BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY): John Chen Won’t Tap Kim Kardashian Hype

With all the buzz around Kim Kardashian, why is BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)’s CEO, John Chen, reluctant to capitalize?

It turns out that Chen simply isn’t interested, even if it will cost him some media mileage. What’s more important to the BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) CEO, he said, is a solid foundation of trust.

In a post on the LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) blog, he said that one of the lessons he has learned throughout his career which is especially helpful in running an iconic company such as BlackBerry is being straightforward.

“There is always the temptation to make statements that feed sensationalism, or make executive decisions that chase hype and trends. I have found telling it like it is the best thing to do, even if it hurts in the short-run, because it builds a foundation of trust over the long-term,” Chen said.

The BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) top executive noted that he is aware of Kardashian professing her love for the company’s phones in a recent Re/code event. The media darling even said that she is afraid that BlackBerry smartphones may “go extinct”.

Chen, however, will not ride the hype a tie-up with Kardashian is likely to bring.

“I am grateful for Kim’s loyalty and respect her passion for BlackBerry, but it is not the right time for us to focus on the consumer market. Our focus right now is on extending our legendary security foundation with new solutions for the enterprise. Nothing is making us waver from that strategy,” he said.

Nonetheless, the BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) CEO assures fans of the company’s smartphones that they will not abandon them. He also said that the company has plans for the Chinese market but that is for a later day.

Chen said that he will always take the “rational and long-term view” in running BlackBerry.

BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) shareholders includes Nelson Obus’ Wynnefield Capital which reported owning over 2 million shares of the technology company by the end of the third quarter. This stake is a 38% increase from the institutional investor’s position in BlackBerry by the end of the second quarter. The stake makes up a substantial 8.7% of Wynnefield Capital’s whole portfolio.