Nokia – reConnecting People

Not too long ago, Nokia was considered the pioneer of mobile phones. It enjoyed majority market share for a number of years until competent rivals like Apple and RIM upped the ante by becoming the only companies that owned both phone software and hardware. Google recently joined that bandwagon.

The game has changed considerably ever since. Nokia has faced stiff competition and has been quickly losing market share. Earlier this year, its global market share dropped to below 30% for the first time in a decade.

One of the biggest moves that Nokia has made to revive market share is the strategic alliance forged with Microsoft to develop Windows-based phone software. It is moving away from the Symbian and Meego platforms and looking to develop a formidable ecosystem that includes mapping, navigation, search, gaming, social media and more.

India is one of Nokia’s largest and most dynamic markets. Nokia definitely cracked the code to sell in India, with its super-successful Nokia 1100 that broke all records and was declared the world’s top-selling consumer electronics product.

Nokia has always made catchy ads pertinent to its target segments. With the company trying to revive its image and market share, it needs to embark on a branding campaign that not only features its new Windows-based products but also speaks to the old Nokia consumer, who once owned a Nokia phone. This campaign should not be aimed at just attracting new customers. Instead, it should focus more on retaining current customers and winning back old customers and their loyalty. Research by Ernst and Young shows that it costs six times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an old one.

From a technology/product perspective, this would call for competitive and differentiated handsets and an impressive ecosystem with improved VAS capabilities.

From a branding and advertising perspective, it would call for all Nokia ads to have a central theme, irrespective of the target segments – a theme that revives the old spirit when the word ‘Nokia’ was synonymous with the word ‘phone.’ That spirit is belief!

The ‘Nokia – Believe’ campaign is what I propose.

I propose Nokia to embark on an Airtel or Hero Moto Corp.-like advertising campaign to convince the consumer that ‘Nokia believes that you believe.’ The whole purpose of this campaign is to tell the consumer that Nokia rests faith in you to make the right choice and to give consumers a clear message that Nokia is all about you. This needs to be closely followed by phone/ecosystem ads that showcase more the value proposition for the target segment than the product. Nokia seems to have mastered that art, going by its previous adverts. All ads should have a central punch line or champion theme of “Nokia – Believe.”

Selecting ambassadors or endorsers for the ad is a critical and highly sensitive decision. The person selected needs to enjoy immense credibility in his/her professional career and preferably personal life as well. Let’s face it – this person is going to be urging the audience to believe in Nokia, in other words, buy Nokia. Here, Nokia can be different by not choosing someone from Cricket or Bollywood but go for a different field of endeavour that epitomises traits like honesty, sincerity, excellence, charm, reliability.

Product placements can be used effectively to garner eyeballs and advertise the champion theme. However, product placement should be very relevant. If the company decides to place a product in a movie, the character using the product should epitomise the traits that Nokia stands for.

Nokia should also have competitions at periodic intervals, say, every quarter. These competitions should be used to engage with the audience in order to evaluate the consumer’s perception of the Nokia brand and analyse the traffic generated to measure consumer interest. This would be an effective way to assess the impact of the ad campaign over time.

Speaking of consumers, Indians are an emotional people. Nokia, therefore, needs to position itself as more of a ‘friend in need and in deed’ rather than just a fancy tool or a new avatar. The portrayal should seamlessly lead to the ‘Nokia – Believe’ theme.

Tie ups in adverts also need to be handled with caution. The Finnish phone giant would want to only select partners who share its ideals, values and theme - the last thing that the company wants is to confuse the viewer. Branding/advertising is only one cog in the wheel, but a critical one, as it is aimed at making the consumer think a certain way.

All that said, before regaining its image and the ambitious position of a trend-setter, Nokia has to go through the grind of effectively dealing with the competition and prevent steady loss of market share. The road ahead is awfully bumpy but it is these ‘journeys of revival’ that separate the men from the boys. Let’s see what the future has in store!