Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Research in Motion used to be the most corporate-centered smartphone company in the world, catering primarily to people in three-piece suits who had to look like they were busy all the time. Times have changed and now you want to be hip, cool, and connected. So, RIM is apparently revamping its company image.

Say hello to the four new mascots for Research in Motion, a group of four cartoon superheroes who are daring you to be “be bold” for 2012. This looks like it’s more in line with the Saturday morning cartoon crowd than it is with the financial blokes on Wall Street. The four cartoon characters are meant to embody four types of BlackBerry users.

GoGo Girl is the achiever, “saving the day with a brilliant strategy, a smile or a spatula.” Justin Steele is the advocate, “always ready to stick up for his friends.” Trudy Foreal is the authentic, “not afraid to call it as she sees it.” And Max Stone is the adventurer, “able to jump out of a plane.” RIM held an informal survey to see how their users broke down and 31% self-identified as achievers, followed by 27% adventurers, 24% advocates, and 18% authentics.

I guess it’s good that RIM is going in a bold new direction, since the old direction was heading straight to the poor house, but I’m not sure this almost kid-centric approach is really what they should be doing.

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This big marketing push will take on many approaches, including everything from simple awareness campaigns to incentives for retailers to push Windows Phone devices. There are reports that sales guys could get as much as $10 to $15 per handset sold. The money comes from Microsoft, as well as partners like Nokia and Samsung, and it’s reportedly going to all be spent in “early 2012.” The Nokia Ace from AT&T, in particular, will be getting a “concerted advertising push.”

It’s clear that Android and iOS are the elephants in the room when it comes to smartphone platforms, since only 5.2% of all smartphone subscribers are using Microsoft’s mobile OS. If you thought you were sick of the “To the Cloud” campaign, you’re about to get really sick of Windows Phone… but at least more of the general population will even know of its existence.

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We spotted this on a Toronto subway, the ad shows a young couple at a coffee joint, happily enjoying their Sony Vaio laptop. They stand out from the crowd, because they are the only human characters in the image. The rest of the folks at the coffee joint are blank-faced marionettes using what appear to be aluminum unibody notebooks.

Yes, none of those other laptops have the Apple logo on them, but it looks quite clear that the MacBook-ness is heavily implied. We can safely conclude that Sony is saying the Mac users are just puppets who have no personality of their own. Indeed, the tagline for the ad is “Stand Apart.”

The Sony VAIO line has always pushed its stylishness and this almost coy anti-Apple campaign is no exception.

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Well, that’s one way to get some attention. The launch of the iPhone 4S at the Apple Store in Sydney is going to be the first place in the world where people will be able to buy the new smartphone, but Samsung is looking to steal some of that thunder. You see, they ambushed the event by setting up a temporary “pop up” store just a few shops over. And they’re selling smartphones for two bucks.

To counter the droves of people lining up outside the Apple Store, Samsung is encouraging an equal number of people to camp outside this temporary store. That’s because the first ten people each day at the temporary Samsung store can buy the Galaxy S II for just two bucks. This is a $600+ smartphone for two dollars. Two!

And depending on who you ask, the Samsung Galaxy S II is a superior phone to the iPhone 4S. Yes, there are still going to be people who would rather still line up and pay full price for Siri and the new iPhone, but this is a clever marketing ploy by Samsung. And it looks to be working better than the double-sized Microsoft Stores being set up next to Apple Stores. If it was just a pop-up store, no one would care, but the $2 high-end superphone is a clear draw for sure.

Check out the video on SMH.com.au.

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LG’s marketing is tasteless to say the least. They release a video for the newly announced Optimus Pad, aka G-Slate, with a simulated “Spec Fighter” video game challenging what clearly resembles Apple CEO Steve Jobs and the iPad, not so cleverly renamed to the A-Pad. LG’s unnamed Ninja kicks Jobs in the face at about the 1:00 minute mark of the video.

I’m not an Apple fanboy by any means, but Jobs is not well, and that is publicly known. I’m not saying the guy needs to be babied, but your marketing approach LG, is pitiful. So you beat the specs of a one year old device, you should get the virtual award you so deserve. But when it comes to the real world, you’re still not even close to second best.

Why didn’t you use your own CEO’s face on the one who kicked Steve Jobs shamelessly in the head? Perhaps because you don’t even have a CEO who could stand up to Jobs. You fired your last one because your cellphones are generally regarded as subsidized giveaways (crap), now you expect the next CEO to stand by you? You better keep hiring new CEOs because the next iPad is going to dust your ass again. You may be laughing in your boardroom now, but wait until your next quarterly earnings are released including this tablets sales.

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Marketers are always looking for the next “big innovation” that will change the field of advertising and elevate them to a step above their competition. This time the automotive company BMV was the innovative beneficiary of a brain changing competitive advantage. Known mostly for exuding luxury and performance, BMW’s advertisements are generally simple and to the point; that is until this commercial came out.

It was made for a movie theater where moviegoers were guinea pigs on an “afterimage effect” that causes a glowing circle to appear in your mind, just like looking into the sun and closing your eyes immediately after. Which is what BMW did, they flashed a bright light threw their logo almost near the end of their commercial and asked the audience to immediately close their eyes. What they saw was a BMW image imprinted into their mind. This is nothing new, it’s called “subliminal advertising” and BMW has just given you a glimpse of how marketers get in the backdoor of the mind.

[Gizmodo via Strobist]

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