Let’s look at the lessons from Research in Motion’s recent struggles:

RIM didn’t build on its strengths. People came to RIM for smart phones, but the company basically stopped developing them In order to concentrate on developing its disastrous Playbook tablet. In doing so, it lost smart phone customers to countless competitors, and angered buyers of its tablet because the product was so poor.

RIM doesn’t know who its customer is. Is it the consumer or the corporate customer? Not only does the company not know, but the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that there has been ongoing conflict about this question among two internal camps. If you don’t know who your customer is, you cannot possibly market effectively.

In turn, RIM stopped marketing. A week without marketing is too long. RIM has gone a year or longer without talking to consumers on a large scale about its smart phones.

So: Build on strengths, don’t try to develop weaknesses (RIM was not a tablet company!). Understand precisely who your customer is. And always keep talking to them. Never stop marketing.

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