Turn your iPhone or Android into a Z10 — yep, BlackBerry’s new ad is out

When BlackBerry announced that it was planning to launch in-depth interactive ads showcasing its new operating system on competing devices, it seemed like a unique way to convince the fandroids and iPeople to consider a switch. The Canadian manufacturer said its ads would essentially replicate unique functionality like People Hub and Peek, but now we can see for ourselves exactly how it works.

The ads are currently running on sites like The Guardian and the New York Times, but you can also experience BlackBerry 10 for yourself if you visit the company’s website from your mobile browser. The ad takes you through a series of steps to showcase some of the key features of the operating system, starting with asking you to swipe up to ‘unlock’ your phone. Intrigued potential customers can then follow the guides to check calendar appointments, visit BlackBerry World, test out the gestures that allow users to view their notification hub, observe how typing on its redesigned keyboard works and get a glimpse of BBM screen share.

The ad also shows off BlackBerry’s time shift camera, and allows you to navigate along a slider to choose the best shot of a subject and create a final image. Along the way, users are shown short descriptions of the functions, given the opportunity to find out more and share what they’ve found to key social networks.

BlackBerry, which referred to the takeovers an example of ‘real time marketing’, said the pilot in the UK showed very high rates of engagement with users spending upwards of four minutes engaging with the interactive ad. The company has already sold more than 1-million of its Z10 devices since their February launch, while some reports suggest that almost half of the customers picking up the shiny new flagship model are converting from an iPhone or Android device. With the carefully targeted mobile ads, it seems BlackBerry is hoping to continue that trend.