"..Nokia, the McDonalds of mobile phones.." Brian Barrett
Nokia World, London, has just finished, A good time to ponder; 'what the feck are Nokia doing??'
You could easily, If you were the new CEO Stephen Elop, just keep going. Nokia is the biggest global manufacturer of mobile phones. Outside of America it pretty much dominates each market it is in. Interbrand have just put them at number 8 in its list of 100 top global brands.
But, as the McDonalds quote above points out. Nokia is a dull brand, standing for hum drum phones. Nokia is the go-to brand for a buttoned down version of someone else's smart idea.
Funnily enough in most markets, especially Europe, Nokia's marketing communication are innovative and eye catching. Pretty much everything the phones are not. HERE
Should Nokia change? McDonalds make a ton of money, with little concern over 'innovation' other than repurposing existing cultural trends. HERE
But Nokia are smart. Nokia is a technology company. The DNA of such bodies is innovation. Nokia must change. (like they used to) HERE
School of the obvious really but they need to be extraordinary rather than just 'good'. They could pick either Android or Windows platform and just nail the perfect bespoke device for that platform. Ultimate corperate sharing would be building the best, most open, open device for developers. Think about Foursquare, its fun and engaging, but pretty enclosed. Facebook Places on the other hand could be epic, we have not seen anything like the potential of this as developers haven't fully got to grips with it yet.
Don't listen to focus groups. Next step usage comes from being brave. I love the location features in OVi but it's like a collection of neat apps rather than a brand statement.
Nokia have the technology to do something truly mind-bending. Not in how you lay out the buttons but in the interface. How users emotions change when using a device is only just being touched on. The current LSE project Mappiness is the tiny tip of a huge iceberg. There isn't a device or platform hack yet, that can alter itself by the mood of the user. But thats what we do when we punch in requests. We change. (unlike Nokia)
Consumer happiness is driven by discovery, delight by surprise.
Location > Emotion > Function.