Nokia

Last week I went to an interview for a graduate training scheme at an advertising agency. They asked me "What campaign do you really wish you could have worked on?" For me, the answer to this was clear.

There's been a lot of buzz recently surrounding Nokia and the overhaul it has undergone in order to reposition itself in the smart phone market as a trendy product for young people. The brand has just launched their new Lumia range. Prior to this launch, Nokia apparently held 1.4% of the smart phone market share, compared to Blackberry and Apple's shares at around 20% each. This is actually staggering, especially given that they have actually been producing smart phones for quite a few years now. And it's not like they have been particularly behind in keeping up to date with apps and services - Nokia were actually one of the main companies to pioneer satnav services. 

As far as I'm concerned, Nokia has always done a lot to engage with the public. Working as a Nokia Connector during my second year at uni I got to experience first hand the majority of their communication endeavours. Nokia being as large a company as it is, these were not small either. 

The public enjoy a Christmas game
outside the Nokia flagship store in
2009

Participants who texted in a destination
for the huge sign to point at could win
an Alexandra Burke gig in their town

Sports events sponsorships such as the Royal Parks Half Marathon and Thames Swim, a Finnish-inspired Christmas event on Regent Street complete with fake snow, the huge digital arrow the appeared over London and was controlled by onlookers sending through their destination of choice - these are all large scale promotions, involving celebrities such as Marco Pierre White and Alexandra Burke, and do well to demonstrate Nokia's global reach and strength. 

At the time there was also a lot going on to attract the youth market too. The whole point of the Nokia Connectors programme that I worked on was to get young people interested in Nokia again. Day-to-day we were out on campuses all over Britain talking to students about the untapped potential of Nokia phones.  And loyal to Nokia's high impact marketing activities such as the ones I mentioned above, we were also getting everyone talking about large scale marketing activities such as free-for-Nokia-owners gigs with the likes of Rihanna and JLS, Nokia's sponsorship of Misfits including a competition to win a ticket to a Misfits party, and a really exciting competition for one lucky young person to win the chance to be Nokia's first entertainment reporter.

Having been on the front line and able to view the reactions of young people to these promotions, I think it's safe to say that there was something amiss. This was the time when Blackberry and Apple were really dominating the smartphone market; literally everyone we spoke to owned either an iPhone or a Blackberry, and those who were still yet to upgrade had already been bowled over by the popularity of these brands and weren't interested in hearing about any other options.

Times have changed, however, and providers such as Samsung and Motorola are reclaiming some of the market share. It is a prime time for Nokia to come out with something really special. Lo and behold, the Nokia Lumia.

Pretty, no?

There's a ridiculous amount of advertising going on for these phones - three times as much investment as any other past launch to be precise. It's all part of their 'marketing revolution'which involves TV and press ads, in-store digital displays, a vamped up social media strategy, an X Factor partnership, and much more.

Thanks to my year-long stint on the Nokia Connectors marketing team, I am an owner of the Nokia 5800. With Comes With Music and GPS, this model is a fair attempt at a smart phone. At the time of its launch, however, it was not enough to even come close to its competitors. The Lumia range seems to promise something distinctive from previous Nokia models, and I will be considering it when writing my letter to Santa this year. Given my experiences so far with Nokia smart phones (it is frustrating to say the least trying to get people interested about a phone that isn't better than the one they currently own, not to mention one that keeps malfunctioning), I think this is a testament to the power of this 'marketing revolution' that Nokia has rolled out for this product launch, and I talked for probably too long to my interviewers about how I wish I could have been involved in it.  It would have made a great change to work on a Nokia product that was actually marketable to young people.

Are the Lumia phones as good as the advertising makes them seem? Have I been duped by this glorious Lumia campaign? I'll let you know on Boxing Day.



How Old Spice is keeping it New Spice

Like many, I was a big fan of the Old Spice adverts when they came out. Their captivating, humourous and memorable ads were original and created what you might call a phenomenon - I don't have the market data, but I think it's safe to say that there was a definite buzz around the brand and the campaign. The marketing activity that followed is a testament to this...

The first to follow the tv adverts came a viral campaign starring Isaiah Mustafa ('The Man Your Man Could Smell Like' from the TV ads).

"Today could be just like the other 364 days you log into twitter, or maybe the Old Spice man shows up", tweeted @OldSpice to get the ball rolling.

Via various social media channels, fans were encouraged to put their previously unanswerable questions to the Old Spice Guy, and hundreds of Youtube videos followed containing his Old Spice-inspired answers, from revealing his hobbies of "building environmental damns and log skiing chalets", to an offer to adopt one particular fan.

I really enjoyed these videos (along with pretty much everyone); I thought that it was a great way to engage consumers in the brand. For a product that has most likely spent recent years on the bottom shelf in Morrisons, its elevation to top of the viral video chart is a mighty transition. It certainly comprised a cheap option to maximise return on investment, if the reactions on the blogosphere are anything to go by:

• On day 1 the campaign received almost 6 million views - more views than Barack Obama's victory speech;
• The Old Spice YouTube channel became the all-time most viewed channel; 
• The Old Spice Twitter following increased 2700%;
• Facebook fan interaction was up 800%.

Sales also increased massively - a huge success for Old Spice! But hold your horses (especially your gleaming white horse Isaiah), as the brand's next move is, well, questionable. 

For me, this falls a bit flat. I feel like the script is nowhere near as strong as that which first enticed us to desire that our other half smell like a man, man. The randomness is no longer novel, it's just hard to follow what's being said and quite irritating. As Urlesque blog put it:

"Dear Old Spice guy...your performance was flawless, as usual, but the dialogue sounded like it was written by a reporter suffering from a bad migraine, or someone who just read the Wikipedia article on Dadaism for the first time. Can this ad take me something something distant cultures? Yes. No. I don't know. Is this really an advertisement, or is it just an experiment to see whether viewers even pay attention to the words coming out of your handsome face?"

It feels like we've moved away from light-hearted and whimsical to desperate. This is emphasised even more so by the recent experiential campaign of a University tour, which gave 'lucky' fans the opportunity to be photographed sitting on a white horse, just like their Old Spice idol. Is it just me who thinks this is really weak? (Although for the record I do admire the charity aspect where the tour supported Movember activity).

The popularity of the original tv ad was both a blessing and a curse for the creators, Wieden and Kennedy. How to continue to successfully market the brand, without falling victim to accusations of milking the comedy cow? Introducing a new character, as they decided to do, seems a risky business given Isaiah's huge fan base, but they played up to this fan loyalty by creating a rival character, one who was jealous of the uber-manly Isaiah. Fabio differs from Isaiah and acts in a typical bad guy fashion, but still exuberates the original alpha male qualities of the brand.

 

In addition, the battle element utilised the power of viral marketing, inciting huge numbers of web users to have their say about the new face of the brand and further perpetuate the brand in the minds of the public, with measurable results of engagement: the campaign drew more than 53,000 YouTube comments and 68,000 new Facebook fans. 

Bearing in mind that their previous successes equal an increasingly difficult challenge to keep communications 'spicy' (forgive me, it had to be done), it will be interesting to see what W&K will come up with next for Old Spice.