I am always fascinated by mobile phones, as I've mentioned before in a previous blog. I love the way in which the mobile phone has become much more than a simple device by which to make phone calls. I believe that the Japanese are largerly responsible for this phenomenon. They not only use their phones for communicating, they also use it to connect to the internet to shop, read manga comics and novels, create poetry. I've also heard rumours that the next evolution of mobile phones will feature hard disks with large memory capacity to view digital tv...awesome!!!

Today I came across the Nokia website and I was sort of awe struck by the content that I found on it. Out of curiosity I clicked on a link called 'Culture of mobility', I'm not sure what I expected to find there, but what I found was pretty enlighting.

Here is a brand, a producer of mobile phones who has taken the leap into providing their website visitors with more than product info and business solutions.

It's refreshing as a consumer to be given something back, something that is actually interesting and at no cost. The site features some really cool info about trends, insights into mobile usage, fashion, news about mobile phone usage and collaborative projects of mobile imaging and film.

I must have spent a good 15 minutes on the site clicking through interesting links and information. All the while wondering why are Nokia doing this? what's in it for them? The deeper I delved the more i asked the question why? mostly because i realised that the site would have been quite a large effort, specially in a company as large as Nokia; which i imagine is tangled in its own political beurocracy as most large organisations are. In order to get a project as adventureous as this online there must have been some hard convincing in place, specially when the purpose and reasoning for doing it isn't blatantly apparent.

I came to the conclusion that Nokia has entered the realm of experience branding through the creation of this site, and they are also making a leadership statement in their field by becoming visionaries in their field. They have created a a onlone global community by bringing people together who collaborate to create mobile phone imagery and film. I also believe that Nokia are contributing to the redefinition & evolvement of the mobile phone itself by offering a section on their website like this.

My perception of the Nokia brand has always been quite positive but after this experience I must say it has increased in positiveness. I admire brands which invest time and effort into providing consumers with more than a product, once again it re enforces the notion that experience branding is a great way to connect with your customers.