Super AMOLED Plus display as those handsets. Sprint is expected to launch a new “full touch” Samsung “Galaxy Within” device in the quarter as well, and we’re hoping it’s the Sprint version of the Korean firm’s new ultra-high end dual-core packing Galaxy S II handset. The carrier’s also planning to introduce a global-roaming version of the BlackBerry Bold 9930, which we leaked before RIM took the wraps off of it during its annual BlackBerry World conference in March. On the same note, Sprint may introduce a new “push-to-talk BlackBerry,” but it’s unclear what the name will be. Lastly, the carrier may launch new Kyocera/Sanyo phones according to the report, although there’s no word on what those devices will offer.

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Following first-quarter earnings that sent investors and the media into a tizzy, analyst coverage of RIM has been fairly monotone. The consensus? The company is doomed. Sure, there’s been an odd half-hearted vote of confidence here and there, but the majority of analyst coverage we’ve seen has been negative and investors are exiting en masse. In a 45-page report published last Tuesday, however, analysts at Macquarie Capital Markets paint a different picture of RIM’s business. Despite product delays and declining market share, the firm issued an Outperform rating and set a 12-month target on shares of RIM stock at $40. Read on to find out why.

Macquarie writes that while RIM took a beating in the key North American market last quarter, the company’s international performance in the fiscal first quarter grew 86% from the same quarter a year earlier. The firm sees continued success for RIM in several markets, citing a variety of advantages including lower handset costs and subsidies for BlackBerry devices versus the competition, a reluctance to push the iPhone in numerous markets for fear of cannibalizing texting revenue, and even spectrum and network capacity restraints at international carriers that spur the need for devices with minimal data consumption — an area where BlackBerry phones shine.

“Buyside and sellside capitulation creates an opportunity for long-term value investors to own a high quality tech name at a compelling valuation,” Macquarie’s report reads. It continues, “We believe comparisons to Nokia or Nortel are unfounded. Device revenue outside of North America should grow 81% y/y in Q2, led by Indonesia, Thailand and Latin America. We expect, even with international device revenue slowing to just 3.6% in F13, which could prove overly bearish, services growth will continue. The company should exit the year with $3.4bln of cash (after buyback) and no debt, despite the shortfall in earnings.”

Macquarie sees RIM’s enterprise business and the company’s growth in international markets as having the potential to carry the company forward for longer than other firms expect. ”RIM’s numerous challenges have been well documented in recent downgrades, earnings reports and press articles: delayed product launches, insufficient and misallocated R&D, poor management reaction to changing industry trends, subpar communication with investors, strengthening competition, falling ASPs, and ineffective CEO and Board structure ring the loudest,” Macquarie’s report notes. “We view these risks, both self-inflicted and structural, as formidable but not yet insurmountable. We believe that RIM’s international business and its software and services segments have a longer tail than many shareholders expect and that current share prices already imply negative value for the US device and tablet businesses.”

With 12.9% of the global smartphone market last quarter according to Gartner, RIM is still the No. 3 smartphone vendor in the world behind Nokia (25.5%) and Apple (16.8%). RIM is also the No. 3 smartphone vendor in North America behind Apple (27.1%) and HTC (18.6%), though the firm’s share has plummeted from 41.3% in the first quarter of 2010 to 16.5% last quarter.

Following RIM’s first-quarter earnings release on Thursday, the company’s sixth-biggest investor confirmed that it is giving up on the Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry maker. “They are resting on their laurels,” said Stephen Jarislowsky, chairman of Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd., on Friday in an interview with Bloomberg. “Steve Jobs is a much better marketer than RIM,” Jarislowsky added. ”We are on the way out. The stake has been reduced by more than 50% or even more.” As of the end of the first quarter, Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd. owned 10.2 million shares of RIM stock. Earlier on Friday, RBC Capital Markets said RIM still has some fight left in it. Sadly for RIM in this instance, it looks like not everyone agrees.

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BlackBerry fans will just have to keep waiting for the company’s latest and greatest handset. We have confirmed with multiple sources that the BlackBerry Bold 9900 won’t be launching until September globally. While an announcement at BlackBerry World was inevitable, it still hurts to see RIM struggle to get devices out the door swiftly. RIM announced that the BlackBerry Bold 9900 would be available in the “summer” from carrier’s globally when the product was unveiled at BlackBerry World.

P.S. We have heard RIM might have one more major OS release in the cards, possibly BlackBerry OS 7.5, before the launch of QNX on smartphones.