Nokia Maps

Nokia is buying digital mapmaker Navteq for $8 billion. (See WSJ coverage here). Navteq powers many in-car navigation services, but it is also one of the providers of mapping data used in Google Maps. Every mobile device should include mapping services. It’s a natural fit. But will Nokia try to charge extra for this or will every future Nokia phone come with free maps?

You can already get Navteq-powered Google Maps on many phones today like the iPhone or the Blackberry. It’s becoming a killer app for phones. Nokia could try to charge Google a whole lot more for the Navteq maps, but that might just drive Google deeper into the arms of its other map vendor, Tele Atlas.

The smart move for Nokia would be to negotiate with Google to share in any future map-based advertising revenues in return for distributing the mobile version of Google Maps with every new Nokia phone. (The cell phone carriers would have to be brought into the negotiations and given a cut as well, but it could be done). That way, consumers would get free maps and a reason to stick with Nokia. And Nokia won’t have to try to beat Google at its own game. Google has a much better chance of figuring out mobile advertising than Nokia, and its mapping software already has a huge following among both consumers and developers.

Link to TechCrunch Article

Nokia Names JWT as Lead Global Network

WPP Agency to Support Local Efforts in More Than 80 Markets

By Alice Z. Cuneo

Published: August 09, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (AdAge.com) -- The world's largest mobile-phone marketer, Nokia Corp., today named JWT its global-network marketing agency. JWT will support local efforts in more than 80 markets worldwide.

Nokia in a statement said hiring the WPP Group agency is part of a "marketing renewal that focuses on streamlining marketing planning and increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of all marketing activities." Maybe so, but the streamlining also involves a large cast of characters.

Not a slim roster
In July, independent Wieden & Kennedy, working out of its London office, was named lead agency for mobile-phone creative.

Nokia also has divided duties for its multimedia phones, such as the Nokia NSeries, and its enterprise solutions group. Creative support for the former is with Interpublic Group Cos., while WPP houses the latter's global creative business.

A JWT spokeswoman said the win covers 95 markets and "was hard-fought over six months and tens of countries, and that delivers on JWT's promise of being future ready." JWT and sibling Grey Worldwide, the marketer's agency in the U.S., Europe and parts of the Middle East, led the pitch. Bates, Nokia's shop in Asia, and Omnicom Group's DDB Worldwide were other finalists.

Last year, Nokia spent $49 million in measured media in the U.S., according to TNS Media Intelligence. Some estimates have put its global spending as high as $300 million.

Transition to new marketing will begin during the fall, with the new shops taking over in January.

U.S. battleground
Although Nokia, with sales of $17.2 billion, is the world's leader in market share, it battles for first place in the U.S. market. From April to June of this year Nokia's worldwide sales were up 29% from 2006, more than double the industry's overall growth of 14%. Of the 262 million mobile devices sold globally, 100 million were Nokia phones, the company said.

According to Strategy Analytics, in the second quarter Nokia was No. 4 in the U.S. marketplace, with a 13.4% share behind No. 1 Motorola at 33%, followed by Samsung at 17% and LG at 15%.

Link to AdAge Article

Nokia adds Microsoft's PlayReady DRM to upcoming devices

Nokia appears to be making some interesting moves as of late. Following rumors that the company will hazard a foray into the world of digital music sales, the Finnish mobile manufacturer has signed a deal with Microsoft to utilize its PlayReady DRM scheme. The technology, which is file-format-independent, is specifically targeted for use with mobile devices, and is intended to strengthen "security" on a wide variety of content such as music, videos, games, ringtones, and images. The DRM is backwards compatible with the existing Windows Media 10 file management, and will be implemented on upcoming S60 and Series 40 Nokia devices beginning in 2008. It seems at least somewhat possible that this arrangement could be related to the recent whisperings of Nokia's iTunes-esque plans, as DRM has already been hinted at for the supposed forthcoming service. Perhaps on August 29th all will be revealed -- but only Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo knows for sure.

Link to Engadget Article

Samsung Beats Motorola for Number Two Cellphone Ranking Spot

For the first time ever, Samsung has kicked Motorola out of the second position in the worldwide cellphone manufacturers ranking. Dropping its market share from 22.1% to 13%, this ends four years of Motorola being #2 behind Nokia. Comparing their handsets, the only thing that surprises us is that they didn't overtake them at least a year ago. How was it for the rest, including Apple?

On a total of 272.7 million cellphones shipped worldwide during the second quarter ending June 30 2007, the breakdown goes as follows:

• Nokia: 37% (33.4% Q2 2006)
• Samsung: 13.7% (10.7% Q2 2006)
• Motorola: 13% (22.1% Q2 2006)
• Sony Ericsson: 9.1% (6.7% Q2 2006)
• LG: 7% (6.4% Q2 2006)

Apple scored a 0.1% in the last weekend of Q2, so apparently everyone went up except Motorola.

Link to Gizmodo Article

Nokia Acquires Media-Sharing Platform Twango

Twango , a service combines online storage with social networking, has just been acquired by Nokia.

Read/WriteWeb posts a helpful chart that shows how device-friendly Twango is.

Twango's ability to play nicely with other devices is apparently what attracted Nokia, as the mobile company plans to use it to allow users to share multimedia via PC and mobile. The service supports over 100 file types and has a host of other features, including embedding, sharing and tagging.

Twango's Randy Kerr told Read/WriteWeb that media sharing is still in its infancy, citing a Forbes stat that claims "only 7 percent of digital images captured in 2005 were uploaded to the web."

Twango's target is in the 24-39 age group, older than most other social networks.
The company started in the fall of 2004 by five former Microsoft employees. It officially launched last October.

Link to Marketing VOX Article

Nokia says adds Skype to N800 Internet tablet

Wed Jul 11, 9:34 AM ET

Nokia (NOK1V.HE), the world's top cell phone maker, said on Wednesday it has made Skype telephone services available on the Nokia N800 Internet tablet.

With Skype, Internet tablet users could make calls through a wireless internet connection, Nokia said in a statement.

Nokia added Skype would be available for download for existing users.

The two companies have earlier said they planned to work on adding Skype to additional devices.

Skype is a unit of online auction leader eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY - news).

Wieden & Kennedy: The New Global Powerhouse

Shop Lost Nike Running, but It Nabbed Nokia and Is Growing in India, China

By Alice Z. Cuneo

Published: July 09, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (AdAge.com) -- Wieden & Kennedy is back on track.

After being dealt an ego blow by losing Nike's running account, the shop in less than a month has scooped up an astounding $400 million in new billings. It added to its coffers Careerbuilder.com, Visa International's World Cup sponsorship, and the global creative and strategic duties for the Nokia brand.

The Nokia win adds to Wieden & Kennedy's roster, which already includes major global brands such as Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Honda in Europe.

"If anyone still doubts that Wieden is a global force as a network, wake up," said Neil Christie managing director of Wieden's London office.

As if to underscore the point, the agency is opening its sixth global office, in Delhi. Dave Luhr, global chief operating officer, said that "India is an incredibly important market in the world today. Clearly, clients want to take advantage of the opportunity."

He said the new office, like other Wieden offices and unlike the branch offices of major agencies, will be developed from scratch and will not involve the purchase of another shop. He expects to have between 20 and 30 employees there by the end of the year.

A wide net
Wieden already has two offices in China (Shanghai and Beijing), in addition to Tokyo, London, Amsterdam and New York. Because an agency based in Oregon has no illusion of growing with local clients, he said, it has to extend a wide net. "There's some advantage to being in Portland," Mr. Luhr said.

The Nokia win adds to Wieden's roster, which already includes major global brands such as Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Honda in Europe. Through 2006, Wieden reported global billings of $1.4 billion with 750 employees worldwide. The agency grew 40% in the past three years, Mr. Luhr said.

The Wieden-style "micro" ad network is what budget-conscious clients desiring great creative want, observers said. "This is what marketers are looking for today -- creativity -- and they don't want to pay the overhead of a gigantic network," said Russel Wohlwerth, principal, Ark Advisors, Los Angeles, an agency consulting firm. "Wieden's micro network is clearly for today's times."

Other consultants, however, aren't convinced Wieden has solved the integration and new-media issues that led to the loss of the running portion of the Nike business. "They're limiting their future by not being sufficiently integrated," said one consultant. "It's the Achilles' heel for them."

Link to AdAge Article

Nokia Bumps Lenovo From No. 1 On Greenpeace's List

Nokia has reclaimed its top ranking in the fourth edition of Greenpeace's quarterly "Green Electronics Guide," after losing the No. 1 slot to Lenovo in the guide's April edition. Lenovo, whose previous first-place ranking was a huge surprise, slides to second place, in a tie with Dell. This is a big improvement for Dell from the previous edition.

Apple, which received enormous flack for its bottom-ranked slot in the April edition, made a big comeback to place 10 out of 14 this time. Sony is at the bottom of this edition, with a score of four for its inconsistent take-back policies.

Nokia became the front-runner again with a score of eight out of 10, thanks to its support for Individual Producer Responsibility, which requires each company to take care of the electronic waste from its branded discarded products, and for already eliminating most of the worst chemicals from its products. However, Greenpeace thinks Nokia needs to report more on its recycling rate percentage.

Lenovo faced a misstep by failing to enact a clear global take-back program for its products, something Dell has pioneered as the only company in the industry to offer free recycling for any Dell-branded product at any time, anywhere in the world, a model Greenpeace has urged other technology companies to emulate.

While Lenovo enjoyed some immediate glory after its first-place ranking in the April edition of the Greenpeace report, Dell has stolen its thunder. The company in June announced a series of green initiatives designed to make it the greenest tech company, including a Zero Carbon Initiative for the Long Term, a commitment to reducing its global carbon intensity by 15% by 2012 and the launch of a contest on its IdeaStorm web site soliciting ideas on how to build "the greenest PC on the planet." However, Greenpeace chides Dell for not making models free of the worst chemicals.

Apple, which scored a 5.3 out of 10 in this edition of the report, versus a 2.7 in the previous report, moves up in the rankings, thanks to its announcement of concrete timelines to eliminate the worst chemicals, as well as its reporting of its recycling rate as a percentage of sales (9.5% seven years ago versus a 30% goal by 2010). However, Apple's lack of a green product and a weak take-back program lose it points from Greenpeace.

Greenpeace waged a 2007 Webby-award winning activist campaign called "Green my Apple" against Apple, which is largely credited for Steve Jobs' open letter outlining ways in which the company has brought, is bringing and will bring its environmental practices in line, published in May.

Link to MediaPost Article