VizualBusiness: Nokia on Influencers, Celebrities, and Operators

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Nokia on Influencers, Celebrities, and Operators

Nokia on Influencers, Celebrities, and Operators:
Valerie Buckingham, head of North America marketing for Nokia, answered a few questions from AdAge. She talked about influencers, celebrities, and a hint for their strategy on upcoming Windows Phone 8 devices. Take a look at some quotes after the jump.
Nicki Minaj Lumia 1

Nicki Minaj with Nokia Lumia 900
Influencers and celebrities:

When you’re focused on your brand and relevance, you’re looking for the fans you have, the people that love your brand. There’s nothing more important than building love for brand than to leverage people that already have the religion. When we look at our influencers, we segment them. There’s the long-tail fan base and we’re constantly monitoring social media, reaching out to them personally. And we’re looking at celebrities that have a stylistic or tone affinity with Nokia and reaching out to them. Sometimes it’s with celebrities we’re working with as part of our marketing initiatives. We’re always looking for authentic affinity. One of the things that’s great about social media is that it ensures everyone stays authentic.

When I was in Asia the past few months, I noticed many celebrities were hired by brands as ambassadors. Sometimes, it felt like people bought products based on who the ambassadors were and not the actual features.
Windows Phone 8:

We won’t comment on future products. We’re focused on solid relationships with all the influential operators. This market for smartphones means that a significant majority of business goes through operators. So we’re laser-focused on those relationships.

This strategy isn’t new. They have told us before that Nokia will focus exclusively on sales through traditional wireless carriers. Sales through carriers mean subsidized phones with lower up-front costs. This is more popular in the US than getting an unlocked phone without contract.
You can read the full Q&A at AdAge.
Photo: Nokia