Savia Jane Pinto
Media

Emvies 2009: The power of touch for Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

The Nokia 5800 heralded the entry of touch screen phones for Nokia; the media agency used radio to bring to life the power of touch

The second day of the Emvies shortlisted entries case studies presentation had eight categories. Maxus made presentations for Nokia in two of these categories, Best Media Strategy – Consumer Durables and the Best Media Innovation – Radio for Nokia XpressMusic.

The presentation in the Best Media Strategy category, titled 'Redefining the way mobile phones are sold', delved into the introduction of a strong music-based touch screen Nokia phone. In the Best Media Innovation category, Maxus used radio to introduce the new set of touch phones from Nokia.

Emvies 2009: The power of touch for Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
Nokia has for a long time been almost synonymous with mobile phones. Also, when it comes to an entry level phone among the masses, Nokia is known to be the preferred choice. However, the same does not necessarily hold true when it comes to upgrading one's phone. Also, touch phones were available among other brands and Nokia hadn't yet introduced a touch phone variety. Close to 50 per cent drop was noted in youth scores with no product in this space.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone was the first touch phone from the Nokia stable, after facing stiff competition from Sony Ericsson in the music category. Maxus's aim for Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic phones was that if one has to upgrade, it should be a Nokia.

About 16 different handset communications bombard the consumer and in order to minimise spill over, Maxus realised that it was necessary not to bombard the target audience. Maxus understood that a one to one conversation was needed when selling a person's most personal device. It religiously spoke to specific people and avoided any kind of spill over.

The radio led activity was carried out by Maxus in six metros across 30 malls in five weeks, every Saturday between 5-9 pm, in association with Big 92.7 FM. At the malls, giant touch screens were created and an RJ (radio jockey) from the radio station was also present. The activity was about letting the people be RJ's for a while and during the time, they could play whatever content they liked. The entire programming of the radio station was loaded onto the giant screen, which also had a library of songs which the RJ of the moment could choose from.

All this to get people to experience how they could touch, play and share music.

Thus, close to 10,000 RJs were created for one radio station. To popularise the event, promos on radio and outdoor activities inviting participation was carried out.

Following the personalised communication and the radio activity, Nokia managed to retain previous users who wanted to upgrade and also earned a few converts.

The statistics speak of huge volumes. 60,000 units were sold within three weeks of the launch. About 58 per cent reduction in costs was achieved, saving monies that could create another campaign. Nearly 55,000 consumers participated in the 20 minute product demonstration and 6,000 registered to buy the product on the spot. The entry also won a bronze Lion in the Best Use of Radio category this year.

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com