Nokia to up retail and digital spend in new strategy
Nokia is set to increase digital and retail spend as it looks to transform its marketing strategy to broaden the emotional appeal of its products.
The challenger mobile company says the renewed focus on online, social media and experiential store demonstrations will showcase the “unique capabilities” of its devices in places where consumers are often searching for information before making their final purchase decisions.
The company, which has spent a considerable amount on above the line marketing since the launch of its Lumia smartphone range in 2011, has appointed JWT to its global advertising account. JWT has been the company’s global activation agency since 2007, but has now been briefed to come up with a creative idea that embodies the brand and appeals to consumers’ emotions.
The appointment was made by Tuula Rytilä, Nokia’s chief marketing officer, who says JWT will help the company market its products in a manner that is “bold, disruptive and, most importantly, resonates with consumers.”
A Nokia spokesman adds while the company has many attributes which appeal to its “rational nature” – such as “quality”, “trust-worthy”, “ethical” and “innovativeness” – the company wants to evoke a stronger emotional response to the brand.
Nokia recently reshuffled its UK marketing team, with Adam Johnson currently the lead marketer in the region.
Nokia has a 14.8 per cent share of the entire smartphone market, behind only Samsung with 23.6 per cent, according to Gartner figures for the first quarter. It is, however, struggling to compete in the smartphone segment.
In the UK, for example, Nokia has just a 7.3 per cent share of the smartphone market, according to comScore. This is behind – starting with the lowest-ranked first – BlackBerry, HTC, Apple and Samsung.
