Alicia Keys throws in towel on BlackBerry's creative director job She's the indecisive pop star who sung about constantly "falling in and out of love" with some bloke or other. Now the caterwauling piano player Alicia Keys has made a concrete decision, for once in her life, and has stepped down from her role as BlackBerry's global creative director. She started the role last year, when the …
Blackberry and Alicia Keys.
Both are names I know. Though the only AK song I could strain to think of (maybe blokes aren't her audience?) was Black Velvet - though it turns out that was done by Alanna Myles, not AK.
So, like Blackberry, the name is familar but the product remains a mystery. Possibly due to better marketing than content.
I wonder whether RIM will approach Ozzy as a replacement?
R&B really isn't my thing, but I don't immediately wince and recoil if I hear Alicia Keys, she's pretty good.
Except for this one song she did around 2007/2008. I forget the title of it, but while I was working a career counselor the Station commander at the MEPS I worked at had it as her ringback tone. So I'd inevitably hear it at least twice a day. And generally I was in a pretty shitty mood when I'd have to get a hold of her anyway, so it didn't help.
That being said, If I was her I'd bail from RIMberry (or whatever they call themselves this week) myself. Noone wants to be associated with a phone manufacturer on life support.
"Well, there was that time when she tweeted from her iPhone about how much she loved using Blackberries"
Yes, and then claimed she'd been hacked in an attempt to cover it up.
And (see the same article) she was snapped in a dressing room with not 1 but 2 Apple Shineys on the table in front of her while supposedly being RIMBerry's "Global Creative Director"
You could be forgiven for thinking her heart was never quite in it.
It is unclear whether Keys decided that the job wasn't for her, or whether the ailing Blackberry manufacturer decided they could no longer afford her.
The NY Times article on this that I saw this morning was later updated to clarify that she was only contracted for 12 months anyway. So she's neither stepped down, nor been sacked, just neither party renewed the contract.
That said, i was completely unaware of either the STEM or Keep Moving programs.
Seems the only real impact her being signed to this was the flurry of free publicity it generated for the BB10 phones when she was signed, and now the flurry of negative publicity with everyone's initial reaction being "leaving a sinking ship"
Alicia Keys is a fine performer and all, but choosing her as their representative within pop-culture just shows how out of touch Blackberry were/are. It's really bad because there would have been a series of executive meetings where they sorted through various celebrities and even with two CEO's and all their attached staff nobody stood up and ask what the fuck were they thinking with Alicia Keys, she means nothing to either of their target markets.
She doesn't represent the aggressive 'clever' business crowd and she doesn't represent the young adult crowd. Possibly there was some manner of attractiveness because she has trouble making decisions, just like Blackberry? Otherwise it's just puzzling: Like Ferragamo soccer cleats or a battery powered battery charger or a Kenny Rogers gangsta rap album. Things that just don't go together.
>Justin Bieber tried to bag himself a $200k RIM job - and got turned down because, according to RIM execs, “he's not going to last”.
If I was him I would look at putting together a benefit concert for all the lower level employees finally let go when BB becomes nothing but an IP vulture capital firm owned by a handful of lawyers. Its worth it to just to teabag those brilliant prescient BB executives. Still its a tough call whose a bigger douche between him and the executives.
"During her time at BlackBerry, Key [sic] organised a scholarship scheme to encourage women to study STEM subjects."
This is a very laudable idea and I for one would be very pleased to see more women getting into these subjects. But I can't help wondering what the fuck Ms Keys has got to do with it, seeing as how she made bazillions of dollars in a completely different career altogether.
Big surprise? I doubt Ms. Keys would have jumped ship if it wasn't sinking. She probably doesn't want to be associated with the brand now, especially considering that Blackberry has left the consumer market. From the list of things she did mentioned in this article, it doesn't sound like she did much for Blackberry. Of course, her tweeting about the role from an iPhone, probably wasn't the best idea.
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