nokia’s marketing strategy in india

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Introduction Mobile telephony was introduced in India in 1995. The first call

was made by Nokia 2110 on its own network.

The Indian government was not supportive to the new companies

of the industry.

As a result of unfriendly telecom policies, high licensing fees &

absence of a proper telecom regulatory body lead to exit of these

private players in the next few years.

The industry got a new life in 1999, when the Government of India

announced a new telecom policy.



Growth of mobile phone subscribers

No of mobile

subscribers

Time taken

(Year)

0 1 Million 1995-1998

1 5 Million 1998-2001

5 10 Million 2001-2002



Nokia has been the pioneer of mobile telephony in India, the

existence here is from 1994.

Although the conditions in Indian telecom industry were not

very conducive, Nokia maintained an aggressive strategy.

Consumers too were not interested in purchasing mobile

phones as call rates were as high as Rs16 per minute ($0.40).

Another problem faced by Nokia was highly competitive

environment in the industry.



Marketingstrategy



Nokia's key strategy has always been to lead the market onthe basis of technology as it has always held. The difference

it holds is the capability to be more sensitive to the people

with lower purchasing power which hold the major share of

these growing and developing countries market.

As noted by, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, the president and chief

executive of Finnish telecom giant Nokia India is now

Nokia's second-largest market, displacing the U.S. and

behind only China



Nokia came up with an Indiaspecific strategy

It adapted the to Indian conditions by launching new products and

enhancing the products with features designed specifically for

local customers promotional campaigns targeted at Indian

audience to gain a foothold in the market.

To capture the widespread Indian market, it developed an

extensive distribution network which also helped it take its

products to rural markets in India



Product

1998 was 51st year of Indian independence, hence Nokia provided the ring tone of National song Saare Jahan se Achha yeHindustan Hamara in 5110 model.

The introductory offer for this model also had inter-changeable

covers. The success of 5110 initiated Nokia to focus on feature-specific localization.

In1999, Hindi (national language, and mother tongue of 43%Indians) user interface was provided in Nokia 3210. Also, Nokiaalso tied up with Sony music for top 20 hit songs as ring tones.

Nokia 3210, became an instant hit. The model 3610 was launched with an enhancing Hindi text messaging facility in 2001.



The most successful customization came in 2003 when Nokia camewith 1100 and 1108 specifically designed for Indian market. It had

features of anti-slip grip, dust resistance and torchlight. Since, inIndia people dont know English in villages, Nokia came up withSaral Mobile Sandesh (SMS in Hindi).

Nokia was also the first handset manufacturer to launch gamesdownload in India in 2003. It had spearheaded the industry inonline distribution of tones, graphics and game downloads. Theseservices did not just increase their sale of mobile phones but werealso fruitful as they made huge profits by selling the games

Another feature that Nokia came up with attract youth was one

which enabled the customer to slide in his or her photograph or for that matter the loved ones,' in the picture frame behind the phone.



Nokia also tied up with Bharti cellular in 2005 to customize

its handsets through which its users could access multimedia

services by using an additional key on the mobile phone. Also many FM channels were introduced in India in early

2000s

Nokia has been associating with youth passions like Cool

Sports, Music, and Fashion. In the genre of Cool Sports,Nokia hosted the Ngage QD Gaming Championship, Defend

Your Turf, the first ever futsal Championship. Over the last

few years, in music Nokia has brought several world class

music artists including Shakira, Shaggy, Sting and Enrique

Iglesias to India. In Fashion, Nokia has a strong associationwith Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week and Nseries lifestyle

led campaigns amongst others.



Pricing

Research unveiled that phones of lower price range (below Rs8000

or $200 approx.) amounted for 65% of the total sales in India.

Nokia 1100, which was specially launched for India, was priced at

Rs. 4000.

The head of marketing at Nokia India, Sanjay Behl said, The

phone is a combination of product benefits and pricing



Place Mobile phones in India are considered as to be consumer

durable, hence they are not just sold through exclusive

telecom retailers but also through general retailers.

Nokia designed modeled its distribution strategy on lines of FMCG business.

In 1995, Nokia tied up with HCL Infinet for sales and

distribution of its phones and appointed them as Nokiadistributor for GSM handsets in India. They came up with

Nokia Professional Centers (NPCs), Nokia Priority Dealers

(NPDs) and redistribution stockiest all over India



Promotion

To build credentials the company used both print and

television campaigns

Cricket is considered a religion in India. Nokia has had astrong association with the sport through its

advertisements.

Recently, Nokia sponsored the ICC World Twenty20 2007

in South Africa. To its luck, India won the world cup and

this format of the game was an instant hit in India.



In 2007 itself, Nokia was the 'on air' sponsor for the West Indies World Cup and for the

Champions Trophy held in India, 2006

Endorsements by Shah Rukh Khan.

Association with Bollywoods OM SHANTI

OM

nokia’s marketing strategy in india

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