Nokia should teach others how to answer difficult “iPhone related” questions
October 5, 2008 by Jayvee Fernandez
Filed under Nokia
Heard this from Rico over at the Gadget Blog in his recent trip to Singapore for the 5800 XpressMusic launch…. and here are my conclusions to what really took place!
So Nokia launched their new 5800 XpressMusic phone, which by some comparison is similar to the iPhone because of its touch screen. Of course, with the iPhone being the phone to beat, journalists can’t help but ask and compare this little beauty to the iPhone. You can’t blame them. It’s part of a story angle for human interest.
So all things come in context if you read this post first. Read it? OK great.
It is good that product managers are very aware of the competition. But marketing is marketing - they should only mention the “other phone that begins with an i” if a journalist asks a question pertaining to that during a press conference. Otherwise, I don’t see a need to passively promote your competitor’s products.
So a journo did ask about the iPhone and guess what the Nokia product manager said?
Well according to Rico, the PM simply says that the touch screen feature is there to offer a new variety of choices for consumers and some consumers do prefer a touch screen.
What a brilliant answer! No really!
In the PR industry, public relations specialists should train their clients to answer these difficult questions and the PM for the XpressMusic series isn’t stupid. It is a tactic PR practitioners use for their clients - don’t answer the question directly. Instead, use that as an opportunity to get your key communication points through.
As someone who’s been through this process before, I can easily point out that one of the key communication points is that the new touch screen of the 5800 series offers more choices for consumers as this is Nokia’s first touch screen phone.
That’s how it’s done! Not like that other PM in my previous link, that sounded so defensive.
[source image: Nokia PR Photos]
