Professional Documents
Culture Documents
IN INDIA
by
Nikunj Daga
2006-2007
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Writing a dissertation is always the most challenging part of a student’s life. It was definitely the
most important academic contribution by me. This however would not have been possible without
the encouragement and of a few people. Here I take this opportunity to display my gratitude towards
them,
First and foremost, I would like to thank my professor, Dr Heidi Winklhofer for being a source of
support and encouragement, guidance and persistent help. Thank you ma’am for your time, support
and patience. My Sincere thanks to both academic and non-academic staff of the Nottingham
I would like to thank my parents for love and support bestowed on me. Thank you for your
blessings. Also I would like to thank my friends for staying by me during the difficult parts of life.
Thanks for help and love irrespective of the situations. I would also like to thank all my respondents
for taking out time from their busy lives to help me with my research.
Last but not the least, I would like to thank God for all.
Thank You!!
Nikunj Daga
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ABSTRACT
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
This research studies the marketing strategies of Nokia, a high technology company in a developing
country India. The study attempts to check the role of marketing activities in success of Nokia in
India. After studying the past of the company and the history of Indian mobile industry, Nokia’s
Then to check the effect on the consumers, semi-structured interviews of a few mobile phone dealers
in India are taken. Here, interviews as a tool of qualitative research is adopted to create a deep
understanding of the customers perceptions. To get a generalized view, mobile phone dealers are
interviewed as they deal with many consumers and can give the opinion of the market as a whole.
The findings advised that consumers preferred Nokia over all other brands due to features of the
phone. Features such as user friendliness, rough and tough body, long life etc were believed to be the
reasons of success. Though the marketing strategies have been aggressive, they were not the reasons
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INDEX
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3
ABSTRACT 4
1. INTRODUCTION 7
1.1 Introduction and Objectives of Research 7
1.2 Outline of Chapters 8
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 10
2.1 Introduction 10
2.2 Country of Origin effect 11
2.3 Culture 14
2.4 Internationalization and Globalization theories 18
2.4.1 Uppsala Model 19
2.4.2 Eclectic Paradigm and TCA 20
2.4.3 Interactive Network Approach 21
2.4.4 Business Strategy Approach 21
2.5 Pricing and Distribution 23
2.5.1 Pricing 23
2.5.2 Distribution 26
3. INDUSTRIAL ANALYSIS 30
3.1 Mobile phone industry in India 30
3.2 About Nokia 34
3.3 Nokia in India 38
3.4 SWOT Analysis 40
4. METHODOLOGY 42
4.1 Introduction 42
4.2 Qualitative Research Methods 45
4.3 Quantitative Research Methods 47
4.4 A Qualitative approach 47
4.5 Data Collection 48
4.6 Interviews 49
4.7 Summary 51
5. MARKETING STRATEGY 52
5.1 Introduction 52
5.2 Product 52
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5.3 Price 55
5.4 Place (Distribution) 56
5.5 Promotion 58
6. ANALYSIS 64
6.1 Introduction 64
6.2 Background of Respondents 64
6.3 Analysis and Discussion 66
6.4 Success of the Brand 68
6.5 The 4 P’s 71
6.6 Future and Scope of improvement 74
7. CONCLUSION 77
7.1 Conclusion and Recommendations 77
7.2 Limitations of research and Suggestions 78
REFERENCES 79
APPENDICES 92
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1. INTRODUCTION
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Day by day, mobile phones are turning into more of necessity then a luxury. The benefits of the
mobile phone are far too many. Ease of communication, the anywhere, anytime contact - with
friends, relations, colleagues and in theory at least the efficiency brought to busy lives (Web 21).
Nokia’s growth in India has been substantial. They have led the market with 70% share for long time
now. What is interesting is that there is further scope of improvement in sales. It is a high technology
market and India being developing country, will see more and more subscribers to this technology in
the future. 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
This research aims at studying the strategies applied by Nokia in India, and analyzing the effects of
these strategies on the sales of the company. For this purpose, secondary data in form of case studies
and news articles have been used to gather the information about the marketing strategies that were
applied by Nokia in India. Then dealers on Nokia in different parts of India were interviewed with
semi-structured interviews to check the impact of these strategies. The objective was to study the
main reasons of success of the market leader Nokia, and also to study the drawbacks of the
company. It was intended to study the areas where there was scope of improvement and note down
some recommendations.
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1.2 Outline of the Chapters
Here, a very brief synopsis of the chapters that follow in the study is given.
Chapter two – Literature Review, summarizes all the past researches that have been conducted in
the field of international marketing. The main topics discussed here are Country of origin effect,
Chapter three – Industry analysis, to begin with this chapters deals with the analysis of mobile
phone industry in India. Then, history of Nokia is studies. When did the company start, how changes
occurred resulting Nokia venturing into mobile phone business. Finally history of Nokia in India is
conferred.
Chapter four – Methodology, talks about the methodology used in the research to collect data. First
all the available methodologies are discussed and then the best suited one is selected. The important
terms used in this chapter are Primary data, Secondary data, Quantitative research methods,
Chapter five – Marketing strategy, points out the marketing strategies applied by Nokia in India
since the time of foundation in the country. The data here is secondary and thus is collected with the
help of case studies and news articles. Here the strategies are discussed on the basis simple concept
of 4 P’s.
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Chapter six – Analysis, deals with discussing and analyzing the research results to conclude the
objectives of the study. Here, the interviews taken are scrutinized and conclusive lines are drawn.
Chapter seven – Conclusion, concludes the study with fulfilling of the objective. It further offer
recommendations to the company for future planning. Last but not the least, it discussed the
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2. LITERATURE REVIEW
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2.1 Introduction
“Reviewing the literature on a topic can… provide an academically enriching experience but only if
According to Hart, Literature review is of prime importance to the research. To achieve this, review
any subject irrespective of discipline. It is the responsibility of the research student to find out what
already exists in the area in which research is intended to be done before doing the research itself.
The researcher will define framework of his work with the help of ideas and work of others.
As Burger says, ‘A literature review summarizes the major findings of scholars and researchers who
have conducted research in the area you are interested in investigating’. The literature review for this
research will have its prime stress on theories of globalization, effects of culture on marketing of a
product internationally, COO effect, comparison of Global and Glocal strategies, pricing and
distribution strategies for international firms strategy for International brands. Here the attempt is to
make a note of what has been written in context of international marketing strategies of brands.
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Instead of being specific, the review here is of more of international marketing as whole instead of
specifically on Nokia. What is noteworthy is Nokia forms a part of the upcoming electronics
industry and has an important role to play in the developing markets of countries such as India.
As Piron says, in developing a corporate imagery of a product, the importance of various marketing
mix variables (e.g. product appearance, brand name, price) is firmly established, as well as that of
the imagery elicited by a product’s COO. Hence now we need to define the COO effect. In words of
Mort & Duncan (2000), “COO effects can be summarized as the effects generated by a product’s
perceived geographic origin on the part of the customer and how it affects the latter’s purchasing
patterns”.
It’s a tendency of consumers to generalize their attitudes and opinions across products from a given
country, The basis of this generalization is products familiarity and background with the country,
and their own personal experiences of product attributes such as “technological superiority”,
“product quality”, “design”, “value for money”, “status and esteem”, and “credibility of country-of-
Systematic research for COO effect began in 1965 with Schooler’s article “Product bias in central
American common market”. It was considered to communicated by the phrase, “Made in (name of
country)” in 1980s, as noted by Bilkey and Nes (1982). Influence of COO on the product quality
perception was indicated by both empirical observations and experiments in their research. As the
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research continued in the field, new perspective developed new concepts. As Johansson et. al.(1985)
believed, COO has been defined as the country where the corporate headquarters of the company
marketing the product or brand is situated. Chao (1998), stressed on examining the multidimensional
constructs of the country concept and how they impact consumer evaluations of product and design
incorporated into the research design. The reason for division of country of origin into country-of-
assembly, country-of-design, and parts-source country is basically the trends followed by global
brands. Today most of the brands have production processes in developing countries as the labour is
cheap in such countries. Therefore, country of origin of brand may not be the country of origin of the
product.
Chao’s research revealed that whereas country-of-assembly and country-of-parts only affect the
product quality perception and country-of-design only affects the design quality perception. The
result was noteworthy for the manufacturers and marketers of hybrid products. This was of particular
importance when outsourcing of different aspects the production process were to be considered.
Thakor and Lavack (2003), believed that perceived origin associations are a powerful source of
brand appeal. This can be noted as marketers have focused on origin associations in many product
categories in the advertisements of their products. The examples for this are, Porsche ads often show
a German test track, this is to reinforce its German origin; Christian Dior uses the French word,
“Parfum”, in its advertising to reinforce its French origin association. Brand has been considered as a
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purely extrinsic variable in COO effects and consumer perceptions of origin have been manipulated
almost through “made in” label information (Mohamad et. al., 2000) (Sankar, 2006).
According to research works, COO image plays an important role in consumer’s evaluation of
foreign products and brands. It is also noted that product attributes such as product quality have
favorable perception, if country perceptions are favorable. This indicates that consumer evaluations
are governed by influences other than the quality of the product (Peterson and Jolibert, 1995)
Noticeable increase has been seen in outsourcing as a result of firm’s continued pursue for global
market expansion strategies. This does not remain limited to taking advantage of lower labor wage
rates prevailing in many developing countries, but major design and engineering tasks have also
been outsourced to manufacture component parts, they have also increasingly outsourced by either
enlisting the services of professional talents in collaborating foreign partner firms or establishing
design centers overseas. Multinational production operations got very complex due to these activities
and it has also led to tension in domestic workplace. Most of the products available today are of
hybrid variety, and hence no one firm in a single country can claim to be the sole manufacturer of
these products. Consequently, the traditional notion in COO literature, that assumes that product can
“Common sense has it that the stronger a country’s national image, the more useful is it likely to be
as a marketing tool in that it may then be used more extensively in the export promotion of products
originating from that country” (Niss, 1996). In his research, Niss noticed that most of the industrial
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exporters represented in the survey choose either to play down their nationality or disguise
themselves behind a local or global image. This did not come as a surprise, as in general Denmark’s
image was considered very weak and one-sided, and hence was not considered to use it as a
It has also been noted that the consumer tends to sometimes substitute other informational cues such
as products brand name as a substitute to country information not considering where the product, in
reality, is made. Here we can look at the example of a Sony walkman being perceived to be Japanese
whereas it may have been assembled in Malaysia. However, it is noticeable that a heightened
consumer global awareness and sensitivity to the mounting prevalence of hybrid products in the
However, as Anime et. al.(2005) noted, on the basis of a meta-analysis of COO research, Verlegh
and Steenkamp (1999, p. 521) conclude rather pessimistically that “[d]espite a large body of
2.3 Culture
It is a universally accepted fact that, ‘Management is the art of getting things done through (other)
people’. Here the stress is on work to be done and effort of others. Hence, the pre-requisite for it to
happen is that one knows both work to be done and the people through which it has to be done. To
understand people it is very important to understand their back ground, so that, present and future
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behavior can be predicted. Their background can be determined by having knowledge of the culture
According to Usunier (2000), the abstract sense of culture probably originated from Germany where
the word Kultur was used to refer to civilization in the eighteenth century. However, as Kale (1991)
noted, defining culture concisely presents unanticipated difficulties as the literature contains a
multitude of definitions. Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1952) gathered 164 definitions of culture. Even
then they added one definition of their own. Conceivably, the most popular definition is the one
suggested by Linton (1945). He says, “A culture is a configuration of learned behaviors and results
of behavior whose component parts are shared and transmitted by the members of a particular
society”.
Operating marketing communications is one of the greatest challenges for an international marketer.
And according to a large body of literature, significant cultural differences across countries are
in the area of cross-cultural communications that most blunders in international marketing occur
(Kale, 1991). Hence, the study of culture is considered very important for marketing a product
internationally.
Culture consists of a series of response to recurring situations. These responses are a consequence of
“collective mental programming” and all aspects of marketing transactions are affected by it. As
Kale (1991) noted, Duesenberry in 1949 observed that all of the activities people engage in are
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culturally determined. Also that almost all purchases made were either to satisfy some physical need
or to apply the actions that make up the life of a culture. He also notes that culture has a multi-
faceted and ubiquitous effect on marketing. Culture has a strong impact on people’s tastes, color
preference, attitude towards product classes. However, culture’s impact is the maximum in how the
information is received, stored, retrieved and employed for decision making. This clearly indicates to
“Culture may be reflected in general tendencies of persistent preference for particular states of
affairs over others, persistent preferences for specific social processes over others, and general rules
for selective attention, interpretation of environmental cues, and responses. It is generally known that
culture may provide detailed prescriptions (norms) for specific classes of situations while leaving
Hofstede (1994) identified five dimensions of national culture, namely Appendix 1);
1. Power Distance – This is defined by the degree to which the less powerful people of the
organization or institution accept and expect the power to be distributed unequally. The more the
power distance, the more is inequality. However it is defined from below (less powerful members)
and not from above (more powerful members). It is a sign that inequality in the society has been
approved by the leaders as well as followers. This is important as power and inequality are
particularly fundamental.
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2. Individualism versus Collectivism – This is the degree to which individuals are integrated into
groups. The individualist societies are the ones where ties between individuals are loose. It is
expected that everyone will look after himself/herself and their immediate family. Whereas in the
collectivist societies, people are integrated into strong, unified in-groups, usually extended families
(with uncles, aunts and grandparents) from birth. These groups continue protecting these people in
exchange for unquestioning loyalty. This difference by noted to be high amongst the countries and
3. Masculinity versus Feminity – This is determined by the degree of distribution of roles between
the sexes in the society. It has been noted that men’s value across countries are from very assertive
and competitive as well as very different from women to modest and caring and very similar to
women. Also men’s values differ more among societies in comparison to women’s. Name given to
assertive pole is ‘masculine’ and the modest and caring one is called ‘feminine’. Though the women
are not as caring and modest in masculine countries as they are in feminine but the degree of
4. Uncertainty Avoidance – It refers to society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. This
tells us how much the members of society feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured
situations. These situations are novel, unknown, surprising and different from usual. In cultures that
avoid uncertainty, there is an attempt to minimize the possibility of such situations by strict laws and
rules, safety and security measures. These people tend to be more emotional and motivated by inner
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5. Long term versus Short term Orientation – Thrift and perseverance are the values of long
term orientation, whereas values associated with short term orientation are respect for tradition,
fulfilling social obligations, and protecting one’s ‘face’. It was originally called ‘Confucian
dynamism’; however, the dimension also applies to countries without a Confucian heritage.
Due to similarities, mostly the comparison is of Eastern countries versus the Western countries. As
cited by Hofstede (1994), the basic difference between Eastern thinking (represented by, for example
Confucianism, Buddhism, and Hinduism) and Western thinking (dominant in the Judaeo-Christian-
Muslim intellectual tradition) is that in the East, a qualification does not exclude its opposite, which
is an essential element of Western logic (Kapp, 1983). However, Tse et al (1998), noted that studies
using Singaporean subjects found that traditional Chinese values were fading slowly because of
Western influences. This means that slowly the cultural differences are reducing as less importance
Even though the concept of globalization has been around for long, it was only in early 1980’s that it
became a topic of serious discussion among academics. Since then, the term has become a
ubiquitous and potent symbol of the age. Nevertheless, the exact meaning and significance of
globalization has been and remains an intensely debatable topic across the academic community, and
beyond. In fact in Jessop’s (1999) view, the definitions of globalization in literature remains
“chaotic”. It is believed, that the reason for this probably is that globalization is studied
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independently from a number of disciplinary perspectives, each with its own disciplinary filter
(Clark & Knowles, 2003). Vignali (2001), defined Globalization the best, “Globalisation involves
developing marketing strategies as though the world is a single entity, marketing standardized
market to enter and how to enter. Different approaches have been taken by different authors to solve
this problem of internationalization. Though all the theories, to some extent depend on existence of
2.4.1 The Uppsala Model of Internationalization: Johanson and Vahlne in 1977 developed a
model of internationalization process of the firm on the basis of empirical research. The model
focused on the gradual acquisition, integration and use of knowledge about foreign markets and
operations, and on the incrementally increasing commitments to foreign markets. The focus of the
model is particularly on the increasing involvement in the individual foreign country. Here the
concept of psychic difference was considered important, as it was believed that firms expand first
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into market which are psychically close, and in to more distant markets as they gain more
experiential knowledge. This was considered critical as it can be gained only through personal
experience and not taught as other objective knowledge in international marketing. The model
gained particular support in the early stages of international involvement. However in 1990,
Johanson and Vahlne suggested three exceptions to their model as a response to increased market
knowledge. These exceptions were when firms have large resources they may be expected to make
larger internationalization steps; when market conditions are stable and homogeneous market
knowledge can be gained in ways other than through experience; when the firm has considerable
experience from markets with similar conditions it may be possible to generalize this experience to
2.4.2 The eclectic paradigm and transaction cost analysis: The concept of the eclectic paradigm
of international production was first put forward by the Dunning in 1976 at a presentation to a Nobel
As Whitelock cited in Dunning (1998), the eclectic paradigm is set out to explain “the extent, form
advantages of firms contemplating foreign production… the propensity to internalize the cross-
border markets for these, and attractions of a foreign market for the production”. The entry decisions
hence are made in rational way, through transaction cost analysis (TCA). TCA is considered
particularly useful for evaluating the vertical integration decisions. TCA approach is based on the
assumption that the markets are competitive hence the performance of supplier is efficient. When the
range of suppliers is restricted, there is little threat of replacement and the transaction costs are high.
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These benefits of integration should however be compared to the costs of integration (i.e cost of
resource commitment). According to Johanson and Vahlne (1990), eclectic paradigm has high
descriptive power for firms having experience from many regions of the world.
2.4.3 The interactive network approach of international marketing and purchasing group: In
1986, Johanson and Mattsson noticed that both Uppsala model and eclectic paradigm concentrate on
firm or individual perspective of market entry. The firm decides the entry method for specific market
abroad. They believed that both models ignore the characteristics of the firm and market, which
appear to be important in industrial systems. In words of Turnbull (1986), the chief limitation “is the
one-sided focus upon the activities of manufacturer together with the intermediary in the flow of
goods and services to the customer”. Whereas, definitions of industrialization system stress on
developing and maintaining lasting relationships. The four variable of integration defined are: the
element and process of interaction, characteristics of parties involved, the atmosphere surrounding
the interaction, and the environment within which the interaction takes place (Whitelock, 2002). The
interpretation of these variables helps the firm decide on the market to enter and which customers to
deliver. Hence, there is a need to assess its own position in relation to the customers and also the
2.4.4 The business strategy approach: As Whitelock (2002) cited in Welford and Prescott (1994)
“The business strategy approach is based on the idea of pragmatism”. Ried (1983) believed that
nature of market opportunity, firm’s resources and managerial philosophy are the basis of deciding
expansion strategies which may in turn result in foreign expansion. The factors which need to be
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assessed in this approach for market selection are market attractiveness, psychic distance and
accessibility and informal barriers. Whilst choice of organizational structure will depend on these
market characteristics in addition to company specific factors as international trading history, size
export orientation and commitment. Also number of competitors is considered important factor
(Whitelock, 2002).
Global V Glocal
Levitt (1983) defines global brands as brands that use the same marketing strategy and mix in all
target markets. Johansson and Ronkainen (2004) assert that global brands benefit from the scale and
scope of having presence in multiple markets. The researchers define global brand as “a brand that is
marketed under the same name in multiple countries with similar and centrally coordinated
marketing strategies.” However there are some selected global brands that don’t have the same name
but share some marketing program elements. For example, “Mr. Clean” also sells under the “Mr.
Proper” and “Maestro Limpio” names, among others. Although global brands play a dominant role
in today’s world, the advantages of the local brands are still stronger and this is reviewed in the
following part.
Such strategies are implemented by man Multinationals. These are known as the Glocal Strategies.
financial and cultural flows, the coined word ‘Glocalization’ at the very least, suggests some sort of
accommodation. Globalization challenges notions of cultural imperialism because the term suggests
a negotiation process that appears to start from inside out, i.e., a process that begins with high regard
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for the local. The term ‘glocalization’ connotes a successive development, as well as a challenge, to
2.5.1 Pricing
According to Solberg et. al. (2006), until their research, the literary topic of international pricing had
not been completely ignored by the scholars. However the studies published till then stressed chiefly
on the normative dimension of international pricing. Hence, the emphasis had been laid on ‘how
pricing decisions ought to be made’ (Cavusgil 1988, 1996; Walters 1989; Weekly 1992). They say
that though a few of these studies have been based empirical evidence, the major drawback amongst
most of them had been that they have been less generalized. Either too broad and examined only
general nature of international pricing; too specific, focusing on a specific country’s exporter or
focused on issues such as the impact of technology on international pricing, pricing in emerging
markets, the development of gray markets, and the control of the pricing mechanism under different
environmental conditions.
International pricing decisions are inclined to be a function of the relationship between the external,
market-related complexities that shape firm operations and the capabilities of the firm to respond
The importance of international pricing is going to improve. One of the reasons being ‘dynamics that
govern international marketing activities are likely to accelerate rather than slow down as a function
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of faster technological progress, the proliferation of new products and services, intensifying global
competition, rapid changes in the global legal environment, and the economic uncertainty that these
will generate. To maintain the firm’s financial prosperity under these conditions, a better
understanding of the economic and competitive environment, the development of more sophisticated
pricing strategies, and the effective execution of these will become more important’ (e.g., Monroe
2003; Myers, Cavusgil, and Diamantopoulos 2002). Another reason being complexity, even though
acts such as internet, regionalization and attempt made towards price harmonization should make
international pricing easier, but decision making in international pricing will remain complex
Pricing acts as an essential function in the internationalizing firm’s effort to be globally integrative
yet locally responsive. However the international pricing as a research topic as been underdeveloped.
The importance of role played by information in international pricing decision is critical in nature.
The vital reason behind this is, when the business is conducted at international level, it is utmost
important to monitors wide array of influences that can affect the pricing decision and vary across
markets.
According to Nagle & Holden (1995), the degree of importance attached to price of the product by
the management depends on the extent to which the firm seeks competitive advantage by offering its
customers a less-expensive product for the value being delivered as compared to the rivals.
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As noted by Solberg et. Al. (2006), Solberg’s (1997) framework includes two dimensions: industry
globality and the degree of the firm’s preparedness for internationalization. He defines “industry
globality” as a condition in which the actions of the players that operate in world markets are
affected by one another to the extent that a relatively stable price level is created across the markets
in which they operate. Thus, prices vary as a function of only tariffs, transport, and distribution
costs, expenditures that are outside the control of the exporter for the most part. In Solberg’s
framework, a global industry is epitomized by a few, large, major competitors that “rule” their
categories in world markets within their product category. Thus, the degree of globality along this
dimension is considered to vary between two extremes, a monopoly at one end and atomistic
The effectiveness of strategic pricing by the exporter is dependent on his control over the decision
making and the actual outcome of pricing activities in its markets. The literature stresses two facets
that need to be considered in this context: the issue of centralized versus decentralized pricing and
Solberg et. Al. (2006), also categorized firms into four categories on the basis of low and high
preparedness for internationalization on the Y axis and Multilocal and Global markets in which they
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Prototype 3: The Multilocal Price Setter Firm
2.5.2 Distribution
Once a corporation is well established in its market, it starts looking for new international markets.
In such cases chances are that it forays into an emerging market and to limit its exposure appoints a
local distributor. In the beginning, sales take off, revenues grow, and the entry is praised as a smart
move. But after a while, stagnation sets in and sales plateau. These partnerships nearly always blow
up in the end.
Much of the blame lies with the multinationals themselves. What remains missing is the need to
understand how their new partners (local distributors) are different from the ones at home. The other
reason that can be noted is fault from the local distributors. The managers of the corporation observe
that the major hindrance in the path of growth is that the local distributor that got the company to a
flying start has run out of ideas. Mostly it is the management which finds faults in the work of
In both the cases the actual problem is difference in thinking of the company and the distributor.
Neither the multinational nor the distributor invests sufficiently in strategic marketing or in
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aggressive business development in these ‘less developed’ markets. To work together it is important
Arnold (2000) discusses what goes wrong and why. According to him, most multinationals stumble
onto a stepwise strategy for penetrating markets in emerging countries through a series of unplanned
actions to reinvigorate sales. As the pattern recurs with entries into subsequent markets, this
approach, dubbed the "beachhead strategy," becomes official policy in many organizations. Hence
1. Select distributors. Don't let them select you – Objective market assessment should lead to
strategic decision of entry into a new international market. However, Arnold (2000) noted that it was
not the case usually. His studies revealed that companies moved into new market as reaction to
proposals from prospective distributors. In fact, the most eager potential distributors may be
precisely the wrong people to partner with. So there is a need to find distributors, one should the
2. Look for distributors capable of developing markets, rather than those with a few obvious
customer contacts – Multinational’s long term goals should be kept in mind and given prime
importance while choosing the distributor and deicing the terms of relationship. As Arnold (2000)
noted, "The most obvious distributor is not necessarily the best partner for the long term". Hence
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3. Treat the local distributors as long-term partners, not temporary market-entry vehicles –
There is a need to structure the relationships in such a way that the distributors become marketing
4. Support market entry by committing money, managers, and proven marketing ideas – It is
very important for the multinational to maintain strategic control. For this purpose, multinationals
must commit adequate corporate resources. It holds particular importance at the time of market
entry, as the multinational are least certain about their prospects in new countries.
5. From the start, maintain control over marketing strategy – Distributors should be allowed to
adapt a multinational's strategy to local conditions. However multinationals should pilot the planning
sessions about the decision making. This helps the multinational to exploit the full potential of a
6. Make sure distributors provide you with detailed market and financial performance data –
The quality of information that the multinational has about the market, determines its ability to take
advantage of its competitive advantages. Since the corporation is new to the country, it has to rely on
distribution channel for such information. Also in a few countries they may be the only source of
such information.
7. Build links among national distributors at the earliest opportunity – The key objective for the
multinational establish a customer base in the new country. However it is important to create links
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among its national distributors as soon as possible. This will lead to transfer of ideas and hence
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3. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mobile telephony was introduced in India in 1995. The first call was made by Nokia 2110 on its own
network. The start to this industry in India, however, was very slow. The Indian government was not
supportive to the new companies of the industry. As a result of unfriendly telecom policies, high
licensing fees and absence of a proper telecom regulatory body lead to exit of these private players
The industry got a new life in 1999, when the Government of India announced a new telecom policy.
The plan was to provide telephones on demand by 2002. A major point of the policy was to allow
unrestricted private entry into almost all mobile service sectors. The mobile service providers were
allowed to share their infrastructures with other operators. It also helped the private operators to
break even faster by allowing them to migrate from fixed license to one-time entry fee with revenue
sharing.
However, by 2001, there was steady increase in the demand for mobile services. The private
companies concentrated on providing basic telephonic services to consumers. By 2002, the industry
was on a high, and with the popularity of mobile phones the customers started demanding better
services and lower prices. This led to new innovations and come out with better products and
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services. In 2002, the industry’s growth got fueled as incoming calls on mobile phones were made
free. The sudden increase in growth on mobile phone subscriber can be seen in the following table:
By May 2005, the number of cellular phone subscribers in India had risen to 55 million. Out of
these, 43 million were GSM and rest 12 million were CDMA. In June 2006, “India’s mobile phone
subscriber base has crossed the 100 million mark, making the country the fifth largest in the world in
while CDMA-based subscribers total around 25 million” (Dutta, 2006). According to IDC
(International Data Corporation), the number was expected to reach 148 million by 2009.
In India there were two major types of mobile service operators, namely; Global Systems for Mobile
Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). GSM was the service
introduced in India in 1995 and had key features of nationwide roaming as well as international
roaming for US and Europe for both pre-paid and post-paid subscribers. They are the main service
providers in India and hold almost 75% of the market as notes above. Lowering mobile tariffs and
low entry barriers helped the growth of GSM mobile services. This also led to ownership of more
than one mobile phone in a family, as compared to other consumer durables such as television. The
middle class population in India is about 350 million. Being middle class of a developing country,
31
they are cost conscious. This lead to a dramatic rise in prepaid (26.7%) as compared to postpaid
CDMA was also known as Wireless Local Loop (WLL) in India. WLL consisted of mobile as well
as fixed. The fixed phone handsets were to replace fixed landlines with functionality within the city
limits. These were also known as FWT/FWP (Fixed Wireless Telephone/ Phone). WLL mobiles
were to give competition to GSM phones. The major benefit that they provided was connectivity to
internet (at 114kbps) as a bundled package. This could be done by connecting the phone to PC with
the data port. To begin with, these services were provided by government organizations BSNL
(Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) and MTNL (Mahanagar Sanchar Nigam Limited). However, they
were not successful in capturing the market. Then, Reliance infocomm became the first private
operator to offer CDMA services in India. And CDMA became an instant success. A major factor
was supply on Samsung and LG handsets with subscription. The other successful private name in
There were many small GSM providers. In 2001, there were 18 operators on GSM and to withstand
competition from CDMA, the bigger operators started acquiring small operators which could not
afford heavy investment needed in the industry. Hutch (now Vodafone) had then acquired Sterling
Cellular, Hutchinson Essar, Aircel Digilink, Hutchinson and Max Telecom; Airtel acquired
Hexacom; Idea acquired Escotel. As a result, the number of GSM operators reduced to 8 by 2004.
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The four main regulators of wireless include (Strother, 2004):
• Department of Telecommunications (DoT): Sets policy and controls licenses for both fixed and
• Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI): Regulates policies of DoT, and monitors licensees
• Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT): Resolves disputes brought by licensees
or consumers
In one of Asia's top three deals for 2007, UK giant Vodafone took over Hutch (Web 6). UK's
Vodafone has paid a discounted price of $10.9 billion in cash for acuqiring the 52% stake held by
Hutchison Telecom International (HTIL) in Indian mobile firm Hutch-Essar to complete a deal. This
figure was reached after a cut down of $180million was made (Web7).
There were a few points noted in 2004 that showed great potential in Indian mobile phone market.
Firstly, the mobile phones sales growth was amongst fastest in world by mid 2005 with additional
1.7 million subscribers every month. Also, in 2004, the mobile subscribers in India were 5 per
hundred, which was very low as compared to China (25.9 per hundred), Russia (42 per hundred),
Brazil (37.5 per hundred) and other developing countries (Indu. P, 2005).
33
3.2 About Nokia
In 1865, engineer Fredrik Idestam established a wood-pulp mill in southern Finland and started
manufacturing paper. This company was named Nokia. Nokia soon became successful, this was due
to the European industrialization and the growing consumption of paper and cardboard. In 1895,
Gustaf Fogelholm, son in law of Fredrik Idestam, took over the reins of the company. Nokia started
exporting products to Russia and then to the UK and France (Web 1). In the early 1900s, the
companies grew in spite of external threats. In addition to the traditional forestry industry, the other
industries also achieved a good position on the Finnish market (Web 2).
Small community grew up around the Nokia factory as it attracted a large workforce. In southern
Finland, a community called Nokia still exists on the riverbank of Emäkoski. The wood pulp mill
used hydroelectricity (generated from the river Emäkoski). This attracted the Finnish Rubber Works
to establish a factory in Nokia. Hence in 1920, Finnish Rubber Works became a part of the company,
and later on in 1922, Finnish cable works joined them (Indu P., 2005). In addition to footwear
(galoshes) and tyres, the company later went on to manufacture rubber bands, industrial parts and
raincoats.
The period between and immediately after the two World Wars was dedicated to developing the
businesses. All countries had new products developing in all industries. The outside world found it
feasible to have Finnish products as alternatives for other industries as a result of the use of modern
production methods. These changes in world economy led the company to concentrate on domestic
34
markets for its different businesses. This would later be reversed as the company started shifting its
After World War II the Finnish Rubber Works bought the majority of the Finnish Cable Works
shares. Increasing need for power transmission and telegraph and telephone networks resulted in
rapid growth of the Finnish Cable Works company. Gradually the ownership of the Rubber Works
and the Cable Works companies consolidated. It was later in 1967 that all three companies were
merged to form the Nokia Group. The following are the logos of three original companies that
35
The oldest was Nokia Ab (est. 1865) in the forest industry and power production. Suomen
Gummitehdas Oy (Finnish Rubber Works, est. 1898) was manufacturing galoshes and other rubber
products, and Suomen Kaapelitebdas Oy (Finnish Cable Works, est. 1912) was producing telephone
and power cables. The current Nokia logo dates from 1992. The arrows were later dropped. (Martti
Häikiö, 2002/04)
The Finnish Cable Works had a history of manufacturing cables for telegraph and telephone
networks and in the 1960 they established the Cable Works Electronics department. However, the
Cable Work's Electronics department started to conduct research into semiconductor technology in
the 1960´s. In this way, probably, the seeds of Nokia's global success in telecommunications were
planted. At the time of formation of Nokia Group in 1967, Electronics generated three percent of the
It was in 1970s that Nokia started taking an active interest in the power and electronic business. At
this time, the majority of telephone exchanges were electro-mechanical analog switches. Nokia
began developing the digital switch (Nokia DX 200). These were successful. Nokia DX 200, which
was equipped with high-level computer language and Intel microprocessors gradually evolved into
the multifaceted platform that is still the basis for Nokia's network infrastructure today. About the
same time, the Finnish telecommunications authorities were able to set up a mobile network which
connected the car phones to public network with the help of a new legislation (Web 1).
36
During the 1980s, Nokia's operations rapidly expanded to new business sectors and products through
corporate acquisitions and became the European market leader in several fields, such as rubber
industry and TV set manufacture. The strategy was to expand rapidly on all fronts. However, as the
90s approached, Nokia strived to radically cut down the number of different businesses it had,
especially like the non-core IT and focus on two core business – mobile phones and
telecommunications. This strategy was formulated by Jorma Ollila, the CEO in 1994. This task
proved to be challenging. Nevertheless, the implementation of the new strategy helped the
company's finances reach a sound standing, created the basis for a successful conquer of the world
By late 1980’s, consumer electronics became Nokia’s major business. In 1981, Nokia made Nordic
Mobile Telephony (NMT) mobile phone standard. This was the world’s first multinational cellular
network. In 1987, it launched Mobira Cityman, the first NMT phone. At the end of the 1980s a
common standard for digital mobile telephony was developed. This standard is known as GSM
(Global System for Mobile Communications). A Finnish company, Radkilinia, was the first
company receive GSM network from Nokia in 1991, and in the same year Nokia made agreements
to supply GSM networks to nine European countries. And by August 1997 Nokia had supplied GSM
systems to 59 operators in 31 countries. In 1992, Nokia 1011 – a precursor for all Nokia’s current
GSM phones was introduced. The company had incredible success in form of 2100 series phone.
The goal for 1994 was set to sell 500,000 units, and Nokia managed to sell 20 million.
The global demand for mobile phones increased in early 2000s and Nokia maintained its leadership
37
in the market. In January 2004, Nokia reorganized itself into four business groups – mobile phones,
multimedia, enterprise solution and networks. The mobile phone group developed mobile phones
and devices on technologies such as WCDMA, GSM/EDGE, CDMA and TDMA. The multimedia
group provided advanced mobile devices and solutions to the consumers. They developed new
models as well as system, applications and sales channels for the market. The enterprise group was
for helping businesses ensure security and reliability of their network. They developed solutions for
e-mail, internet, virtual private networks and firewalls for the businesses. Network infrastructure,
communication and network platforms were provided to the operators and service providers by the
By 2004, Nokia was a world leader in digital technologies such as mobile phones,
telecommunications networks, wireless data solutions and multimedia terminals. However, there
have been rumors that, a group of businessmen tried to offer Nokia to the Swedish telecom company
Nokia has been the pioneer of mobile telephony in India, the existence here is from 1994. As noted
above, the first ever GSM call in India was made on a Nokia 2110 on its own network. Although the
conditions in Indian telecom industry were not very conducive, Nokia maintained an aggressive
strategy. Import of mobile phones was not easy and the tariff applied on them was as high as 27%.
Consumers too were not interested in purchasing mobile phones as call rates were as high as Rs16
38
Another problem faced by Nokia was highly competitive environment in the industry. Powerful
global players like Motorola, Siemens, Sony and Ericsson already had there presence in India in
consumer durables, electronics and engineering sectors, and hence were aware conditions prevailing
in Indian market. However, overcoming all odds, Nokia India came out as the market leader with
56% share in 2003-04 and still continues to lead with 80% in 2007 (Indu P., 2005) (Web 4).
Asia is the fastest growing market for Nokia. Competitors such as Samsung, Motorola nad Sony
Ericsson have captured huge market shares. The consumer is going for high technology at
reasonable prices. They respect any provider who gives the best combination of both. Nokia has
retained the top spot for quite some time in India, the recent figures are;
“Finnish handset major Nokia has retained the top slot in Indian GSM market with 79 per cent share
in 2006”(Web 5) “Nokia came from behind to stun the likes of Ericsson and Motorola and corner
Nokia in 2006, Started a manufacturing in Sriperumbudur, Chennai. His plant as on December 2007
employed approximately 6000 people. The current investment on this is about US$ 210 million in
the plant since January 2006. Nokia announced to further invest US$ 75 million in year 2008.
Nokia's key strategy has always been to lead the market on the 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.
39
3.4 SWOT ANALYSIS (Web 8)
Strengths
-Is a dominant player in the smart phone market via its majority ownership of Symbian and its
proprietary Series 60 user interface which are projected to represent majority of the 100M smart
- Size should enable Nokia to amortize Research and Development costs and to get cost advantages
Weaknesses
- Being the market leader, its increase role in Symbian is giving Nokia a bad image, much like
- Slow to adopt new ways of thinking: a good example is clamshell phones which are preferred by
many customers. Nokia was reluctant to produce a clamshell until this year, when it launched its first
model.
Opportunities
- Increase their presence in the CDMA market, is still dominated by LG, also concentrate on 3G and
Edge
40
- New growth markets where cell phone adoption still has room to go, including India and other
countries.
- Leverage its infrastructure business to get preference and a stronger position with carriers
Threats
- Delayed entry in 3G sector creates a risk to be displaced by leaders like Motorola, LG, NEC and
others.
- Asian OEMs who are entering the market very aggressively (TCL, nGo Bird)
- ODMs (HTC and others) enabling carriers to leverage their customer power bypassing the handset
vendor. Operators want to lessen their dependency on handset vendors and the dominance of Nokia.
Orange, O2, and many other operators globally are selling their own brand of phones (Web 9)
41
4. METHODOLOGY
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
4.1 Introduction
Selection of type of method for data collection is one of the most critical parts of any research. This
chapter is all about discussing the different techniques and method of data collection and selection of
the most suitable method for the particular study. This is done through evaluation of the strengths
The federal definition of research by Messiah College as defined in the federal policy
testing, and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.” (Web 9).
Data can be collected in two forms, namely, primary and secondary data. The data collection
methods used in this research involves the search for both primary and secondary data. Information
gathered by observing phenomena or surveying respondents (Web 10). Primary data are originated
by the researcher for the specific purpose of addressing the problem at hand. Also that obtaining
primary data can be expensive and time consuming Malhotra (2005). Since primary data is collected
with specific purpose, it is the most significant. Depth interviews, focus groups, observations and
surveys are the major methods of gathering primary data. In this particular study, depth interviews
have been used as a means for obtaining primary data. Information compiled inside or outside the
organization for some purpose other than the current investigation (Web 10).
42
According to Malhotra (2005), Secondary data are data that are collected for some purpose other
than the problem at hand. Usually journals, existing reports, and statistics by public and private
authorities are used collect Secondary data. Here, the secondary data have been collected using
marketing journals and other existing reports that were based on the topic. Specifically a case study
from ICFAI, India on “Nokia’s Strategy in India”. Secondary data in this particular case helped the
collection of primary data. Start with secondary data. Proceed to primary data only when the
secondary data sources have been exhausted or yield managerial returns.” The study hence, involved
collection and analysis of primary data in foundation with the secondary data.
Even before a research is started, the researcher needs to evaluate and select the type of method they
will to be used for collecting the data for the research. The Quantitative research methods and the
Qualitative research methods are two options of approaches available for the researcher. As noted by
Creswell (2003), “The situation today is less quantitative versus qualitative and more how research
practices lie somewhere in continuum between the two (eg Newman & Benz, 1998)”. In most
researches, in some way or the other both form of data collection are used.
In this research, since, the study was conducted to understand the perspective of consumers and their
brand image, more stress was laid on qualitative research rather than quantitative. According to
Cassel and Symon (2005), ‘Qualitative methods’ is what people recognize and which is widely used,
it is actually very problematic. They could only talk about the characteristics of qualitative research,
43
without an overarching definition, because there were such a variety of methods that might claim
this title and little consensus over a core meaning. The simplest definition is to say it involves
methods of data collection and analysis that are non-quantitative (Lofland & Lofland 1984).
This traditional view is that quantitative enquiry examines data which are numbers, while qualitative
enquiry examines data which are narrative (Easterby-Smith et al., 1991). Inherent in this dichotomy
is the view that quantitative enquiry generally adopts a deductive process, while qualitative enquiry
There was a need to get the researched open up so that it can give more information. Also, there may
be a need to modify the questions to get the right data. Thus, qualitative approach was adopted with
an in-depth and semi- structured interview process. As it was rightly said by Bate (1997) that
qualitative research is about digging into the everyday life of people. It has also been noted that
qualitative research gives more quality in data and also results in very specific and in-depth
information.
“The relationship between theory and methodology is important. Researchers need to use
methodologies that are consistent with the assumptions and aims of the theoretical view being
expressed” (From the Editors, p.456). It can be noted from above quote, how important it is to
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4.2 Qualitative Research
“any kind of research that produces findings not arrived at by means of statistical procedures or
It is believed that qualitative research originated in recent times. However, as noted by Milliken
(2001) noted, Hamilton (1994), believed that the real roots of qualitative research could be traced
back to an eighteenth – century disruption that occurred in the fortunes of quantitative research.
Here, in order to explore the selected topic of the study, qualitative research is selected as the means
for research. Gephart has defined three methodologies of qualitative research. Positivism and
postpositivism are based on realism and involves comparisons of results and findings with
meanings and concepts used by social actors in real settings. Whereas, critical postmodernism is a
combination of critical theory and postmodern thought, which assumes that realities are value laden
based on building a complex, holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of
informants, and conducted in a natural setting” (Cresswell, 1994). Another way of defining it is to
say it focuses on "quality", a term referring to the essence or ambience of something (Berg 1989).
Others would say it involves a subjective methodology and your self as the research instrument
(Adler & Adler 1987). A variety of empirical material is needed to be collected and studied for the
45
purpose of qualitative research. These include, case study, personal experience, introspective, life
story interview, observational, historical, interactional, and visual texts that describe routine and
As cited by Golafshani N. 2003, Glesne & Peshkin, 1992, say “enjoying the rewards of both
numbers and words” i.e. the knowledge obtained through detailed interviewing process with focus
that that unlike quantitative research where the tool is the most important in qualitative research the
researcher himself poses as a tool and is the most important part of the research. So it is very
As Sankar (2006) noted, Qualitative research is unstructured, exploratory in nature, based on small
samples, and may utilize popular qualitative techniques such as focus groups (group interviews),
word association (asking respondents to indicate their first responses to stimulus words), and in-
depth interviews (one-on-one interviews that probe the respondents’ thoughts in detail) (Malhotra,
2005). The qualitative research interviews differ in practical features such as length, style of
questioning, and participant numbers (group or individual). Though most of them are face-to-face, it
can also be carried out via internet or on the telephone (Cassell and Symon, 2004). This study uses
46
4.3 Quantitative Research
Quantitative research methods are the orthodox way of researching. In very technical terms,
“Quantitative data is data expressing a certain quantity, amount or range. Usually, there are
measurement units associated with the data, e.g. meters, in the case of the height of a person. It
makes sense to set boundary limits to such data, and it is also meaningful to apply arithmetic
Quantitative Research methods are important and the traditional form of data collection and analysis.
We need to develop some understanding of this them. Quantitative research provides a more general
outcome rather than more specific. Since the answer is made exactly to what the question is, there is
no scope extra input from the interviewee. Also there is no personal touch to encourage the
interviewee to give concentrate and give answer. Another problem being one can not check the
genuineness of data very easily. However when the sample is large or more generalized views are
Quantitative research gives measurable quantities as the outcome. However, here the human nature
is under consideration. The objective is to comprehend and assess perceptions of different consumers
towards the mobile phone. More stress may be given to feature, looks, cost, software or any other
feature of the mobile phone. Since the study kind of tests out the effect of marketing activities by
checking the brand loyalty of the interviewee, it is important to understand the emotion associated
47
with the answer given by him. People have different perspective for different concepts, it is amazing
how some may react in a positive way, some in negative way and some may have no reaction at all
to it. In words of Hancock (2002), the human behavior is very complicated and unique to every
individual. Thus there is a need to have a deeper understanding than an ordinary survey. Human
behavior is strange, and cannot be measured in quantitative terms. Kaplan (1964) suggested that
there is only one thing that distinguishes human from natural world; it is our ability to talk, interact.
This ‘interactive nature’ of qualitative research makes it possible to measure the reactions of a great
many people to a limited set of questions thus facilitating comparison and statistical aggregation of
Since the objective of this research is to measure degree of success of marketing strategies
implemented by Nokia, it is very important to first identify the marketing strategies applied by Nokia
in India. For this purpose, the best available sources are case studies, news articles and personal
knowledge of the marketing strategies. After getting a complete picture of the existing scenario,
there was a need to get the public interpretation of the brand and its value. For the purpose of getting
more generalized view, the dealers of mobile phones were interviewed. Since they deal with buyers
and prospective buyers on a regular basis, they can give an overview of the market. Also it was
thought that their personal choice will be considered for the same. Hence for a new research a
primary research was conducted. A secondary research was also carried out to understand the
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4.6 Interviews
“A qualitative research interview is an interview whose purpose is to gather descriptions of the life-
world of the interviewee with respect to interpretation of the meaning of the described phenomena”
(Kvale, 1983)
As King (2004) says, ‘The interview remains the most common method of data collection in
qualitative research, employed in various forms by every main theoretical and methodological
approach within qualitative applied psychology.’ It is therefore important for the researcher to look
at the problem from the perspective of the interviewee. Hence, there is a need to not completely
The study also involves semi-structured interview as qualitative research tool. Drever (1995) defines
what ground is to be covered and what questions are to be asked. This leaves the detailed structure to
be worked out during the interview. The person interviewed can answer at some length in his or her
own words, and the interviewer responds using prompts, probes, and follow-up questions to get the
exploratory, semi structured or unstructured. In the research, in-depth interviews were carried out as
a qualitative research tool. In-depth interviews are taken with a small number of people on a
particular topic. The researcher’s job here is to find out detailed information about the interviewee’s
49
actions, behaviors and perceptions through intense interviews. The questions of what, how and why
A major benefit that interviewing gives is that the interviewer can modify the questions according to
the need. Question such as ‘could you throw more light on that?’, ‘What reason do you think for
this?’, ‘Any other reason you think…?’ and many more can help the interviewer get more
information from the interviewee. He can also judge by the expressions of the interviewee, and may
need to understand the question which interviewee is not comfortable answering in. In such a case
the interviewer needs to develop a sense of confidence with the interviewee to make him
comfortable. Actually this can be done in the beginning of the interview so that rapport develops and
interviewee answers all question with interest. The technique of stimulating respondents to answer
more fully and relevantly is termed probing (Cooper and Schindler, 2000). This is another benefit of
conducting an interview, as usually people do not like to spend their time and try to finish of the
process as soon as possible. In case of survey via form, this can lead to improper answers filled in a
For the purpose of this dissertation 8 semi structured interviews of Nokia’s dealers were taken. Here,
one of the interviews was considered as not useful, due to uninterested attitude of the interviewee
and extremely short answers. The number of interviews was restricted to such a small number as it
was felt that the information was more or less repetitive and no new information was there for
taking. Three out of these were taken on telephone due to large distances. Despite being expensive,
telephonic interviews did help the researcher to converse with the respondents who are far beyond
50
the reach. All the interviewees were explained why the interview was being conducted and what the
main theme of the interview was. The interviews were open-ended and gave interviewee the option
to answer the way they wanted. As a result, some interviews were longer than the other was.
4.7 Summary
This chapter was used to explain the methods available for conducting the study. Case studies and
news articles were used for secondary data. After discussing the pros and cons of each method, the
right method for this research, i.e. qualitative analysis was selected, where in-depth, semi-structured
interviews were adopted as a source of primary data. The personal effect of interview was used to
develop rapport with the interviewee and modify the questions according to the need. Also due to
Next chapter will involve deep discussion of the analysis and findings of the gathered data.
51
5. MARKETING STRATEGY
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
5.1 Introduction
Marketing strategy of a company in a new country plays a vital role in determining its future in that
country. Knowing that Indian market is very different from other markets it was already operating
in, Nokia came up with an India–specific strategy or a glocal strategy. It adapted the to Indian
conditions by launching new products and enhancing the products with features designed
specifically for local customers, as well as 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. Here, to discuss
the strategy, we consider the simple concept of 4 P’s, namely; product (customization), price, place
5.2 Product
1998 was 51st year of Indian independence, hence Nokia provided the ring tone of National son
“Saare Jahan se Achha ye Hindustan 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, Nokia also tied up with Sony music for top 20 hit songs as ring
52
tones. Nokia 3210, became an instant hit. The model 3610 was launched with an enhancing Hindi
The most successful customization came in 2003 when Nokia came with 1100 and 1108 specifically
designed for Indian market. It had features of anti-slip grip, dust resistance and torchlight. Since, in
India people don’t know English in villages, Nokia came up with “Saral Mobile Sandesh” (SMS in
Hindi). Nokia sales increased from 58.2% in July 2003 to 59.6% in July 2004.
Nokia was also the first handset manufacturer to launch games download in India in 2003. It had
spearheaded the industry in online distribution of tones, graphics and game downloads. These
services did not just increase their sale of mobile phones but were also fruitful as they made huge
profits by selling the games. In 2005, Nokia also launched games based on Indian mythology namely
‘Makhan chor’ and ‘Swayamvar’. Both were arcade games involving two most of the famous
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.
This was a part of Nokia 2112 model (CDMA), wherein the message is clear-personalize your
phone. Earlier they had a similar feature in GSM handset Nokia 2100. "We have made a personality
statement through the campaign. The feel of the campaign is such that it would evoke a 'sense of
being,'" said Sanjay Behl, Head of Marketing, Nokia India. Menon, M. (2005)
53
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 since many
FM channels were introduced in India in early 2000’s, Nokia banked on the opportunity by coming
with FM phones attracting a lot of youth. Later on in 2005, Nokia came with SMS services in other
In November 2007, Nokia came with Bollywood classic movie ‘Sholay’ preloaded in N95 8GBand
N81. This gave opportunity to cinema buffs to now watch the movie Sholay on the go. The N series
is a multimedia sub-brand of Nokia. "It is one of the biggest blockbusters that the Hindi film
industry has churned out. There could have been no better option than this flick, which is liked by
every age group equally," said Vineet Taneja, business director of multimedia, Nokia India. (Web
11)
“As part of its strategy to connect with the young population in India, 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, Mark Knopfler, Sting and Enrique Iglesias to India. In Fashion, Nokia has a strong
association with Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week and Nseries lifestyle led campaigns amongst
54
In another attempt to give India handsets which will enable them to use more features, Nokia is in
process of making cheap GPRS enabled handset. In this handset, the users can surf the net at a very
reasonable price. Again targeting the low and middle income class, who are interested in using the
new facilities available. "We are planning to bring internet access to all the masses in India through
our low-cost handsets... the company is working diligently towards it," said Nokia's Senior Vice
President - Entry Business Unit (Mobile Phones Business Group) Soren Peterson in an interview.
(Web 13)
5.3 Pricing
Pricing of the phones was of prime importance for success in India. Being a developing country, the
purchasing power of the people was not high as compared to other developed countries. Research
unveiled that phones of lower price range (below Rs8000 or $200 approx.) amounted for 65% of the
total sales in India. Nokia depended majorly on rural market, therefore, pricing was a major success
factor for the company. Nokia did achieve success in India, in spite of the fact, that its handsets were
Nokia 1100, which was specially launched for India, was priced at Rs. 4000. This price, although
was at a premium as compared to entry level phones, but was enhanced with several special features
which were not available in other phones of the same price. The head of marketing at Nokia India,
Sanjay Behl said, “The phone is a combination of product benefits and pricing” (Web 14). This
model further became the best selling model ever in India. It also increased the brand preference of
Nokia from 66% to 77% within 9 months of its launch. This show how nature of Indian consumer is
55
value sensitive. The major strategical move by Nokia in this regard was that it charged a lower price
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
An important reason for the success of mobile phones in India was limited reach of the landline
phones in several parts of the country. By mid 2005 the mobile phone sales in smaller towns and
cities was higher than those of the metropolitans. The sales in these urban markets were beginning to
saturate. The distribution in these small towns called for non traditional channels. Nokia
strengthened their distribution network, and selected distributors from FMCG line or experience
holders for durables or automobiles. In fact, about a fifth of the mobile phone sales in India were
In 1995, Nokia tied up with HCL Infinet for sales and distribution of its phones and appointed them
as Nokia distributor for GSM handsets in India. HCL Infinet provided a complete range of Nokia’s
GSM mobile phones, data products and mobile services. The retail network they developed was very
strong and dedicated. They came up with Nokia Professional Centers (NPCs), Nokia Priority Dealers
(NPDs) and redistribution stockiest all over India. NPCs were one stop shops for the complete range
of Nokia mobile phones, batteries, chargers, accessories, covers, hands free kits and car kits amongst
others. It also provided the after sales services for Nokia’s handsets. NPCs were multibrand retails
56
outlets with 60% of their area dedicated to Nokia. While redistribution stockists were for supplying
HCL also came with Nokia Care Centers (NCCs) for providing solutions to mobile related problems.
These were spread all over the country and provided phone repairing software up-gradation services.
They also displayed complete range mobile phones, data products and complete mobile phones
accessories. Another effective concept that Nokia up with in 2005, was that of Nokia Concept Store
in Bangalore in south India. It was located in the city centre, MG Road. “This concept store is being
set up with an objective to provide Indian consumer with a truly enhanced mobility experience
through its cast and exciting range of Nokia products and mobile accessories. We are keen to lead a
unique mobile retailing experience for consumers through these thouch points” Sanjay Behl, Head
Marketing, Nokia India (Web 15). Details as per Nokia website are given below.
“Nokia Concept Store in Bangalore was the country's first concept store in India to provide
customers a complete experiential mobile experience. The store measures approximately 2,000
square feet and is designed to reflect the design ethic of the Nokia brand. The layout and design of
the store follows the same pattern as Nokia Concept Stores around the world to guarantee an easy
and informative shopping experience. With a simple-to-navigate setup, open doorways and low-
glare lighting, the store provides a relaxed and satisfying customer experience. The high-tech display
terminals and dedicated areas for Imaging, Smart, Multimedia, Business and Entry phones make it
easy for the public to keep up to date on the latest technologies and trends in the mobile industry.
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Nokia today has eight Nokia 'Concept stores' in Bangalore, Delhi, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Chandigarh,
Nokia kept its promise of enhancing the mobile experience of its customers. In October 2007, they
launched the first 'global format' Nokia Concept Store in Western India at Indore. “Located at MG
road and spread over 3500 sq. feet, square feet, the state-of-the-art Nokia Concept Store will provide
mobile phone consumers in Indore a world class interactive and informative shopping experience,
allowing them to get a first-hand experience before making a purchase decision.” (Web16). Nokia’s
vast distribution network covered almost every city or town where mobile network was available.
5.5 Promotion
Nokia entered India with one for mobile services to start, and had to establish its non-popular brand.
To build credentials the company used both print and television campaigns. In the early days, print
media concentrated on Nokia’s status, global R&D and international awards won to establish brand
awareness. Even after the market grew, Nokia’s advertisements concentrated on product attributes.
Gaining acceptance of Indian consumer is not as simple as other countries. India is a multicultural
country, where people have strong believe in their mythology, nationality and cultures and to add to
it, their purchasing power was not as high as other countries where Nokia was operating. Hence, to
achieve approval of the mobile consumers in India, Nokia decided to localize its products heavily.
For the purpose of developing the products specifically for markets with high population and low
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Until 2003, Nokia used all their international advertisements with slight modifications in India. For
instance, the advertisement for NGAGE showed two young persons getting bored stuck in traffic
jam and then they show them combat with super natural powers. It showed how NGAGE could help
them pass their time. But it did not have a very good affect on the Indian audience as they could not
relate themselves to the people over there. There was needed to make special advertisements for
India.
Nokia India marked its special presence in advertisement world with ‘Made for India’ ad campaign
on the launch of Nokia 1100 (Appendix 3). This was the fourth advertisement created in India but
created maximum stir in the industry. The advertisement showed that the Nokia 1100 was launched
first in India and addressed all the concerns of Indian consumers. The advertisement made a clear
deviation from hitherto hip urban-focused advertisements that Nokia are known for. It aimed at
highlighting the broad appeal of mobile phones across all socio-economic segments of India. The
Analysts believed that Nokia would lose the top end consumers who attached lot of importance to
mobile phones as a style statement. Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director, Nokia Mobile Phones
India, said “No, not in the least does the latest piece o communication create dissonance in the minds
of consumers with regard to Nokia’s brand image. The technology driven ads have created a rub-off
on the entire Nokia range. And fashion and lifestyle products create a desire at all levels, be it the
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first-time urban or rural user.” (Dixit, 2004). The advertisement was a success, and Nokia 1100 went
The major reason for handset was, Nokia was expecting exponential growth in small towns and rural
areas. The company planned to build brand loyalty amongst this segment. They conducted research
to get to know the needs and concerns of the users of this segment. As Sanjeev Sharma said, “One of
the things we found out was that the torch is of high value. Besides that a major concern was dust…
People feared that dust might penetrate through the gaps of their keypad, and that explains the
extensive use of handset covers in India. Another major concern was the grip of the phone, because
of the climatic conditions in this country people usually have sweaty palms, and therefore the, what
One advertisement that Nokia made in 2000 was a public interest advertisement, urging users to
switch off their cell phones while watching movies. It showed a clip where hero picks up an
argument with person sitting in front row in a movie theatre. One of the advertisements was for
Nokia 2280 which was offered in bundle with reliance mobile connection. This was a simple one
which educated the audience of availability of cheap handset with bundled airtime.
Cricket is considered a religion in India. Nokia has had a strong association with the sport through its
advertisements. In an advertisement released during cricketing season of 2003, a cricket fan was
watching cricket with his daughter and a prospective groom walks in, the father throws the ball to
him, which he is unable to catch. The dejected young lad starts to walk away, just then the television
60
gets blank. The enthusiast fan is frantically trying to find the score. The boy gets a message of latest
score update on his Nokia mobile phone, impressing the father. The advertisement targeted the
middle class youth of India. 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.
In 2007 itself, Nokia was the 'on air' sponsor for the West Indies World Cup and for the Champions
In 2004, network provider Hutch came up with television on mobile phone. “Clips from these 13
television channels can be accessed by Hutch and Orange users through their EDGE-enabled mobile
phones, said Mr Harit Nagpal, Chief Marketing Officer, Hutch” (Web 18). Hutch then came with an
advertisement showing people watching television on Nokia 6630 which was EDGE enabled. This
Another successful, India-specific campaign was the one where phones with Saral Mobile Sandesh
(Hindi SMS) were promoted. It targeted the rural India, where mobile penetration is low. The
advertisement showed a postman giving a mobile to a girl which was sent to her by her brother so
that she can exchange Hindi SMSes with her brother. It was a audience specific advertisement and
Nokia was not the market leader in colored handsets. To regain its share, it came up with
advertisement ‘Har Jeb mei Rang’ (color in every pocket) for Nokia 2600. It was a very colorful
61
advertisement, showing colors spreading out of Nokia phone. It showed the idea of color spreading
Nokia came up with some good advertisements around the end of 2007. One of them starring the
superstar of Hindi cinema, Shah Rukh Khan calling Nokia as his friend and companion for 10 years.
He expresses how it brings and spreads happiness and how it has been with him through the ups and
downs of his life. Other advertisements have been model specific as Nokia’s advertisements have
always been. Other advertisements include Nokia 7900 Prism, “The new edge in fashion” and Nokia
E series, “Success is the name of the game”. Another advertisement shows Nokia 1650 with features
“As a part of its strategy to enrich mobile user experience, Nokia announced its association with
Bollywood's most awaited multi star blockbuster, Om Shanti Om (OSO). As a part of this tie-up,
Nokia users can exclusively watch OSO movie clips, behind the scenes videos, ring tones and
wallpapers on their mobile phones. Nokia has created a special 'OSO Crazy mobisode', animated
characters of 'OM' (played by Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan) that can be downloaded exclusively
on all Nokia GPRS enabled handsets by dialing 55555 or from www.nokia.co.in/oso, a special
Nokia followed model-specific advertising for most part. Different advertisements were made for
each model of Nokia, making it easy to target the specific audience, which will demand that model.
Even different media was used according to the audience. Nokia even faced the problem of brand
62
identification in the early stages as there were no specific signs suggesting that it was an
advertisement from Nokia. Since 2005, Nokia has embarked a new advertising plan to consolidate its
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6. ANALYSIS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
6.1 Introduction
Analysis of the data is very important part of any research. The quality of data collected matters, but
what matters more is the interpretation of that data. This chapter deals with Analysis and Discussions
of the findings. Firstly, data of all the respondents to the interview was compared to give better
understanding of the situation. Then, this comparison was used to achieve the objectives of the
research by evaluating them on the basis of secondary data. Unique personal quotes from
respondents were taken as a basis of comparison of the different views to consolidate it into finding
of the research.
To get a more generalized view of the thoughts, mobile dealers were interviewed. These dealers deal
in many brands and have the first hand knowledge of market and consumer perceptions. However,
the thoughts still vary due to personal choices and the type of customers they deal in, which in turn
depends on location. To begin with we will discuss the background of the respondents.
For the purpose of collection of primary data, 8 dealers of mobile phones in India within the age of
20-40 were interviewed. Out of this one was considered not valid for the research. The number of
interviewee was restricted to such a small number because of uniformity of the responses from the
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responses. It was believed that information was getting repetitive and no new information was being
achieved.
Out of the 7 respondents, 5 owned Nokia phones. The youngest respondent was 23 years of age and
the eldest 39. Being the dealers of mobile handsets, these respondents had more than decent
knowledge of the phones, making it easier for the researcher to conduct the interview. The
companies
Dealer), Samsung,
Sony Ericsson
companies
companies
companies, Chinese
brands
65
companies, Chinese
brands
To start the conversation and make the interviewee comfortable, more general questions were asked.
First of all they asked to comment on the cellular phone market of India. They were asked about the
way the market has grown and about the future of the market. As we know, the Indian cellular phone
industry has witnessed exceptional growth in the past few years. The future also seems to be bright
as mobile phone is considered as consumer durable in the country. The respondents reply was as
follows:
“Launched about 10-12 years ago, cellular phone was considered a luxury and very costly affair…
Establishment costs for the network providers was very high… But now scenario has changed…
prepaid connections and lifetime connections are the major factors for the boom in the market…”
Sourav
“There has been tremendous growth in the past few years…” Akshay
“The market has seen a growth in terms of both quantity as well as quality… Probably the most
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Everybody believed that market had shown dramatic growth in past few years. Few reasons were
mentioned too. 25 years old Sourav, who has a vast experience of 8 years, believed reasons such as
prepaid connections and lifetime connections played important roles in getting the industry where it
is now.
“Mobile phone has become a part of everybody’s life… It is almost impossible to imagine a life
without it… This by itself tells about the future of the market…” Pradeep
The above statement by Pradeep marks the importance of mobile phone in the life of a middle class
man today. When asked for the future of this business, the opinion was general of the respondents
that the industry has a very bright future. However, different reasons were given to comprehend their
beliefs.
“This business has a very good and bright future… The margins are getting lower but the turnovers
“I have a strong feeling that it will keep on growing for some time before it reaches a saturation
level… Since the average life of a handset is 1-2 years, scope of sales will always be there…”
Akshay
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“In the current situation, due to competition customer is enjoying the position of a king… with
margins as low as 1-2% its not easy for the retailers… the increasing demand is attracting more and
more retailers, so the future is bright for the prospective buyers…” Sumit
“Will definitely continue to grow in similar fashion for next 2-3 years, resulting in a lot of scope…
Future will see more stylish and feature specific phones demanded…” Rishi
The call rates in the future were believed to have more uniformity. Probably the purpose to say so
was that this will lead to more usage of the mobile phones, further increasing the sales and talking
“Future will see universal rate for any call made, irrespective of the distance…” Sourav
Not surprisingly, when asked about the market leader, every respondent had no doubts that it was
Nokia all the way. In a way, reconfirming Nokia’s status in the market with almost 70% share in
GSM handsets. However, they believed that companies like Samsung, Motorola and Sony Ericsson
are giving Nokia good competition and have seen major increase in sales. When asked about reasons
of Nokia’s success, the respondents believed that features of the phone were main driving force for
the sales of handsets. Other important reasons included, brand image due to past experience, long
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“Nokia has always satisfies the customer, now they believe that this company is reliable… there is a
“People purchasing Nokia also had problem, but that was really rare… in comparison users of
“Long life and user friendliness… People have faith in Nokia due to its good history” Pradeep
However, one of the respondents, Sourav, believed there a few reasons for success in Indian
conditions. He believed battery was a major driver of the sales and Nokia had the best. To better that
they had a universal charger for all handsets helping people to charge phone almost everywhere. He
also believed that, high ringing volumes and rough and tough features were special advantages in
Indian conditions.
“In India working class people prefer high ring volumes due to noise pollution, Nokia solved this
purpose… Nokia is also associated with a rough ‘n’ tough image, people are confident that it can
take more dust and shock, which unfortunately is in abundance in India…” Sourav
As noted above, the Nokia brand image was that of the best. They incorporated the meaning of a
mobile phone as Nokia. This can be noted in Akshay’s answer when asked about the market
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“Excellent… its like what Maruti is for cars… what Bisleri is for mineral water.. the Pioneer”
Importantly, the reasons for Nokia’s success were believed to be the features of the phone, as every
respondent had only Nokia on mind when asked for the market leader. The marketing strategies
implemented by them were not mentioned by most of the respondents. Srikant however believed that
Nokia had better distribution strategies than its competitors. He believed that Nokia was the first to
enter a new market and create a brand name amongst the new users. Though, according to him it
worked like a circle, as this increased Nokia’s sale, higher sales helped them evade new markets. He
“Though has a superb brand image, I believe the key to their success lies in deeper penetration…
They are the first to each every new market… this increases their sales and in turn increase their
The respondents being dealers of Nokia had fair amount of knowledge of the company. When asked
about the origin, they all knew that Nokia is a Finnish brand. Nokia’s case is similar to that of Tiger
beer - people do not associate Finland with high-tech products. So the name Nokia (which sounds
Japanese), helps them disguise their origin (Web 20). The buyers according to them, however, earlier
felt it was an Japanese company. Also, people were more interested in the manufacturing of the
“Though the company is Finnish, handsets these days are manufactured in Asian countries such as
China” Sourav
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“Earlier any new brand was considered as Japanese or Western, probably because of the name…
now they realize the difference… but the brand already has its status by the past…” Pradeep
“My customers are not literate enough to understand the country of origin… they believe in my
words and the company that has done well in the past…” Sumit
To check how brand loyal people are to Nokia, the following question was asked, “Given the phone
is homogeneously same, which company would you for? Would you still go for Nokia?”
Interestingly, leaving 2 of the correspondents, no one was sure which brand to go for. “Nokia only.
When everything is the same, why take the risk?” Akshay said. The others were flexible, saying that
they would make the decision based on the added features such as looks, warranty, battery life and
after sales service. This shows how the population of India is flexible to changes. This however, is
not very good for the future of Nokia. This means that people will not feel very uncomfortable while
changing the brand. They are brand conscious but not brand loyal.
Not very strangely, there was no mention of the marketing strategies in success of Nokia. The
indication here is on promotions. Nokia’s promotion strategies have been very aggressive in India,
also they have had special strategies to attract Indian audiences. However, what drive their sales are
the product features and not its marketing strategies. To extract some information, the respondents
were asked to comment on their advertisements, they believed that Nokia’s advertisements were not
71
extra ordinarily great, but were simple. Also the reach of their advertisements to target audience was
appraised.
“Nokia’s ads touch you… in very simple ways they convey the message” Pradeep
“What is special with Nokia’s ads is their reach to the audience… with model specific ads its very
important to reach the target audience for that model… Nokia has done that more than any other
brand” Srikant
When asked about Nokia’s advertisements, the respondents believed that the advertisement for
Nokia 1100 was a phenomenon by itself. The phone was made especially for Indian conditions and
advertisement showing a truck driver using the phone was perfect for the campaign. According to
respondents, the advertisement changed the way Indian audience felt for Nokia. The advertisement
made the audience feel a bond between them. People almost forgot that Nokia was a foreign
company.
“ ‘Made for India’ ad campaign was revolutionary… it changed the way people thought about
Nokia… it became more of a home company than other… people could relate to it” Rishi
“The Nokia 1100 ad increased my sale by a fortune… I cater to the lower level customers, and the
phone was made for them… the ad highlighted its features… the impact was such that customers
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Nokia was seldom referred to as the price leader of the market. It was very clear in the market that
Nokia charged a premium for their brand, though it was not very large. Chinese handsets were sold
because to cheap price, but were not reliable. Amongst the branded phones, prices of Motorola and
“The cheapest handset in the market is not Nokia’s… It has been so since last few years… Motorola
leads on this front… Motorola along with Samsung provide more feature a reasonable rate…”
Sourav
The features of the phone were believed to be the main driving force for the sales of handsets. As
can be seen in the comments above, features such as rough and tough body, long life of the handsets,
user friendliness, extended battery life, universal charger and high ringing volume have had pivotal
contributions in the sales of the company. The major shift came with the launch of ‘Made for India’
Nokia 1100. This phone was specially made for India, keeping in mind the dusty and greasy
conditions. It went on to become the best-seller amongst all mobile phones in India.
As noted above, Srikant credits Nokia’s distribution channels for the success for the company.
“Though has a superb brand image, I believe the key to their success lies in deeper penetration…
They are the first to each every new market… this increase their sales and in turn increase their
ability to invade more markets…” It is a fact that Nokia has its dealers and distributors not just in the
cities but also in small town and now in villages. This helps them not just increase their sale but also
create a better brand image, as when their phones are available everywhere, then it gives customer
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6.6 Future and Scope of Improvement
Any market with high technological environment goes through rapid changes. There are many
changes taking place in mobile phone market in India. The demands of consumer are changing. They
prefer purchasing phones with most features. The idea was to carry a gadget with everything in it,
“Many phones such as Blackberry, iPhone, O2 etc have changed mass’s thinking… they act like a
“Features like camera and radio attract people more nowadays… its particularly helpful for those
“The sales are also brand driven… according to Brand Equity 2007, Nokia is the second most
“Everybody is running after particularly feature packed phone…music, gaming, executive, camera,
multimedia…” Rishi
The recent threat has been that of cheaply priced local Chinese handsets. The respondents are
however not very convinced with them. The futures of these handsets are not really great. Here too is
the customer is the beneficiary. As Akshay says, “they will keep the prices of branded handsets
under check”. Yuvraj though does not seem amused with them, “they are having high sales… they
74
are meant for those who don’t value their money… useful for some as features like dual sim are not
The respondents were happy with Nokia overall, specially in comparison to other companies. Even
then, they had a few complaints to make regarding their after sales services, limitations of the
“They are not the cheapest in the market… there is a need to develop a phone especially for low
price section… amongst the enviable range, the place for a PDA is still empty…” Pradeep
“Customer services needs a major makeover… the staff there are not very well trained… software
problems exist… they keep on modifying the same model to just increase the number of handsets on
offer… no real change can be noticed… as example we can see N95 is available in 3 different
models…” Sourav
As respondent Akshay notes, “A major problem for Nokia is its good image… they have set high
standards for themselves… the trick lies in maintaining their image… a small fault by other
companies may not be as a big a issue as it will be with Nokia… they have a set platform and need to
bank on it”. This is a very interesting point of view, indicating towards the drawbacks of a company
with high expectations. Rishi made and interesting comment, “Nokia are taking its brand image for
granted”.
This shows that in such a fast moving market, there marketing can not be put to rest at all.
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The respondents believe that Nokia’s future is bright as they expect the company keep coming up
with the kind of handsets that give them technological edge as they have done in the past. This is
what differentiates Nokia from the others. However, they feel Nokia needs to overcome the above
mentioned limitations to continue the percentage of sales they have. There was specific stress on
improving the after sales service. “The market is moving fast… competitors are getting better… if
you don’t improve all your services you are bound to loose on the sales” Srikant.
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7. CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
This chapter concludes the study by highlighting the key findings of the study and then some
recommendations for Nokia for future. Then the chapter discusses to the limitations of the study and
The aim of the study is to critically analyze Nokia’s marketing strategy in India and to examine the
effect on its sales. For this purpose secondary sources were used to collect the information of
marketing strategies and semi-structured interviews of mobile phone dealers in India were conducted
The conclusions that could be drawn were, the main drivers of sales of Nokia are the product
features. The marketing strategy though aggressive and very customer specific was not the prime
force towards the sales. The prices of Nokia phones are competitive but they are not the price
leaders. However, much information on the distribution network could not be gathered.
There is need for Nokia to differentiate itself from the past. This should be done by becoming more
customer-friendly to the Asian markets. Nokia should project itself more aggressively to the low
end, mass market with its low range (but hi-quality) products. There is also a need to develop a PDA
phone for its high range customers. Over the time, quality has been Nokia’s success factor. They
77
have developed a brand name, and the consumers have a high brand preference. There is need to in-
cash on this by continuing to launch the good quality products. The major drawback was not up to
The key strategy that can be suggested is to maintain its leadership with reasonably quality driven,
low end products for the mass market. Considering the future, this will be wise investment. With this
they can bank upon the brand preference and increase the margin instead of sales.
The biggest limitation of this research was time. Due to time constraints, the interviews were
restricted to a very small number. Cost was also disadvantage in the process of the research. The
dealers were chosen for interviews as it was believed that they would give a more generalized view
of the whole market. However, their answer replicated their specific customer base and personal
choice. If time is no limitation, the consumers should be directly contacted for their views.
Another aspect that can be considered in the analysis is the balancing act between market share and
profit margin. Right now, Nokia is in position to take advantage of their brand name and may change
their strategies to increase the profit margins. As the other companies are gaining on market share,
this could be the solution to Nokia’s problem. This view can also be considered by the researcher.
78
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APPENDICES
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Appendix 2 (Solberg et al., 2006)
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Appendix 3 (www.agencyfaqs.com)
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