December 21, 2006
The wheels on the bus
Was sat in window of Starbucks in the City of London last week looking at the traffic go by and tapping away at my keyboard.
Vodafone ad. Family price plan.
Vodafone ad. Pre-paid plan.
Nokia ad. We’ll rejuvenate your love life.
Just think: Nokia’s products get visibly better every year. They’re connecting to their customers at a deep emotional level. Vodafone’s products don’t really change much. They’re selling based on price, not benefits or lifestyle.
Which brand do you think will win in the tussle for the customer’s loyalty? Answers on the back of a bank note, please, to the usual address.
Posted by Martin Geddes at 10:28 AMTrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.telepocalypse.net/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/mgeddes/MT/mt-tb.cgi/831.
It should be pointed out that this is just one ad in the series (and the others aren't quite so love-centric). And you miss out another vital point.
Nokia: listen to music on your phone. Oh, and then call someone. Because it's a phone. In case you forgot.
It's part of a bigger TV ad campaign, in which 3,000 are "played one song, and given one free phone call." The fact that they're flipping the phone's use around is, I think, the most startling bit about the campaign. What next: buy coffee with your mobile? Oh no, wait...
The surprising thing to me is why Nokia even care, nowadays, whether you make a call or not!?
Do they really need to remind us that it's a phone?
Perhaps they will start collecting statistics and begin to demand revenue share from the operators because the ARPU is higher with a Nokia.
Whatever way you look at it, the operator is becoming marginalised.
Merry Christmas!
Hi,
Nokia is TRYING to connect on a deep emotional level. I don't believe that they are doing the right things currently. There ads try to create an aspirational lifestyle. That way of marketing is very old school and very mass marketing oriented. Consumers don't buy the stories and you don't connect emotionally. They should focus more on intrinsic product values(design, materials, recycling, production) and company transparancy. Nokia's advantage is that there product is tangible.. It gives you more ways to differentiate and more ways to link it to various lifestyles(hate the word). In the end Nokia will stay a bigger brand.