Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

I've been talking a lot about who the nokia n900 is for, as a user group and got a lot of opinions, the vast majority saying it should be targeted primarily at Power Users, then Techies then Mass Market..

So given this - how do we help Nokia advertise the n900. Where do you think it will have the biggest impact and what would you propose as a theme for the advert?

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

I think with TV out, the PC/netbook market is its sweet spot. It must be emphasised that Maemo is the same OS situation we've enjoyed on our home PC in our pocket, and it only needs a finger to operate. It is NOT a geek tool only, and as long as we keep saying it, we'll scare away others.

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

TV Out, Social Media Integration, Multi-task, Business applications, Audio/Visual Media mgmt,


I would like to see a make it your own or "what's your flavor" mentality. to differentiate from apples "any color you want as long as it is black" mentality.

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

TV, definitely.

However, it's going to be a hard sell simply because there's no desktop ubiquity of iTunes - which was brought in backdoor through iPods and later utilized by iPhones.

Social media will be an odd sell. And one I fear will end in backlash - the average Twitter and Facebook user isn't that savvy.

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

TV in the US on MTV and BET. Also during Sunday football games. Product demos in the parking lot of Best Buy and Fry's Electronics.

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

No iTunes support won't hold it back. What device(s) use it?? And I bet someone figures out how to sync the player to iTunes, but why? I don't quite understand what you mean? What does iTunes have to do with the N900? I think you overestimate how much people like iTunes.

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

how about Nokia for a start. Here "down under" (Aus/NZ) its not even listed as an upcoming device on Nokia's(.com.au/.co.nz) web site.

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

Not what I meant at all.

It's not about iTunes at all. Allow me to reiterate and explain better before more misunderstandings continue.

The fact that there is not a centralized application - something as pervasive as iTunes has become since you had to use that for the majority of the iPod purchases (you know, for the millions and millions of iPods out there) - for the N900 there's no such application. You could argue and say "it's the operating system" but people want an app/app suite that they've used before that ties in their contacts, media and whatnot that's currently in use or has mainstream use.

Personally, that doesn't matter to me. I'll make it work since I'm not truly tied down to one set of apps - iTunes on Mac, Zune on PC for music for instance.

I'm talking about the soccer mom's and tech un-savvy that might see this on a commercial, like how it looks, think that it might match their Monday and Wednesday attire, buy it like it's an accessory - trust me, I've heard this from other iPhone owners that... matched the iPhone and accessories to the interior of their car or to their computer monitor (no joke) - and they will look for the easily found answers of how to get their contacts on the phone.

That's what I mean. What mainstream apps can sync their contacts, music, and make it easy for the layman? That's not for me to answer, that's for Nokia. And so far, it's not a set of popular apps that do that for them right now.

MS Office might do it by the time it comes out. If so, it gets no more mainstream than that. Or it might be an unnamed suite... which will mean the apps and the phone will have to gain acceptance outside of the savvy circles such as Talk.Maemo... et al.

I'm just not looking forward to answering some of the more mundane questions from people that won't invest more than a few moments outside of the commercial to find out more about the N900.

You know the type.

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

I doubt Nokia will advertise the n900 in american mainstream(tv) media at all

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

Here... we agree. But I think that's an opportunity lost. That is... if all of the pieces are in place that is (or I'd hope).

I do know that the commercials for the MyTouch 3G have been rather successful. The hits on my previous blog article "MyTouch 3G vs. Apple iPhone 3GS" bill/price comparison article shot way up the moment those commercials aired on television.

With the excited and informed bloggers here, I'm quite sure they will see the same. Once the N900 is on TV, this community honestly could help out many others.

Just a thought...

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

Gerbick, thanks for the clarification. I never thought that Ovi Suite didn't support the N900. Now I wonder how I'll transfer my contacts etc without dragging and dropping. You make a big point. I hope its settled by launch. Syncing is important.

And on the TV ads, Nokia can't freely advertise because of its deal with carriers. If you notice, besides Apple, no manufacturer does TV ads, only carriers. Its a double edged sword for Nokia, and they need to get on Oprah or something alternative, since carrier rules keep them from tv

Look what Oprah did for the Kindle, and imagine a full 15 minute segment with Anssi and Oprah with the N900. I bet it'd sell like hot cakes... I wonder if Nokia even thinks on this level? I know Oprah's producers take devices and products for consideration all of the time. I'd love to be the one presenting. I'm good at talking to rich black women! :p Or I'd like to be...

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

I propose that in the US, Nokia must buy TV spots and advertise the device heavily. A good message to me would take the Apple v Microsoft spots to the next level. The N900 would be advertised as the iPhone that cares about it's users. Not about the carrier or the whims of the manufacturer.

I have noticed that Palm and Tmobile mention multi-tasking in their US TV adverts. I think Nokia must go to a more fundamental level and demonstrate that you can load a web page in the background while calling a friend.

An advert that compresses the Maemo vid's 1:37 into a 30 second spot would also be viable.

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

As Ive said before, Nokia can't just start advertising devices in the US. It conflicts with the carrier agreements it has. The carriers run the marketing in the US. You never see device ads unless its from a carrier. So skip the TV commercials without a carrier subsidy.

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

Kind of OT but I agree with gerbick, Nokia should have some solutions like that available for the non-techy person to be able to easily use and sync the N900 out of the box.

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

If the average facebook user cannot figure out how to use the n900 nokia has made big big mistakes. Maybe they won't use every feature or care about admin rights on thier phone but that does not make them a bad audience for it.

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

I dont know if the MS approach worked too well. They felt that they owned 90% of the market and shouldn't have to directly address the attacks of a (relatively) minor player.

I would rather them not focus on the iPhone, at least in the US where Nokia has less name recognition. They can be a dark horse with a phenomenal device that comes from a land of mobile ubiquity.

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

That sucks and it seems corrupt. I would have liked to have see them do the movie theater adverts with product placement in the films and half pagers in specialty journals (business, mothers etc.) where they talk about the flexibility of the device which allows the user to make it what they need it to be.

The business guy talks about stock ticker widgets always running, alerts for any rise and fall, online trading using using a full blow web browser, corporate email integration, and music and media for long flights.

Mom talks about keeping track of the whole family (w/social media), music in the car with less clutter and gadgets (w/ FM transmitter), easy web browsing, etc. (i'm not a mom so my description is kinda lame im sure parents could do a much better job)

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

I would tend to agree. But the sheer amount of people that ask me questions about the simple iPhone from Facebook is... sometimes disenfranchising.

And if you look at sites like Engadget or Gizmodo, the Facebook user hate is pretty immense.

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

Market it as a do-anything anywhere international device? On travel shows? Go where the money and prestige is? Aim for the jet set.

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

You would have to admit that there are more who use it then hate it. It. The great thing is that, if you have the device, you are not forced to do anything.

There has been a lot of press on the motoblur version of android. This sounds similar to n97/n900 functionality and has been the key sales topic, Nokia should capitalize on that and continue with and and and...

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

It's hatred towards the users. They do tend to come off as a rather... un-savvy bunch.

I agree.

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

Yep, most are thought the same can be said for >80% of mobile users. I guess somebodys got to figure out a way to make it easy enough for the most unsavvy user while maintaining the ability of the savvy or super-savvy user to make it what they want. Otherwise you risk excluding 80% of buyers.

So should this be Nokias job or the Maemo community?

Re: Where should Nokia Advertise the N900 and how?
 

That's odd.....or that's just Nokia.
But, any other announcements of plans? Isn't it being released there? If not, I wonder where the 900mhz band of the 3G radio is intended for? Oz & NZ are just about the only areas that use that band AFAICT.