The Hindu Business Line : Discover Nokia

New age tech: Devinder Kishore, Director-Marketing, Nokia India, and artist Rabbi Shergill launching the first ever music album in digital format on the Nokia Nseries device in New Delhi _ Anu Pushkarna

Janani Krishnaswamy

The cell phone industry is becoming increasingly hit-driven. Research suggests that most gadget-conscious shoppers buy new phones every nine months. Thus, mobile manufacturers are under pressure to design products faster than ever before. As gadget m akers add a product to their existing line, they indirectly end up creating a competitor for the existing product.

For instance, the Nokia N82, what they call Nokia’s new multimedia computer, is the N95’s better-looking sibling. The phone is designed in a way that it outshines the N95 in ways more than one. But the markets for the two handsets continue to grow. How does Nokia differentiate its marketing for the two and end up selling both?

While accepting the partial overlap, Vineet Taneja, Head – Go To Market, Nokia India, says all its marketing campaigns are carefully drawn out for each of its hero products. With consumer priorities changing, mobile phone companies have also changed their marketing and retail tactics from time to time. From shops to experience zones, mobile companies are coming up with initiatives that go beyond the traditional footfalls to help consumers unlock the potential of their mobile devices.

Nokia recently undertook a large consumer research study to gain insights into the needs and motivations for different segments of the market. Carried out across 74,000 consumers from 26 countries, the study has been instrumental in Nokia categorising its product portfolio into four distinct types: Live, Connect, Achieve and Explore. “We at Nokia believe that keeping a tab on the pulse of the market is the key to the success of any business. This is especially true for a category like mobile handsets where the involvement of the customer is extremely high,” says Taneja. Given that mobility appeals differently to different people, he says there is a need for constant engagement and interaction.

While innovating its product offerings in an endeavour to offer the best multimedia experience to customers, Nokia is all the time looking at opportunities to offer an experiential platform to its discerning users. Nokia believes in organising initiatives that will help consumers connect with communities with shared passions.

Realising the gap between the presence of high-end mobile multimedia features and the actual usage of these, Nokia Nseries undertook a consumer marketing initiative late last year, called ‘Discover Nseries’. Aimed at helping customers experience the many different features of the mobile device in an engaging and productive manner, it comprised a series of market-making initiatives.

Months ago, the Nseries initiative saw a talent hunt being organised to identify the best Indi rock band in India. Renowned bands were invited to perform in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The bands used Nokia’s M-Blog application on their Nseries devices to blog their experiences with this musical journey and to appeal to the audience for votes. The bands used an innovative Nokia application, DJ Mixer, wherein they were able to remix their compositions.

Nokia recently announced a mobile travel service in association with Make My Trip, a travel portal which enables people to instantly book domestic air tickets using the Nokia Nseries device. To encourage people to use this service, it announced a contest wherein people were asked to create a travel itinerary for Rs 20,000 and people booking maximum destinations won weekend getaways and a grand prize of a trip to Bali.

Nokia is still running campaigns and contests in association with media partners in different verticals to promote the concept of M-Blogging. It recently flagged off ‘Nokia Nseries Soul of The Night,’ a new-age tech challenge that invites users from across India to discover, capture and share stories about nightlife in their cities through their mobile devices.

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