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Introduction Mobile telephony was introduced in India in 1995. The first call
was made by Nokia 2110 on its own network.
The Indian government was not supportive to the new companies
of the industry.
As a result of unfriendly telecom policies, high licensing fees &
absence of a proper telecom regulatory body lead to exit of these
private players in the next few years.
The industry got a new life in 1999, when the Government of India
announced a new telecom policy.
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Growth of mobile phone subscribers
No of mobile
subscribers
Time taken
(Year)
0 1 Million 1995-1998
1 5 Million 1998-2001
5 10 Million 2001-2002
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Nokia has been the pioneer of mobile telephony in India, the
existence here is from 1994.
Although the conditions in Indian telecom industry were not
very conducive, Nokia maintained an aggressive strategy.
Consumers too were not interested in purchasing mobile
phones as call rates were as high as Rs16 per minute ($0.40).
Another problem faced by Nokia was highly competitive
environment in the industry.
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Marketingstrategy
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Nokia's key strategy has always been to lead the market onthe basis of technology as it has always held. The difference
it holds is the capability to be more sensitive to the people
with lower purchasing power which hold the major share of
these growing and developing countries market.
As noted by, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, the president and chief
executive of Finnish telecom giant Nokia India is now
Nokia's second-largest market, displacing the U.S. and
behind only China
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Nokia came up with an Indiaspecific strategy
It adapted the to Indian conditions by launching new products and
enhancing the products with features designed specifically for
local customers promotional campaigns targeted at Indian
audience to gain a foothold in the market.
To capture the widespread Indian market, it developed an
extensive distribution network which also helped it take its
products to rural markets in India
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Product
1998 was 51st year of Indian independence, hence Nokia provided the ring tone of National song Saare Jahan se Achha yeHindustan Hamara in 5110 model.
The introductory offer for this model also had inter-changeable
covers. The success of 5110 initiated Nokia to focus on feature-specific localization.
In1999, Hindi (national language, and mother tongue of 43%Indians) user interface was provided in Nokia 3210. Also, Nokiaalso tied up with Sony music for top 20 hit songs as ring tones.
Nokia 3210, became an instant hit. The model 3610 was launched with an enhancing Hindi text messaging facility in 2001.
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The most successful customization came in 2003 when Nokia camewith 1100 and 1108 specifically designed for Indian market. It had
features of anti-slip grip, dust resistance and torchlight. Since, inIndia people dont know English in villages, Nokia came up withSaral Mobile Sandesh (SMS in Hindi).
Nokia was also the first handset manufacturer to launch gamesdownload in India in 2003. It had spearheaded the industry inonline distribution of tones, graphics and game downloads. Theseservices did not just increase their sale of mobile phones but werealso fruitful as they made huge profits by selling the games
Another feature that Nokia came up with attract youth was one
which enabled the customer to slide in his or her photograph or for that matter the loved ones,' in the picture frame behind the phone.
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Nokia also tied up with Bharti cellular in 2005 to customize
its handsets through which its users could access multimedia
services by using an additional key on the mobile phone. Also many FM channels were introduced in India in early
2000s
Nokia has been associating with youth passions like Cool
Sports, Music, and Fashion. In the genre of Cool Sports,Nokia hosted the Ngage QD Gaming Championship, Defend
Your Turf, the first ever futsal Championship. Over the last
few years, in music Nokia has brought several world class
music artists including Shakira, Shaggy, Sting and Enrique
Iglesias to India. In Fashion, Nokia has a strong associationwith Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week and Nseries lifestyle
led campaigns amongst others.
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Pricing
Research unveiled that phones of lower price range (below Rs8000
or $200 approx.) amounted for 65% of the total sales in India.
Nokia 1100, which was specially launched for India, was priced at
Rs. 4000.
The head of marketing at Nokia India, Sanjay Behl said, The
phone is a combination of product benefits and pricing
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Place Mobile phones in India are considered as to be consumer
durable, hence they are not just sold through exclusive
telecom retailers but also through general retailers.
Nokia designed modeled its distribution strategy on lines of FMCG business.
In 1995, Nokia tied up with HCL Infinet for sales and
distribution of its phones and appointed them as Nokiadistributor for GSM handsets in India. They came up with
Nokia Professional Centers (NPCs), Nokia Priority Dealers
(NPDs) and redistribution stockiest all over India
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Promotion
To build credentials the company used both print and
television campaigns
Cricket is considered a religion in India. Nokia has had astrong association with the sport through its
advertisements.
Recently, Nokia sponsored the ICC World Twenty20 2007
in South Africa. To its luck, India won the world cup and
this format of the game was an instant hit in India.
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In 2007 itself, Nokia was the 'on air' sponsor for the West Indies World Cup and for the
Champions Trophy held in India, 2006
Endorsements by Shah Rukh Khan.
Association with Bollywoods OM SHANTI
OM