Market Segmentation of Nokia
In the 21st century, it is hard to even imagine going a day without technology. It has become a part of our everyday lives. But let’s narrow it down a little bit getting to something as simple as a smartphone. Once we purchase a phone we use it for years. And it is necessary from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed again. So, any guesses on which brand we are discussing today? It is Nokia, which has been around since 1865. In the following blog, we are going to talk about the market segmentation strategies of Nokia.
To start off, we’re going to discuss the segmentation strategy of Nokia.
To be able to do so, let’s watch the following commercial.
The commercial provides a very peaceful feeling. The calm music and colors chosen for it allow us to think so. We see 2 people communicating with each other through a video call. It is probably safe to assume that they are a mother and a son. The son is away in college, and his mom is back home. We see the way they interact to keep their connection. Even on birthdays, they make sure to call each other.
But somewhere along the video, we see how it eventually gets challenging and exhausting. It is hard to try to live in the moment but also make sure you are not hurting your loved ones. It makes both of the characters pretty emotional. Towards the ending of the video, judging by the Christmas tree, we can guess that it is the Holidays. Which is not a time to feel lonely. So we see that the kid comes back home to surprise his mom.
And in the end, on the screen, we see these words: “Switch off this Christmas. Give the gift of you.” It is amazing how Nokia, as a mobile company, acknowledges the fact that nothing can exceed face-to-face communication. Even a real-time call where you are able to see the other person.
So, what hints are we getting from this ad? Well, the first and most significant one is the family orientation. The whole point of this video was the bond between a mother and a son and how they do everything to keep it strong. The home vibe is another thing. A lot of the video is structured around their home and the comfort of it.
And the peacefulness as well. Try watching this video one day when you’re feeling extra angry. Well, it is probably safe to say that the mentioned points lead us to one conclusion. The segment that Nokia has chosen to target is Floaters.
Target Audience: Floaters
Lifestyle and values.
First and foremost, as we already briefly mentioned, Floaters are super family-oriented. The traditional mindset of men being the breadwinners and women being stay-at-home moms is very valued. Because women in this segment like to spend most of their time at home, in the kitchen, cooking good food for the family.
Let’s not forget about cleaning. It is another important chore. It is more important to do their duties than to do things that could be more fun and enjoyable. Even though the family budget is low, Floaters do everything of their power to do the best for their household.
This segment loves their home. It is the center of their world, their safe space, and their peaceful environment. They feel fulfilled going home after a long and eventful day. Floaters do not really care about themselves. They do not go out of their way to get super fashionable and good-looking clothes. A comfortable pair of pants and a t-shirt will do. And they do not try to come off to people differently than they are.
When it comes to professional lives, Floaters like consistency. They don’t work for promotions or for pursuing a career. But the simple reasoning behind work is earning money. This segment is not a leader. Meaning that they’d rather be told what to do by their superiors than take matters into their own hands. And the same strategy goes for choosing partners. Floaters prefer stable and long-term relationships.
Attitude to shopping.
Floaters like to be smart when it comes to spending money. Always making sure to take discounts and special offers into consideration. Every penny matters. This only makes it understandable that this segment mainly a down-market brand purchaser.
This segment prefers quantity over quality. It is better to purchase a few things with lower prices and have them be of average or low quality than to get one good quality item of that collective price. For example, they like Croatian brands because of their affordability. However, goods belonging to these brands are often of poor quality.
New brands or up-and-coming products are in the furthest back of Floaters’ minds. It takes them a long time to get a product that has just come out.
Interesting facts about Floaters:
They like
- A peaceful life, concentrated around home
- Spending free time at home
- A calm evening with family, rather than going out
- A daily walk as an exercise
- Meeting their extended family on the weekends
- Visiting and going back to familiar places
- Being around nature
- Watching TV for staying up to date
- Watching and listening to local news, sports broadcasts, request shows, talk shows, police news, and series
Floaters don’t like
- Doing sports or attending social events
- Reading international papers and magazines because they aren’t into finding out what is happening in other environments
- Using the internet
- Using computers, because they are confusing
- Listening to the radio.
Positioning Plan of Nokia
In 2007, Nokia was named the 5th Best Global Brand. And it has been in the top 10 for almost a decade. So, how is it so successful and valuable?
The mobile industry is incredibly competitive. With so many brands available around the world, each of them has to make sure that they’re offering something special and different. Nokia does everything possible to build a good and trusted relationship with its consumers. Factors that contribute to it are its technology innovation, fun spirit, and design. It goes with the following slogans: “Connecting people”, “Human technology”. Now, let’s dive a little deeper.
How is it human technology? What is it about Nokia that makes it so ‘human’? Different Nokia phones come with a variety of faceplates and colors. Which makes it possible for the user to go with his or her taste. Maybe today they are feeling anxious, so a calm light blue is what they go for.
Nokia has this ‘consumer first mindset’. And it is a very important value because consumer satisfaction is one of the deciding factors of whether a brand is doing well.
Nokia mobile phones come in five categories. Those are broad appeal, lifestyle products, entry, CDMA, and Vertu. This company makes sure to offer smartphones that will not only be a good communication tool but also a stylistic addition. All of that taken into consideration that depending on one’s financial situation, different people can afford different phones. So a variety of price range is offered by Nokia. For example, there is an 18-carat yellow gold or stainless steel phone that is most likely to be purchased by wealthy people.
A recent thing that Nokia has chosen to go for is its Nokia.mobi website. This allowed it to be not only a handset manufacturer but also an internet company. Predictably celebrity buzz, music, and information on Nokia’s services are what is available here.
A strategy that Nokia uses is keeping its consumers connected through different sides of the world. It strives to be leading in “human technology”. In fact, associated with it, in 2008, the company launched “Nokia Connectors”. The latter is a marketing campaign trying to re-engage the youth market.
So how did they make this campaign work? So basically a street magician was performing tricks while using a Nokia handset, and a deck of cards. This was an awesome way of showing the new features of the new handsets. This goes to show that Nokia wants to provide a fun spirit.
In other words, these mentioned points collectively go under how Nokia has built its brand positioning and how it sticks to it.
And now, another point that we will discuss is the Marketing Strategy of Nokia through the Marketing Mix of the brand.
A marketing mix examines the 4Ps regarding a company. Those are product, price, place, and promotion. Let’s look at each of those Ps one by one.
Product: Nokia products widely differ from others because they create products for the widest range of people. They were the ones that created feature phones proceeding to smartphones. A lot of designs are also available, smartphones, touch screens, slide sets, and so on. One noteworthy thing about a Nokia product is how long-lasting it is. The company also puts out computers and tablets.
There are a lot of firsts that this company has accomplished. It was the first one to produce a phone with an antenna inside, the first smartphone built-in camera, and the SMS functionality.
Pricing: Nokia makes sure that people from different social classes can find their desired product within its brand.
The price ranges of Nokia phones are as wide as differing from 30 to 3000 dollars. Actually, there are phones that cost even lower than 30 dollars but they lack some features.
There are services such as Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive, and Nokia music that are free for its users. Regardless of the price the quality is still high. The products are both durable and reliable.
This pricing strategy attracts so many consumers. It is good to know you can easily choose a reliable company when needed.
Place: There’s this thing that Nokia lacked which is selling to its consumers directly. Instead, it sells its products through operator tie-ups, such as T-Mobile, independent retailers, and modern trade retailers. Those include supplied stores, online marketplaces, and, of course, the website itself.
In the beginning, Nokia would only target urban consumers. But eventually, with the products that it was launching, it also moved to rural areas. This made it possible for targeting a bigger segment of the population.
At some point, Nokia became available in over 120 countries.
Promotion: Nokia makes sure to use all of its media channels to let the world know about its new products. In order to be well known in the global smartphone market, Nokia has partnered up with windows. As a result, they created the Lumia phones which were pretty successful.
Nokia also got associated with brand ambassadors. An example of those is Shahrukh Khan. This was a good way to bring people together through handsets.
And, of course, advertisements, billboards, newspapers, posters, and display stands are another way of promotion that this brand used.
Also, dealers and distributors selling their products were trained by the company.
To sum up, this blog was about the overall Market Segmentation of Nokia. We gave insights about its segmentation and positioning strategies and finished the theme with the company’s marketing mix. If you liked this blog, make sure to visit our main page for a lot more.
