Nokia counts on new offer for connection

By James Murphy, Media Asia, 10 February 2006, 03:06AM

Nokia has unveiled a new music-based magazine-style website in China, featuring a raft of interactive features aimed at encouraging consumers to interact more frequently with the brand.

Developed by XM China, the new site (located at www.music.nokia.com.cn) includes a wide range of free and paid music downloads and ringtones; critiques, reviews and interviews with Chinese celebrities, and news and information content sourced from the brand's online partner, Sina.com. Facing stiff competition from the likes of Motorola and Samsung, Nokia was eager to create a site that went further than simply offering basic ringtones, according to XM China general manager Susana Tsui. "The initiative was driven by Nokia after they identified that music was very important to consumers," said Tsui. "It was decided to try and attract anybody who is interested in music in China, and the site was developed as a platform which could be used over and over again. It's very much a long-term web strategy." According to Tsui, Nokia's initial brief to XM was to research the current market in China, and come up with something 'not the norm'. XM's solution was to develop a magazine-style website, incorporating flash to create a 'turning the page' feel, an aspect Tsui feels sets the site apart from the competition. The animation on the website starts with a shot from a window, before panning down to a magazine on a desk. The consumer moves into the magazine, and the pages start turning, enabling the viewer to use the different features of the site. "It's a website that services everyone, because there are so many different components to the website," Tsui said. "It's a journey throughout the magazine, navigation-wise, just like flicking through a real magazine. We wanted to go a bit deeper and get consumers to interact with the brand a bit more." Meanwhile, XM China has also launched a new website for beauty and cosmetics brand Marie France for the mainland market. Revolving around a new loyalty programme, the site is aimed at increasing the base of consumers the brand can market to. "We're trying to migrate some of the direct marketing Marie France does to online, as well as building the brand," said Tsui. "There will be a lot happening in the first half of this year."

This article was first published on Media Asia