As meeting the customers' demand is the major objective for all firms to fulfill, Nokia is finding a unique way to cooperate with their mobile users which wasn't something they had planned to see.
March of 2007, Nokia introduced an application for their cellphones called Sports Tracker to open public which was designed to help some sports lovers such as runners, hikers, cyclists to use the global positioning capabilities that are included in some Nokia models. Researchers and developers of the application haven't expected that it would be used by so many people; ever since they posted the application on the web, more than a million users have downloaded the software.
Quite interesting fact is that people have used the appliation for the purposes which the developers haven't expected such as paragliding, hot-air ballooning, and motorcycle riding. Also, what is more important is that people who used the program have given them a lot of feedbacks to Nokia so they could improve the function of it and then release that again to the public. The current application allows "... to create online groups where users can share favorite routes and even photos they took along the way" (BusinessWeek).
For the company, Nokia, having a keen relationship with their customers is a great business strategy since they could react to what the public wants or what they want to be fixed on Nokia's products. Not only it would save the money and time, but it would also have a great switching costs for the customers since they are having a good customer services with the feedback they are looking for. Using Nokia's Beta Lab Web site, which they post new application of user interface for the cellphones, allows Nokia users to download the application, try it, and then give some advices to the firm instantly. This process helps Nokia to meet high-tech users' rapid changing tastes.
I have never used Nokia cellphone but when I work at the cellphone retailer store, Nokia was one of the most popular cellphone brands. Not only they have an affordable price, but the functions of each device are very easy to use and user friendly with less defects. Having a strong brand value not only helps firm to sustain its position in the market, but I think it would also affect the country where Nokia comes from - Finland. I hope Samsung, LG, or other newly established international organizations in Korea to be like Nokia so they could improve the image of the whole county.
Reference;
Ewing, Jack. "How Nokia Users Drive Innovation" BusinessWeek. April 30, 2008.
20601008 - 9th Entry
No comments:
Post a Comment