When the music’s over...
Finnish mobile handset giant Nokia has effectively conceded defeat in its expensive attempt to create a separate mobile services brand, by announcing it will be rebranding Ovi as ‘Nokia services'.
Ovi, which means door in Finnish, was launched in 2007 at an event called ‘Nokia Go Play' in London. Appropriately enough it shared the stage with two other subsequently failed brands: the N-Gage gaming service and Nokia Music. Given that the iPhone also launched in 2007, this launch probably marked the defining moment in Nokia's inadequate response to the nascent threat from Apple.
"The industry is converging towards Internet driven experiences and Ovi represents Nokia's vision in combining the Internet and mobility," said former CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, replaced last year for his relative failure in the smartphone market, at the time. "Nokia is the number one mobile device company in the world. Looking into the future, we will deliver great devices, combined with compelling experiences and services, to make it easy for people to unlock the potential of the Internet."
In retrospect, when Nokia is and remains such a strong brand, it's easy to question whether or not it was such a great idea to try to develop several new services brands. But then, if the delivery and consumer acceptance of these services had been better, it probably wouldn't have mattered what they had been branded. Sorry marketing people, it still comes down to the quality of the product in the end.
"We have made the decision to change our service branding from Ovi to Nokia," said Nokia CMO Jerri DeVard. "By centralizing our services identity under one brand, not two, we will reinforce the powerful master brand of Nokia and unify our brand architecture." Brand architecture?
"The reasons for this decision includes the fact that Nokia is a well-known and highly-loved brand the world over. Our mobile experiences are tightly integrated with our devices - there is no longer a differentiation."
As well as an admission that the Ovi brand has failed, this move appears to be paving the way for the big move to Windows Phone 7. How Nokia and Microsoft reconcile their overlapping services will be a key factor in determining how coherent and attractive the NokiaSoft offering will be. The change is due to be completed by the end of next year, by which time the first NokiaSoft handsets should be established in the market.
This announcement makes us wonder how much further the Microsoft and Nokia internet services operations will be integrated as the NokiaSoft deal becomes reality.
