Services marketing

Analysing the products and operations

Nokia sells both products and services, they sell hand sets and solutions, know how and services with them. Before the merger of Nokia Siemens networks, Nokia sold Network capabilities as well.

Nokia that creates and develops the actual handset products which have for a long been phones, before which tires and televisions, have now expanded to making Nokia mini laptops as well.

It is only natural for a company to outsource and expand its operations in the current market, even for big companies such as Nokia the market is a hostile place that needs constant assessing to make sure that they remain as a strong player in the market if not the market leader.

Extended marketing mix for services (7P’s)

Price:
Nokia has many different types of services, and has many different approaches to pricing its services in the market. Price is the biggest competing factor next to the actual product in the current telecommunications market due to an increasingly competitive market place.

-Premium pricing:
Nokia’s 4G (4th generation mobile internet 100mb/s) which will be very costly when it is launched. It will eventually replace 3G services, but will penetrate the market place as a premium product because it is a revolutionary technology, and will speed up services by about 10 fold.

-Penetration pricing:
is also being used to provide cheaper internet than usual that comes with Nokia’s new mini-laptop series since it has internal 3G. 3G prices will also go down because of upcoming new technology like 4G which will allow even more price competition.

Place:
Nokia has manufacturing lines, whole factories, shops, offices and many test facilities around the world, there are about 3 locations in Finland where phones get tested and then approved for sales, one in Espoo, Oulu and Salo. Nokia also has a online music store for people who would like to download songs onto their phones.
Like many other companies, Nokia has limited physical locations if any for service purposes most of them are on the internet because it is a lot more cost effective than a physical location.It is also becoming an increasingly common site to see phones sold with monthly payments that include your phone bill, therefore operators manage the stores and sell the phones of various handset vendors all in one place.

Product:
Nokia has online stores that provide services for phone updates, the latest news on new phones and music download capabilities.Apps or applications are a big thing in the handset market, people demand more and more functions from their mobiles, and smart phones.

Promotion:
Nokia has a lot of publicity and it is almost constantly visible to consumers and other businesses, such publicity is gathered in big events in sports, technology, health and many other market sectors.

Nokia usually has a big flyer at events, or has an piece of advertisement on a big screen, they also use television, radio, phones and the internet as media for advertising.

Process:
Nokia likes to get its employees and customers involved in team spirited competitions to raise team spirit and have fun. They do this by arranging different types of events, for winter sports, golf, and many other activities.

People:
Nokia encourages team work within its offices and regularly organizes team building weekends for employees and their families, just to have fun and so that employees get to meet in more casual surroundings to share ideas.

Physical evidence:
In the recent past Nokia has started to modernize its buildings and designs and it has worked out well, for example if you go into a Nokia Xpress music store it will look like a modern lounge. Another thing Nokia has put effort into is the design of its facilities, a good example is the Nokia head quarters in Keilaniemi, Espoo, Finland.