Did You Know?: Alicia Keys Is Now Creative Director For BlackBerry

RIM’s latest effort to revive its brand has led them to bring on Alicia Keys as BlackBerry’s Global Creative Director. CEO Thorsten Heins revealed the news at the launch event for BlackBerry 10 in New York on January 30th. Information which is still unknown to many. Now that Alicia Keys has been named BlackBerry’s Global Creative Director, what will change?

Whether or not RIM can pull off a comeback with BlackBerry 10 is still debatable. The move to bring on a pop superstar is eerily similar to Will.i.am becoming Director of Creative Innovation at Intel in 2011. Will this sort of strategy make an impact?

Shift In RIM’s Strategy

According to the official press release, “We are excited she will be bringing to us her enormous capabilities, as well as a vast network of relationships in the entertainment, social media and business communities, to help shape our brand and grow our business.” 

I see this as a monumental shift in RIM’s target audience to consumers in contrast to the enterprise market they have traditionally catered to in the past. They didn’t bring Keys on to sell BlackBerry 10′s to enterprises. It’s a clearly presented strategic shift that will help them tap into the fan base of Alicia Keys and other celebrities she networks with.

In terms of marketing, this may work well. My question is, what is Alicia Keys actual contribution to the creative direction of the company? What will she actually bring to the table?

Alicia Keys New Role

Alicia’s new role will involve working with app developers, retailers and those in the entertainment community to reshape the brand. I would expect to see her in a handful of commercials, billboards and advertisements. I’m a little skeptical about what her hands-on contributions will be to the creative direction and vision of BlackBerry. Only time can tell.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this relationship becomes similar to that of Jay-Z and the Brooklyn Nets. Jay-Z has put himself out there as the celebrity owner of the franchise even though he only owns 1% of the franchise, according to The New York Times. Despite this the Nets have earned a larger following and a growing presence as a result of their partnership.

Expect to see this same sort of relationship between Alicia Keys and BlackBerry. Keys may not be involved in the every day minutia of things but she can leverage her fan base and utilize those powerful celebrity relationships. That would in turn help build a buzz, which is a win for BlackBerry.

RIM has also released this video entitled, The Keep Moving Projects with BlackBerry 10 to help kick off its re-branding efforts. Only time will tell if RIM can turn things around this time.

Has BlackBerry missed the boat on smart phones or does this mark a turn around?