T-Mobile has been in the news a lot lately with its new marketing strategies intended to bring in more business and, honestly, to steal customers from the competition. Between the change to an “uncarrier” approach and offers attempting specifically to target the competition, it might not be safe for T-Mobile much longer. Instead of playing nice, the company is doing whatever they can to steal customers without a care of what it will do to their reputation. And now, they are even making their phone manufacturers mad.

BlackBerry upset with T-Mobile

If T-Mobile wasn’t already in a big fight with all the competition, now it’s even making its suppliers mad. According to PC Magazine, T-Mobile sent an email to many of its current subscriber offering a free iPhone. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if the email didn’t also say “a great deal for BlackBerry owners.” This enraged many BlackBerry customers who used social media to point out their frustrations. BlackBerry owners are apparently very loyal and don’t like the fact that T-Mobile was blatantly stating that BlackBerry phones weren’t worth much compared to an iPhone.

BlackBerry mad too

It’s not just the customers who are mad about this. BlackBerry CEO John Chen is pretty upset too. It’s one thing to upset the competition, but upsetting your own vendor like that is pretty ruthless. Chen just wishes that T-Mobile would have come to him to discuss what was about to happen instead of finding out about it online later. On top of that, it is an inappropriate way to market to your customers. Where it the line?

Is it smart marketing?

The idea of calling out specific competitors or brands in your marketing strategy is pretty bold. Most people stick to telling people they are the best rather than specifying other brands. T-Mobile is starting to make a lot of enemies in the cell phone market, both with vendors and with competing cell phone carriers. Is it worth it? Maybe it will get them in the news a few times, and maybe it will bring in new customers. But in the end, having large corporations that are still holding a grudge about what you said will never help. You never want to be the company everyone is attacking all at once. It could mean success, but it will more likely lead to problems in the future.

A smarter way to advertise

Rather than focusing on the weaknesses of those around you, advertising towards your strengths will benefit you much more in the long run. Send texts to your customers with great deals you offer or coupons to get them in. Offer deals to fans on your social media sites. Offer loyalty discounts to members of your e-club. There are plenty of ways to get in customers without throwing someone else under the bus. T-Mobile may be digging themselves a hole, but you don’t have to. If you keep the competition friendly, you’ll end up with a much smoother path to success.

Source: PC Magazine