First local edition of the official Nokia blog

Over the last two years, Republic Publishing has been working with the Nokia Social Media team to develop and run the official Nokia blog. Almost two years to the day since the launch of the global English language edition, we rolled out the Chinese edition in , together with the local team in Nokia China.

In the works for the last three months, the site mirrors the look and feel of the global edition, but is completely localised to make it easier for both readers and the team working on it. Although hosted in China, the site was built and is maintained by Republic Publishing.

To help get the site off the ground, and the local team up and running, JBC spent a week in Beijing working through the key functions of running an official corporate blog.

If you’re fluent in Chinese, then head over to Blog.Nokia.com.cn

Viral Video: ‘A video clip that gains widespread popularity through the process of Internet sharing, typically through email or Instant messaging, blogs and other media sharing websites.’ Source: Wikipedia

There was a time when viral video campaigns felt organic and about community and the best ones still work on the principle of getting the message out there. However, the latest crop, to my mind at least, seem to be little more than adverts better suited to a cinema audience than the internet.

The problem seems to be that Ad agencies have gotten involved and that means every increasing budgets and higher expectations. The latest two videos that seem to have taken this approach are both about laptops. I like both, for quite different reasons, but neither strike me as anything other than advertising.

The MSI ‘guy catches laptop in butt’ video has that ‘share’ appeal vital to virals as it’s simply a corny joke executed really really well. Everyone finds toilet humour funny on some level and this hits that chord nicely – I’m just not sure how many people will remember which notebook, or brand, it is that’s being advertised. Conversely, the latest Sony S.M.A.A campaign leaves its pay-off until the end – it’s not until you’ve sat through this mini-drama that we get to see it’s for a Sony VAIO after all!

Now, I’m not going to tell anyone how to spend their budgets but as community and sharing information is what we do daily on NokNok, there are far more cost-effective and informative ways to get that message out there. However, if viral video is a key part of getting that message out then one of the more successful, in my mind, of late has been setting the Nokia 3720 Classic in jelly! It’s quick, to the point and really has that viral appeal.

Viral marketing can work and works really well but it shouldn’t be the only part of a marketing campaign, it should compliment the other work you’re carrying out online on a daily basis – that’s the true benefit of community sites.

Nokia 3720 Classic:

Ford’s recognition among Internet users didn’t happen by accident, said Scott Monty, who heads its global digital communications.
The company “maintains active conversations” on blogs, message boards and discussion forums, and integrates social media into other areas of the business such as customer service, product development and marketing, Monty said.

We work with Nokia on the corporate blog side of things, within the social media team, which in itself sits inside the comms team. However that’s not the only place you’ll find social media at Nokia.

BetaLabs is a section of Nokia product development designed to bring pre-release software to a wider audience for testing and feedback, before the final applications are released. The site is designed around social media fundamentals (there’s a blog, RSS and commenting which all allow readers to share and participate). It’s been an invaluable tool for the developers at Nokia and there’s been a good many successful apps already “graduated” from there to become full blown products. Sports Tracker was downloaded some two million times whilst it was in development, with feedback from comments going directly back to the developers, who were then able to polish the app before its final release. That is social media in action. And guess what? Not a marketing body in sight.

We need to rapidly evolve our thinking around social media and move it away from being solely a marketing domain to a tool. It isn’t a fad, it’s a way of life, and one that is being rapidly adopted around the world. Just a shame the preconception hasn’t quite caught up yet.

Read more about the Virtue report on Las Vegas Review Journal

BlogWell looks like an interesting event for anyone into Social Media (and in New York) but as a preview, Molly did an interview with Smartbrief editor Mary Ellen Slayter.

Molly sees openness and honesty as being two of the most important things for brands to consider when it comes to Social Media, saying

“we strive to use social media to participate in conversations openly, honestly and with respect.”

She also talks about what Social Media means inside, and outside of Nokia. It’s well worth a read.

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