BlackBerry's Super Bowl ad may have been met with mixed reviews, but the next phase of the company's rebranding efforts is decidedly more focused and accessible.

BlackBerry has launched a new, social media-powered series designed to engage mobile users called Keep Moving. The first in the series is a crowd-sourced story and illustration project that allows fans to collaborate with famed author Neil Gaiman.

Starting this week, Gaiman will begin soliciting ideas from fans for a series of stories to be including in a collection called A Calendar of Tales. Using his BlackBerry device, the author has already taken to Twitter to engage fans and ask for ideas for new stories focused on a particular month of the year. The engagement is scheduled to last until Feb. 6, after which Gaiman will take the collected ideas and begin the work of writing the stories. Later, Gaiman will also ask fans to submit their own illustrations to be included in a calendar accompanying the finished written work.

For inspiration, a chart on the project site shows an interactive calendar, allowing users to select a particular month and answer Gaiman's writing prompt question. For example, in April Gaiman asks, "What's your happiest memory of April?" and for October he asks, "What mythical creature would you like to meet in October?" Gaiman's 1.8 million Twitter followers have already started submitting ideas, and for those less familiar with the author's work, BlackBerry has produced a video (see below) that takes the viewer on brief tour of the author's home as he explains the project in detail.

BlackBerry's bold decision to enlist the talents of a science fiction author to promote its new mobile offerings suddenly gives the company's fantastical Super Bowl ad, featuring magical transformations and special effects, a lot more context, and illustrates its desire to reposition the brand as more than a staid business tool, but also as a device that can help fuel the imaginations of creative individuals. In the coming months, the company will launch similar, user-engagement-focused projects with other notable creative icons such as film director Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Spy Kids), and singer Alicia Keys.

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