Jun
19

A Lesson In Branding From Indian Truck Drivers

nokia-indiaI’m currently on a research project set across three cities in India. Over dinner with my client Abhijit in Delhi, we got to talking about the interesting dynamics of cell phone adoption in this massive country. The biggest player here is Nokia, who just “got it right” according to Abhijit. I pushed for a reason why and he rattled off a number of smart moves… terrific advertising, a stellar product, and early entry into the market. But what caught my attention was an anecdotal story of how Nokia connected with the working class. Abhijit said a key move was when Nokia won the allegiance of truck drivers (who, believe me, are everywhere in this country!). As Nokia was looking for new and innovative ways to improve their hardware, they stumbled across a deceptively small insight: truck drivers get out of their trucks a dozen or more times in the course of a long night on the road… and it can be really, really dark (you know… that thing that happens when the sun goes down). The answer? Add a little flashlight to the phone. Bingo! Instead of looking for some earth-shaking, never-before-seen feature on the bleeding edge of technology, Nokia went old school and added a light bulb. And just yesterday on my flight from Delhi to Mumbai, the Economic Times of India published the results of its Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands survey. The top brand for 2009 and now two years running? The guys with the light bulbs sparking up — in more ways than one.

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6 Responses to “A Lesson In Branding From Indian Truck Drivers”

  • rband Says:
    June 22nd, 2009 at 9:46 am

    I was thinking of this when I was trying to open my front door at night. My phone screen is so bright I didn’t need an additional flashlight. But that’s today - I bet it wouldn’t have been so good 5 or more years ago when Nokia came up with the original idea. When I checked out this story, it seemed to me that Nokia India’s big win was a brilliant portfolio strategy, where they had different levels of engagement/service for different tiers of user (Entry, Live, Connect, Explore and Achieve). So they may have been a hit with truck drivers, but they didn’t become the “truck drivers” brand at the expense of luring Mumbai hipsters.

  • Phil Koesterer Says:
    June 22nd, 2009 at 7:33 pm

    Nice story. Do you know how they arrived at this insight? In a lab, or out talking to truck drivers?

    It seems like most of the innovation in the U.S. mobile market is taking place in the application development arena. I wonder whether all the start-ups furiously coding the next big iPhone app arrived at their ideas through blue-sky sessions or through actual ethnographic research. I’m thinking of work like Gravity Tank’s recent study (http://www.gravitytank.com/apps/#), but I’d like to see it go even deeper to find potentially underserved populations like India’s truck drivers.

  • Toph Says:
    June 24th, 2009 at 9:21 am

    Great question… and i have no idea about the answer. But you’re making me think that traditional research (even ethnographic) tends to pick a selection of users and very likely passes over potential cohorts. The lesson here is to look for the “truck driver” equivalents in every category, right?

  • Phil Koesterer Says:
    June 24th, 2009 at 2:52 pm

    I think that’s right. Who are your hidden “power users”?

    Of course, once you identify them, you have to actually innovate to serve them.

  • John Van Vleck Says:
    July 1st, 2009 at 7:36 pm

    I love this story for a couple of reasons. For one it speaks to the need to get out and really look at how ordinary people live their lives in a way that data on a power point slide could never uncover. Secondly, it suggests that in a world obsessed with the latest app and breakthrough innovation, it’s the little thing, the small improvement that has the biggest impact on people’s lives.

    So here’s to the one’s who get out, have a look and who see the value in doing so.

    Thanks for sharing.

  • Las Vegas Property Managers Says:
    October 14th, 2009 at 11:26 am

    About five years ago I had a Nokia phone with a flashlight on it and loved it. I used it a lot more than I thought I would. It supports the old addage “the customer is always right”. Thanks for the post.

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