Nokia's Marketing Manager Geraldine Wong tells the BRATs about what young people mean to them, and what they are doing to capture the youth market in their industry.
Why are the youths important to Nokia?
Every consumer, regardless of age, is important to us. We feel that it is critical for us to provide products that fulfill both form and function for a wide range of people and we believe we are doing just that. Youths will the ones who will experience the greatest changes when it comes to mobile devices. They are conversant in technology and are virtually fearless when it comes to trying something new.
When we design our products, it is with a mind to give this segment of the market a mobile device that meets and surpasses their needs. Not to sound clichéd, but they are the future for Nokia.
What does Nokia think the youths are looking for these days?
They are looking for a device that does it all. The ability to surf the Internet, listen to music, take photographs, record special moments via video and share these images and video with friends is so important. The ability to do it with one device is key. And they want to look cool doing it. The Nokia 3250 is a great example of a device that offers youth today such a combination. It looks great and yet does not compromise on features.
Music is so important to youth today and we think that this device delivers the best while making them the envy of all their friends.
How do you gauge what youths want?
We conduct extensive research in the market and we also find ways to talk to youths. We have a numbers of programmes that allow us to connect with Malaysian youth to see what is driving them today.
The recent Nokia Defend Your Turf Challenge was meant to reach out to youths and to appeal to what they find interesting. The same can be said of the AND1 Streetball Challenge that is being run with The Star. We have found youths are keen to find ways to express themselves but in healthy ways and we are keen to support that.
Another example is the Upstart programme that we run each year for aspiring artists – in the fine art and audio-visual categories.
How have they responded?
We think that youths have responded very positively to our events. All of the activities that I have spoken of have drawn tremendous turnout and support from youths.
We have seen record numbers of participants turn out for futsal, street basketball and also for our arts programme – a sign that we make sense to youths in Malaysia.
Do you have any future plans to try to further strengthen your hold on this market?
We are always looking for ways to speak to youths – and we will continue to plan for this in the future. Our goal is to give Malaysian youths a space where they can express themselves.
Nokia has found ways to work with The Star and R.AGE (The Star's pullout for young people available at selected colleges and universities around the country) to conduct mobile film-making challenges to give youths a creative way to express themselves.
We also plan to have imaging workshops where youths will get an “education” on the best ways to use their Nokia devices to capture and express their creativity. Who knows? We may find the next Richard Avedon or Ang Lee right here in Malaysia!
What are the challenges you face in trying to capture the youth market?
We can only hope that we are addressing the needs of youths today by providing them with the right devices that allow them to enjoy being youths! Also, judging by the response to our Upstart programme and also to the Nokia Defend Your Turf Challenge and the AND1 Streetball Challenge, we believe we are more than meeting that challenge.
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