Chapter 7. Nokia's Business Marketing

Nokia is the biggest cell phone manufacturer and not many of us know that its area of production is also engaged in converging Internet and communications industries. Nokia is dedicated to creating products not only for consumers but also for businesses, organizations and governments.  It will be easier to describe it on the example of Nokia's subsidiary the NSN (Nokia Siemens Networks).

Nokia Siemens Networks is a global data networking and telecommunications equipment company. It sells its network systems, business solutions, services and products to over 600 Communications Service Providers world wide. NSN's business customers can be divided by the industry in which they operate. Nokia Siemens Networks sells its products to mining conglomerates, railway companies, gas and oil producers, big enterprises and cable companies. Since telecommunications is not their primarily business all of these companies rely on Nokia which has experienced and professional engineers that support them with complete end-to-end ICT systems packages that meet the needs of the industry.

Governments are a big segment of Nokia's business market. NSN provides support of advanced telecommunications solutions for defense and security agencies. Among its products company offers public safety solutions, border security control systems and Ethernet. In August of 2011 NSN technologies were even certified for sales to the US government.

Chapter 8. Nokia Market Segmentation

Market Segmentation is a process of dividing a market into meaningful, relatively similar, and identifiable segments or groups. It helps the marketer to distinguish what marketing mix will be more appealing for a particular group of consumers. Segmentation approach helps in more effective strategic planning, because it helps utilize necessary resources and power in order to reach the ultimate sales. 

Nokia is one of the few global corporations that has been successfully practicing multisegment targeting. Nokia segment groups are separated by various number of variables. 

Geographic Segmentation. In terms of geography company is using regional approach to be able to appeal to the local population and gain their respect and trust. Nokia keeps opening its flagship stores all over the Asian and Middle Eastern rural regions to be able to bring their customers all the latest innovations and provide them with quality support services. 

Demographic Segmentation. Nokia has many mobile and smartphone devices to appeal to all the age categories (from kids to seniors), all income categories, different family cycles (singles and married couple households), people of different religions and occupations. Unlike Apple Nokia has a distinct recognition of women as a major target market. Almost every serie of phones comes in pink or gold color. Nokia Roxo was designed for women and young teenage girls. "Treat her like a lady" - a logo that stated that Nokia wants women to have their own phone and not just use a unisex device.

Psycographic Segmentation. Nokia products indulge the tastes of people of working class and corporate  CEO's. Different models of mobile devices appeal to customers with various lifestyles. For example, Nokia N79 was marketed as a sports phone thanks to a wireless heart monitor implemented from Polar. The wireless Polar Bluetooth WearLink heart rate belt helps monitor a heart rate along with a speed and distance while you are enjoying your jog. 

Benefit Segmentation. Most of the Nokia consumers have strong loyalty to the companies products because they are able to find the best quality for their money. Among benefits Nokia has to offer great power life, various number of applications for different needs and wants, durable and practical design. 

Because of the large number of consumers Nokia has to keep its target market excited with new releases. In such multisegment strategy cannibalization occurs very often. To slow this process Nokia is trying  launch new products by the region rather then globally. 

Various segmentation strategies made Nokia into a global phone manufacturer. Ability to meet the expectations of different buyers is the ultimate goal for the company.

Chapter 11. Developing New Products

Innovation is a key to success for a company that is involved in technology industry. New products are expected and often demanded by the consumers. How to indulge a public is a question to be answered by the Research and Development groups. These people dedicate most of their time collecting and analyzing data and creating new products to satisfy the consumers needs and wants. Investing in R&D is a ticket to new markets and opportunities for every company.

Nokia has 13 research centers worldwide, with 4 of them in the United States located in Berkley, Palo Alto, Hollywood and Cambridge. Each of the centers concentrates on different aspects of research. For instance, research centers in Bangalore and Nairobi are focused on the studying of the emerging target markets of India and Africa. On the other hand the Nokia RC in Cambridge UK develops nanotechnologies for mobile communications and ambient intelligence. The Hollywood RC runs research of social media, mixed reality experiences, user interaction models and the convergence of the Internet.

Nokia had entered the world of nanotechnology few years ago and recently we were introduced with a new concept of flexible, bendable phones. Nokia Morph and Nokia Human Form concept are sneak peeks of the future phones. They have flexible control features, charged from solar energy, super durable and versatile. Nokia Human Form concept represents a revolutionary device that is meant to erase the bar between humans and technology.


The new concepts are all about mobility in the new environment. Transition to the mass production of nano engineered phones is around the corner and Nokia seems to be on the right pass.


Nokia is dedicating a lot of time and effort in developing of new, better and more unique devices. Innovation is a necessary tool in today's highly comparative world of mobile devices.

Holiday Season for Nokia

The holiday season has begun. People are buying gifts for Christmas and New Years. Stores are putting out bright and festive decorations.

Even Nokia has something to offer its customers. A new release of Holiday Themes, Ringtones and Games from Nokia is available to the public. You can download them online, free of charge, because upcoming season is all about gifts. Nokia decided to show its appreciation to its current customers and bring the spirit of the holidays to their phones. Along with the themes you can also download season's greetings e-cards at my-meego.com, customize and send them to your family and friends.

Chapter 16. Nokia IMC

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) - is a careful coordination of all promotional messages for a product or a service to assure the consistency of messages at every contact point where a company meets the consumer.

Lets talk about Nokia's latest product release in terms of IMC. Nokia Lumia was introduced to the world as a first Windows phone and a first of a kind result of the Nokia/Microsoft partnership. The pre-introduction stage started long before the new phone was launched. Right after the announcement of the partnership both companies used series of media conferences and press releases to engage into a communication about the new smartphone. Stephen Elopes interviews left everyone wondering since little to nothing was said about the particular features of the devise. The purpose was to keep the public wondering and the press to make educated assumptions about the future of the Nokia. The public relations move sure made everyone excited and created great expectations in hearts of many customers. 

On October 26th, 2011 the introduction of the Nokia Lumia finally unwrapped the mystery. The audience was informed about the details on the design, features and durability of a new phone. The next stage took its start - company launched the new adds, the blogs appeared on the web featuring Lumia 800 and now the phone is everywhere. All of the promotional messages cary the same idea - Nokia Lumia is easy, fast and fun to use and this principle applies to everything: business apps, office and mail, contact list, surfing the web, navigation tools etc.

"Conversations by Nokia" (http://conversations.nokia.com/) - is a website that was created this year to inform public of innovations and news in Nokia world. It is companies greatest marketing promotional and public relations tool. The potential consumer does not only read the posts, he or she is also encouraged to engage into a conversation with the staff. "We want to create stories you want to comment on and share with other people. We’re always listening to your ideas, opinions and, yes, any complaints. Keep the feedback coming. It helps us do things better" - quote of the website developers. And of course, the website features all the introductory videos of a new Windows 7 Phone (http://conversations.nokia.com/2011/11/04/nokia-lumia-800-video-review-round-up/). It has a user's diary that presents a more personalized look at the product.

Nokia Lumia is still at its introductory stage, the videos had hit the YouTube and you can already like its Facebook page powered by Wikipedia. So far it is a number one selling smartphone in France. 

Chapter 10. Nokia's Product Concepts

Nokia has built its legacy around cell phones and smart phone devices. It all started in 1982 when Nokia introduced Mobira Senator - the first mobile phone. Then little by little the company started introducing a whole lines of new phones. Original Series were followed by 1000 - 9000 series where the 1000 models represented the line of ultrabasic/most affordable phones and 9000 - the communicator series that grew into Eseries cell phones - so called business optimized smartphones, that were developed mostly in 2005-2011 time frame. Almost simultaneously three Modern groups of cell phones were introduced into the market: Cseries (cell phones optimized for social networking and sharing), Nseries (advanced smart phone series that also included Tablets), Xseries (with focus on young people interested in music and entertainments). 


The latest smartphone product line is Lumia Windows Phones. It was introduced by Nokia and Microsoft on October 26, 2011. The first WP was launched in Europe and companies have many expectations for this new product. Nokia Lumia 800 will enter the US market in 2012 and will be selling at the price of $585. As an alternative for a lower price company has also introduced Lumia 710 with little less features on one hand but more reasonable price of $376 on the other hand. 


Aside from tangible products Nokia's product mix also contains Internet services and Software solutions. Ovi is an Internet service platform that provides Games, Maps, Media, Messaging, Music etc. for mobile devices, computers and can be accessed through the web. The service is currently undergoing re-branding and will appear under company's main brand name. Among solutions Nokia has to offer several concepts such as Nokia PC Suite - a software package that helps to establish interface between your mobile device and a computer that runs Microsoft OS.  Nokia Sports Tracker is another good example of software that allows cellphone users who are dedicated runners, joggers and cyclers to track their route, speed and timing while engaged in their favorite sports activity.


In conclusion, Nokia Corporation offers tangible and intangible spectrum of products. All its products are classified as both business and consumer oriented.

Company's product mix includes cell phones, smart phones, laptops, Tablets, Internet services and Software solutions. 

Chapter 18. Sales Promotion and Personal Selling by Nokia.

Nokia just announced the results of this year's third quarter sales report.  The numbers showed that the net sales for this period were EUR 8 980 million. 57% of this figure represent sales of mobile and smart devices. Lets have a better look at what helps the company to generate such profits.

Nokia sells most of its products via retailers, wholesalers and online Internet stores. Company does not invest in opening of new retail stores either due to the lack of profit or recession hardship. The company pushes its products with the popular service carriers from Verison, T-Mobile and AT&T in the US to the Orange, Life :), MTS in Europe and to the Aircel and China Mobile in Asia. Even though the manufacturer is willing to provide the retailers with all the necessary training about the product it has little to no influence on the consumer. For instance lack of companies retail stores in the US makes it harder for Nokia to compete with the growing force of the Apple Inc.

Nevertheless, Nokia is engaged in different activities for promotion of its products. The most common tools used by Nokia are rebates, coupons and loyalty programs. Mail in rebate and free shipping are offered to customers who are renewing their contracts and subscribing to particular service providers. Customers can receive Nokia's coupons and promotional codes from such websites as retailmenot.com or goodshop.com. By buying Nokia's products you can also contribute to some cause. Company promises to donate 4.5 % of the sale to charities, which makes costumers feel involved in making this world into a better place to live.

Nokia's loyalty program invites its customers to join Nokia's Club and receive assistants with any questions and concerns and be first ones to receive news on the recently launched devices and the future plans on innovation of companies products.

Even though Nokia is saying that they are on a way of a good improvement since 2008 (year of introduction of IPhone) I believe that the lack of personal selling is the milestone for the company. They are one step away from launching Windows Phone and the product of such magnitude will require a lot of customer support, which can be provided only at specialized stores. 

Chapter 17. The Effects of Advertising

The latest news about Nokia are on advertising campaign for the new Windows phone. The company plans to come strong on this one and according to the latest news $128 millions were already spent on Mango platform. Company hopes that this money will be payed back by the high volume of sales that both Nokia and Microsoft are expecting from the new product. The leaked ads for new WP7 were posted on the Internet few days ago.

"Today the Sun will rise and set. The rest is up for grabs" - is a quote of a new Nokia's poster . We can only speculate on what does this message bring with it. Maybe the SUN is a new brand name for a long waited WP7. "Will rise" - may mean that this product will have unique features which will put it above other products of its kind. "The rest is up for grabs"- leaves us wondering weather it means that the new smart phone will have a competitive price or it will be easy to find at any mobile store due to its mass production.
"Take, tag, sort and share. All in a flash" - speaks for another apparent feature, that the concept of new smartphone is build around social networks. We are yet to find out either it will be done via the software itself or it will require the download of new applications.

Nokia also promotes its name by patronising and sponsoring different events. It is an integral part of company's marketing communication strategy. In 2011 Nokia took over as a sponsor of one of the biggest cricket tournaments in the world the Championship LeagueT20 which took place in India. In the passed Nokia had sponsored many sporting and educational programs and competitions. Another marketing strategy that promotes a good name of the company is participation in different causes like education for underprivileged children and "Helping Hands" programs. 

Nokia built its strong reputation by producing quality products and it made sure that the whole world knows about it. 

Chapter 15. What Should Nokia Learn From Apple About Retailing?

Retailing is defined as all the activities directly related to the sale of goods and services to the ultimate consumer for personal, nonbusiness use.

It is sad to know that Nokia's stores were closed in United States since company is suffering from the lack of innovation to fight with IPhones. I decided to go ahead and dedicate this post to an actual competitor of Nokia the Apple, Inc.

The main Apple retail store is located in the heart of the City at 59th Street and 5th Avenue steps away from the Central Park. This place is always full of tourists and usual new yorkers. The store attracts your sight by its original design. A logo on the white square makes you remember the motto "Think outside the box" and this is exactly what Apple applied for designing its core retail location.  The stairs and the modern elevator make you feel like you are entering not just a regular store but a future world of technology. The inside has a very simple but yet sophisticated design. White walls make you feel like you are in the laboratory and are witnessing the products of the great effort of many brilliant computer genius. The store is separated into three major sections: tech support, training area and sales area. My first fascinating was a number of sales representatives that are there to assist you. Every one of them is assigned to his/hers specialty area. As an Apple customer I was able to ask few of the questions regarding the updates of the software and the improvement of the battery on the laptops. From my interaction with the sales assistants it was easy to conclude that these people not only have the perfect knowledge of the product that they are selling but they also have  exceptional customer's service skills. I was asked if I need any help  by at least 20 people for the whole time spent in the store.  

It is amazing that your experience in the store is not just limited to buying something. At the same location you can receive a proper training on how to operate any of the high technology devices sold there. Personal approach to the customer is a key to success in the case of Apple. Also there is a special event calendar that you can grab and glance through quickly. Some of the events for the month of October feature New York Film Festival, meeting with a musician Jack Mannequin and animation artist Liz Artinian.

In conclusion, I want to highlight that Apple stores represent a chain ownership of specialized stores with unique and narrow assortment of products. Customer is surrounded with high level of service and even though the Apple products are on the high price range the company is still able to show high gross margins.

Chapter 6. Consumer Decision Making

Today phone consumers are highly educated about the mobile devices. With a help of direct and indirect sources they learn about new products in cell phone industry. Mobile phone market is always changing and there are new devices launched very often by the leading companies. It is important for the marketing teams to determine what are the factors that drive customers to buy a new phone. First of all the cell phone is not a luxury in todays life it is rather a necessity. When buying a new phone people consider quality, appealing design, battery durability, software compatibility and new features.  Nokia presents its customers with a variety of mobile devices that satisfy wide range of tastes and needs. Its software enables people to experience not only the basic phone purpose to be connected to the rest of the world, but also being able to listen to the music, navigate, videotape, take images, watch TV, play games and conduct business. 
When searching for a smartphone consumer gives preference to the Nokia phone due to its affordable price and great battery power, which is important for people who travel a lot and do not have the access to the power source or if they use their phone too much and tend to drain the battery very fast. Another feature that helps Nokia win its customers is a large memory card in all its models that have cameras. It allows customers store more images and videos on their phones. 
Phone design is another factor taken into consideration during the phone purchase. Nokia manufacture phones in any color from toxic yellow and bright pink to sophisticated silver and classic black. Design is something that appeals to teenagers and business people where first group is looking for something bright while the second one is trying to appear professional and not flashy. The second group of consumers also gives the preference to the phone applications that help with navigation and information including news, currency exchanges and stock market prices. 
Nokia helps its consumers to find a phone that defines and fulfills their needs and tastes. 

Chapter 5. Global Marketing

Nokia represents a perfect example of a multinational corporation. It has eight manufacturing facilities outside Finland, they are Manaus, Brazil; Cluj, Romania; Beijing and Dongguan, China; Komárom, Hungary; Chennai, India; Reynosa, Mexico; and Masan, South Korea. It also has retail stores all over the world and conducts research in 44 countries in order to obtain information about customers behavior and feedback on latest products. No wonder it was named number one smartphone manufacturer by 2010 global sales according to IDC. 
As you notice the company has 3 plants in India and China, two countries that are soon to be mega-markets. Nokia sees a great opportunity for its business in this countries mostly due to the huge population and the cost efficient production. On the other hand it has to take in account the fact that they are also countries with very low income. Lately company introduced its line of affordable cellphones that were mostly launched in India and the third world countries.

Middle East is another market that Nokia had successfully battled in the pass and continues to provide with new mobile devices. The company was trying to appeal to the customers sophisticated taste and demand for high-technology products in this region. This was the reason for Nokia to introduce its new phone N9 in Saudi Arabia.

Nokia N9

The Alessandro Lamanna, Nokia's Vice President of Sales, Middle East and Africa said, "The Nokia N9, which will be available in select markets across the world, is perfectly suited for this region's high-tech and style conscious consumer who demand best-in-class products. With recent figures from Gartner revealing that Nokia smartphones continue to be market leaders in MEA, claiming 41.9% of the category market, consumers in the region clearly value and trust Nokia products. Addressing this clear preference, Nokia has selected MEA as one of the first markets to launch the N9, continuing our commitment to meet customer demands for products that excel in performance and enhance their social standing."
Nokia values MEA market. Company was able to show its respect and understanding of religious culture through introduction of its two smartphone applications Ramadan Calender App and Quran App. This applications are very popular in Muslim countries. They include Islamic stories and fasting tips, prayers and Ramadan greetings. 

The only one market that keeps being a concern for the company is United States. For the past year the company closed 2 of its major stores and keeps  loosing customers mostly due to very high competition from Apple, Droid and RIM. The primary customers in the country want new and improved prototypes of IPhone, who Nokia yet to target with its upcoming WP7 phone. 

Chapter 4. Influence of Marketing Environment

Mobile phone market is in constant change. The forces of marketing environment determine many companies strategies and plans.

In today's mobile phone industry Nokia has to consider many factors to keep its head above the water. The one and the most important force that Nokia does not seem to be able to keep up with is the change in technology. Apple and Droid seem to keep a better pace at launching new and improved smartphone devices. At the end of August 2011 Nokia was able to show that they are still the biggest manufacturer of smartphone thanks to its Symbian software. That same month the company announced 3 new smartphones that will run on Symbian Belle.

Nokia701-700-600-Symbian

These three do not compensate for the long time promised Windows 7 smartphone. It starts bringing concerns among stakehoulders that the platform is not gonna be as successful as it was expected, mostly due to the delay that Nokia put on launching WP7. Would 2012 be too late, where as we already see not very impressive results of sales for Samsung version of the same phone? The company's CEO announced that their target is first time smartphone buyers. I do not know how many of those will be left by 2012. 

On the other hand as an adjustment to economic struggle company presented its customers with a new line of affordable phones Nokia 100 and Nokia 101. Phones are powered by the Series 30 OS. Both handsets come with many different features and exceptionally good battery life that can last up to 25 days on standby. 

Nokia100-101

These are perfect for customers in third world countries, but we want to see something new that is worse offering to the western market with its hight competition bar where the money is not an objective when it comes to buying a phone.

Chapter 3. Nokia is Setting an Example of Social Responsibility

Entity, organization or an individual has an obligation to act to benefit the society at large. This is a main principle of Ethics and Social Responsibility. Today we will talk about how it applies in terms of corporate world and in particular in case of Nokia Company. 

A mobile phone magnate Nokia tops the list of twenty most sustainable companies in the world. It was considered No.5 in 2008 and No.8 in 2007 according to the Fortune magazine reports. What is it that the company does to show that its goal is not only to make profits but also to improve our world? 

Nokia is famous for helping youth and opening up new opportunities to underprivileged kids. Out of the past projects we should mention Nokia CSR project in partnership with RochEd where company committed to providing music education to street children. The company is also a founding sponsor of the YouthActionNet leadership program. Together with PLAN company is helping kids in Africa to speak up for their rights. (Check the link to watch the video http://www.symbiantweet.com/tag/helping-children).

Employees as individuals are trying to contribute to companies support of different causes. Nokia encourages its workers to do so. As an employee you are allowed to take two Helping Hand Days per year in order to have time to give back to your local community or help the charity of your choice. Voluntary activities that Nokia employees are doing include blood donations, fundraising, volunteering at children's hospitals, help in renovation of local schools and nature clean-ups.

And of course Nokia is mindful of the impact of its business on the nature. Recycle your phone project let the company gather tons of old phones. Company sets a great example to other electronics manufacturers on how important it is to make a change to the old way of conducting business. Care for society and nature are main goals in company's corporate responsibility report.

Check the video on Nokia's Corporate Responsibility in China:

Chapter 2. Strategic Planing

This week we are talking about strategic moves that Nokia is taking for the future of its business. First of all lets define what is strategic planing. It is a managerial process of creating and maintaining a fit between the organization's objectives and resources and the evolving market opportunity. Company's goal under strategic plan is always growth and profitability.

Under the circumstances of the created market and high demand of smart phones Nokia took a bold move to form a strategic partnership with Microsoft Company.  Both companies agreed to pool together their technological and intellectual resources to build new mobile devices. It gives them both an opportunity for innovation. Nokia introduced its Windows Phone Platform where we should look forward to new applications as well as hardware, graphics speed and software improvements.

This move can be a great deal in terms of competition with such popular brands as Android and Iphone. Although, development team already announced that they will have to postpone the release of Windows Smart Phone until 2012 which may hurt the company's share value. 

This is "a neccesary change" according to Stephen Elop, Nokia President and CEO. Company is also experiencing a change in its Leadership Team. As of September 30, 2011 Ojanpera, Executive Vice President is leaving the company and Tero will be taking his role. 

Company's Mission Statement

Nokia indicates that their mission as a company is very simple CONNECTING PEOPLE. Although it may sound very short but a lot is included in this bold statement. The company promises to keep building and designing great mobile products to satisfy consumers with different needs. Company states that they want to bring their costumers an opportunity to get more out of their mobile.

Flexibility and innovation are the keys to success in Nokia's case which so far helped it to outrun the competitors.

From paper manufacturing to an era of cellphones. (Brief History of Nokia, Worlds Leader in Mobile Technology)

The history of Nokia Corporation begins with the foundation of the three greatest companies: Nokia, Finnish Rubber Works and Finnish Cable Works.

In 1865 Fredrik Idestam established a ground wood pulp mill in the town of Tampere (South Finland) and started manufacturing paper. Three years after he built another mill near the town of Nokia by the Nokiavirta river. In 1871 a statesman Leo Menchin who was also Fredrik's friend joined him in paper business and together they founded the Nokia Company which is still known by its original name.

At the end of 19th Century Mechelin took over as the company's chairman. With his help in 1902 company entered into electricity business. 

In 1898 another great company was created. Eduard Polon established Finish Rubber Works that was manufacturing galoshes and other rubber products. This company started using Nokia's electricity. 

In 1912 the Finish Cable Works was founded by Arvid Winchstrom. It became the biggest producer of telephone, telegraph and electrical cables. 

Shortly after the World War I the Nokia experienced financial downfall and was almost bankrupt. The Finnish Rubber Works decided to buy it in order to continue electricity supply from Nokia's generators. Eleven years later the company became a new owner of Finnish Cable Works. In 1967 the three companies merged to form a Nokia Corporation. At this point companies business included production of paper products, tires, cables, electronics, PCs, robotics, military communications and chemicals. Nevertheless, the board decided to step away from the consumers products and focus on the growing perspective of communication business. The more attention was driven to earlier created electronics section of the company's cable division. 

In 1970 the company developed the Nokia DX 200, a digital switch for telephone exchanges. Nine years after this Nokia merged with Salora Oy and on the sixth year into the merger it bought all of the companies shares. In 1984 Nokia acquired Telefonno Company and changed its name to the Nokia Telecomunications. The same year it introduced one of the world's first handheld phones. In 1991 company's equipment was used to make the world's first GSM call. 

In 1992 with the beginning of the Technology Revolution took a strategic plan and focused on its telecommunications business. By the end of the 20th Century Nokia became the world's leader of mobile phone industry.