Nokia to launch major new 'challenger' marketing strategy

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) plans to be unveil a new marketing campaign that positions the former industry leader as a "challenger" in the market. In an interview with AdAge, Nokia's Chief Marketing Officer Tuula Rytila hinted that the company will have bolder creative with a goal of reigniting the Nokia brand and bringing meaning, relevancy and emotion to the brand.

Specifically Rytila said that she and her team will focus less on building awareness, which was the goal of Nokia's marketing campaign that debuted in late 2011 to introduce its new Lumia phones, and more on demonstrating the capabilities of the devices in a retail environment.

Rytila was cagey when asked whether Nokia would increase its marketing budget. Instead she said that the firm is working closely with partner Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and its customers to make sure that it has bigger marketing budgets available. "There's a lot of noise in the marketplace and we need to make sure our message gets across," she said.

This isn't the first time Nokia has talked about aligning its marketing message with those of its partners. Earlier this year, Ifi Majid, Nokia's head of product marketing for North America, told FierceWireless that Nokia was working with Microsoft and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) to coordinate their marketing messages for the newly launched Lumia 928. Majid said that Nokia learned lessons from launching the Lumia 920 with AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) late last year and that though awareness about Windows Phone grew, there needed to be a clearer message about why people should buy a Lumia Windows Phone.

Nokia clearly needs to beef up its marketing in order to reverse its sales slump. The company's net sales were down 27.9 percent in 2012 to $38.31 billion, from $53.85 billion in 2011.

According to AdAge, the company spent $1.27 billion worldwide in 2012 on advertising and promotions, which was a 25 percent decrease compared to 2011.

For more:
- see this AdAge article
- see this CNET article

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