Innovate or Stagnate: Nokia’s Mistakes Provide Lessons For Mobile Marketers » mobilegroove

Whether you are a marketer or a handset manufacturer, you either innovate or fail. Nokia has learned the hard way.

In an eye-opening leaked memo from Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, the company acknowledged its missteps while calling for a reinvention.

“While competitors poured flames on our market share, what happened at Nokia?” Elop answered this question with an explanation that openly admits what we have suspected all along: Nokia lost the plot.

As Elop put it: “We fell behind, we missed big trends, and we lost time. At that time, we thought we were making the right decisions; but, with the benefit of hindsight, we now find ourselves years behind.”

Indeed, the first Apple iPhone shipped in 2007, and Nokia still lacks a “product that is close to their experience.” Android is also kicking sand in Nokia’s face. It broke on the scene just over two years ago and this week, Elop tells us, “they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable.”

How and why did Nokia fall so far behind? Elop does some soul searching and concludes: “I believe at least some of it has been due to our attitude inside Nokia. We poured gasoline on our own burning platform. I believe we have lacked accountability and leadership to align and direct the company through these disruptive times. We had a series of misses. We haven’t been delivering innovation fast enough. We’re not collaborating internally.”

Today Nokia announced a partnership with Microsoft to bring the American company’s operating system to new Nokia handsets. The arrangement may work – but not in the short-term. Elop has already  acknowledged that the real advancements will come in 2012.

HOW I SEE IT: Elop’s memo doesn’t just shake up the handset and services space. It is a wakeup call for all of us. The stagnant get trampled. The innovators take chances. Some win. Others flame out. In mobile marketing, the forward-thinkers drive sales, create loyalty, and engage with consumers in unique and valuable ways. They understand that marketing isn’t just coming to mobile. Mobile is revolutionizing marketing (as well as promotion, CRM and a wide array of interactions between brands and people). What will become of the marketers that lack this mindset (and this innovation)? They will be out of the industry before long.

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I’ve written in this space about donation programs that turn our older model mobile phones into money to assist battered women and other people in need of help and counseling. Frankly, disposing of outdated phones is tough to do. It’s not because we don’t want to; it’s because we haven’t had a really good reason to dig into those drawers. (I’ll bet many of us could go into a drawer and pull out a couple of mobile phones. At my house we count four unused feature phones (maybe more) in mothballs right now.)

Online marketplaces (example, eBay) and brick-and-mortar chains including Best Buy have introduced programs that offer us cash or store credit for our old model mobile phones.

What’s the deal? Best Buy’s buy-back plan is all about keeping you as a customer. Meantime, eBay’s promotion comes without strings attached.

In fact, eBay Instant Sale (effective through February 22) offers consumers cash guarantees of $200 for select functional smartphone models and up to $450 for AT&T iPhone 4s. According to a press release, eBay users can take a $200 guaranteed price on any functional iPhone 3GS, Motorola Droid X, HTC Evo 4G and Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant smartphone models. Customers can also receive a minimum of $200 and up to $450 for the AT&T iPhone 4 during the eBay Instant Sale promotion.

HOW I SEE IT: Nielsen believes that we’ll see 50 percent smartphone penetration in the U.S. by the end of 2011. But that shift will require consumers to trade up from their feature phones, a mobile makeover that will likely only come about if mobile operators offer free (subsidized) smartphones with contracts, or we see more schemes (such as the one from eBay) allow consumers to trade up or sell the devices they don’t want. As marketers, we should continue to plan mass smartphone adoption into our strategies. But we should also remember that – despite the wave of buy-back offers — there will still be more than 150,000 feature phones in circulation by the end of 2011.

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Super Bowl Sunday was anything but a super day for mobile marketers.

A record 111 million tuned in for the Super Bowl telecast. I’m guessing 110 million had their mobile devices within four feet of where they were. How sad that the only calls to action were texts from the sofa to the kitchen requesting more salsa and beer.

Super Bowl advertisers muffed another opportunity to truly engage.

So how could mobile been added to these brand messages to achieve impact and results? Let’s imagine the spots with mobile in mind.

• Best Buy kick-starts its buy back program with a call to action that drives consumers into the store for an exclusive opportunity to purchase the iPhone on Verizon.
• Chrysler offers fans an exclusive Eminem download at the end of the “Keep Detroit Beautiful” when they join a mobile affinity club for the new Chrysler 200.
• Verizon asks mobile users to text in their zip codes to learn how its network is superior to AT&T’s.
• GoDaddy requires users to opt in to watch a special mobile version of their “too hot for TV” commercial.

As we all know, none of these things happened.

HOW I SEE IT: As mobile marketers, we have to do a better job of talking up the ROI that mobile delivers — particularly when it is linked to loyalty. Fast-food restaurant chain Arby’s used mobile to build customer interaction that lasts. The case study (also reviewed by Peggy and her Mobile Mavens) used a live commercial on Jimmy Kimmel’s show to build 172 local opt-in databases packed with the details of consumers who want to be contacted by Arby’s. These are not one-off campaigns or customers; this is all about building relationships. But Arby’s is just one example. There are many more brands and companies that offer their customers meaningful loyalty clubs that began with a simple call to action. Reaching out to customers on their mobile phones was simple and did not distract from the branding or product introduction moment. To the contrary, it enhanced both and provided brands the opportunity to begin a database of loyal customers. I missed approaches like this during the Super Bowl. You would think that brands and marketers understand that the chance to engage 100 million at once is too great to squander. Well, maybe next year.

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A career author and sought-after speaker, Jeff Hasen builds, strengthens and protects brands. Companies benefiting from his talents have landed on Wired’s list of most innovative entities on Earth and been named pioneers and the early leader in the burgeoning mobile marketing category. Jeff co-created the certification program for the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). He is one of only two individuals certified by the MMA to train professionals and students on mobile marketing definitions, techniques and benefits. At Hipcricket, he conceived and led the execution of an accelerated rebranding effort in advance of the mobile marketing software and services company being named “the early leader in the mobile marketing space in the U.S.” by Frost and Sullivan. Hipcricket also won consecutive annual pioneer awards from CTIA — The Wireless Association. Follow Jeff on Twitter (@jeffhasen).

This entry was posted on Friday, February 11th, 2011 at 7:21 pm and is filed under Mobile Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.