With only a few weeks to go for the launch of its much-awaited PlayBook tablet, Research IN Motion (RIM) has recently announced that its chief marketing officer Keith Pardy is leaving the company due to some “personal reasons.”

Pardy, who apparently told RIM about his plans to depart a month back, will nonetheless continue to help the company over a six-month transition period. RIM has still not confirmed whether it has appointed someone to take over Pardy’s post.

With Pardy – who was hired from Nokia Corp. in early 2009 - deciding to leave RIM, the company will be deprived of a marketing head during the crucial prelude to the release of its PlayBook, which is expected to hit the markets by March-end or early April.

However, according to IHS iSuppli analyst Rhoda Alexander, Pardy's imminent departure is not likely to have any notable effect on the immediate success of the RIM’s PlayBook when it finally launches, to take on the Apple iPad and the Android-based tablets.

Alexander said: “Hopefully, when you're weeks away from product release, you've laid most of the groundwork for the marketing efforts. Others can execute the groundwork that's been laid out.”

Even otherwise, going by a January ranking from Brand Keys consultancy, RIM’s BlackBerry brand has “been losing resonance over the past few years;” and, as Brand Keys’ president Robert Passikoff put it, the company “does not have the brand cachet ... to engage consumers the way an iPhone does.”