Nokia Lumia 900, Ads Proclaim, When You Can Have The Best, Why Settle For Less

Not too long ago Nokia was the undisputed king amongst the mobile handset business.  They were the most admired, respected and trusted mobile brand in the market. But suddenly they were outpaced by other players who toppled them from their lofty pedestals.

In an effort to regain lost ground, Nokia has unveiled a marketing strategy, which it hopes will revive its fortunes. Nokia’s strategy is to sell its Lumia Smartphone, by blatantly telling the prospective customer, that the iPhone’s and Android Phones that you are having are faulty incomplete “beta” devices and that you should replace it with the one Nokia is launching. The faults of IPhone and Android phones that the ads points out are designed to make you feel stupid and foolish for having purchased one.

The new campaign, called the Smartphone Beta Test has a series of videos, showing individuals discussing alleged flaws of some Smart phones that remain unnamed. However, an indistinct image that accompanies the videos, shows a phone that seems like an iPhone or Android phone. A narrator’s voice booms, saying “If you ever thought that maybe your Smartphone wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, that’s because it wasn’t.”

The flaws that the ads points out are that holding a handset in a particular way leads to loss of signal, another ad shows them squinting at the mobile screen and talking about the inability to see clearly what is on screen in the sunlight and the third one has a tongue-in-cheek suggestion, that fragile Smartphones are sold, so that the company can sell new ones. On the top of the ads, a timer ticks a countdown for the debut of the Lumia 900, scheduled for the eighth of this month suggesting that the wait to purchase a good device is not too far away.

The ads show that Nokia is targeting cell phone owners, who already have Smartphones. This is in compete contrast to its strategy for the Lumia 710, which was focused on first time buyers of Smartphones.

Given the stranglehold that iPhone and Android have in the Smartphone market, it does not seem very likely that Nokia, will manage to entice users away from those popular brands. However, it does seem that it’s series of ads coupled with the “biggest production introduction ever”   will put it on its path to regain lost glory.