Nokia Windows Phone Likely to Miss Holidays in U.S.

Nokia is currently evaluating agencies to launch its Windows Phones planned for 2012, according to a briefing document, and has tapped a little-known independent London shop to lead marketing for the new handsets. It's specifically looking for a San Francisco-area digital agency to "dimensionalize" the global creative idea "Amazing Everyday." What does that mean exactly? "Hidden away in the everyday landscape are billions of little adventures," the brief says. "And the new Nokia with Windows Phone makes it easier to find them, to take part in them and to share them." Meanwhile, the leading manufacturers of both smart and feature phones in the U.S. -- Samsung, LG, Motorola, Apple and Research in Motion, in that order, according to ComScore -- have raised the stakes in handset marketing in the U.S. America's smartphone craze especially has brought a flood of new dollars: Samsung's media spending was up 52% in between 2009 and 2010 here, LG was up 10% in that period, Apple's up 19% and spending on the brand "BlackBerry" was up 46.6%, according to Ad Age DataCenter. The only top-five handset marketer missing from Ad Age 's lists of top U.S. 100 advertisers or 200 brands by spending is Motorola. So was Nokia. As a last-ditch attempt to become relevant in the new world of smartphones and platforms increasingly dominated by Apple and Google, Nokia has a lot riding on the upcoming Windows Phone. As in the past, focusing on Europe first appears to be the strategy. "Nokia needs to protect its foothold in Europe before it can even think about other markets," said one executive familiar with the company's marketing. The Finnish company has traditionally spent the bulk of its $200-million-plus global budget in Europe. This summer, Nokia selected independent London shop Inferno Group and parted ways with its longtime agency Wieden and Kennedy. Inferno's campaign for Nokia's Windows Phone will launch this week, likely at the London event where Mr. Elop is expected to unveil the new device. Nokia declined comment for this story. That commitment to Europe may also explain why, ahead of the holidays, Microsoft's President-Windows Phone Andrew Lees touted bigger marketing pushes from other manufacturers using its software, such as Samsung and HTC Corp., in comments to Bloomberg this month. Last year, Microsoft dedicated more than $57 million in U.S. measured media to launch Windows Phone in the fourth quarter, according to Kantar, but is opting for a multi-product holiday campaign featuring Xbox and Windows Office alongside its mobile software this year. Like Astound, which wasn't a blockbuster by any means, the 2012 Windows Phones in the U.S. are targeting first-time smartphone buyers, according to the brief, as well as defectors from iPhone and Android. By 2012, more than half of U.S. consumers are expected to carry smartphones already. There have also been some geographic shifts among Nokia's marketing ranks, since its new American chief marketer Jerri DeVard, who's clocked 25 years at U.S. companies such as Verizon, Citigroup and Pillsbury, was installed. Ms. DeVard has moved from the U.S. to London since taking the post, and stateside marketing has shifted from White Plains, N.Y., to Sunnyvale, Calif. It's unclear if the domestic move was to get closer to Microsoft, or the Valley that grew leading U.S. smartphone leaders iPhone and Android.

Nokia Windows Phone Likely to Miss Holidays in U.S.

Featured Stories