Volunteer Nokia Army Educating Carriers and Customers, Really Wants You to Buy a Lumia
There’s a fine line between plucky confidence in your underdog self and sad, desperate delusion, and Nokia is riding it. The company is a shadow of its former self, with well-documented troubles and an all-in wager on Windows Phone, and it really needs a big hit to get some momentum going in the mobile marketplace again. Nokia hopes--nay, believes--that its latest family of Windows-based smartphones will be the ticket.
The Nokia Lumia line of smartphones looks promising, but in tech as in everything, having a good product is only part of success. Right now, Nokia needs consumers to think of the Lumia as a cool, viable alternative to the fleet of phones from the likes of Apple, HTC, Samsung, and others. Of course, that’s easier said than done, and according to a Bloomberg report, Nokia has deployed an army of Nokia volunteers to carriers’ stores in the U.S. in an effort to educate the sales associates and customers alike about the Lumia line, and presumably, stand there with a hopeful look and making everyone feel awkward while patrons make their smartphone decision.
"Something amazing" indeed needs to come soon for Nokia (Image credit: Bloomberg)
Who are these volunteers populating the so-called “Nokia Army”? Nokia employees, that’s who, from all facts of the organization, from “such diverse departments as finance to human resources”, according to the report.
If indeed the report is true, that means that either Nokia is “strongly encouraging” (i.e., gently forcing) its employees to fight for their company and by proxy, their jobs, or Nokia support staff employees just really believe passionately in what they’re doing. If the former, this is a desperation move; if the latter, Nokia has a shot at re-establishing itself on the strength of its company-wide belief in its own success.
The Nokia Lumia line of smartphones looks promising, but in tech as in everything, having a good product is only part of success. Right now, Nokia needs consumers to think of the Lumia as a cool, viable alternative to the fleet of phones from the likes of Apple, HTC, Samsung, and others. Of course, that’s easier said than done, and according to a Bloomberg report, Nokia has deployed an army of Nokia volunteers to carriers’ stores in the U.S. in an effort to educate the sales associates and customers alike about the Lumia line, and presumably, stand there with a hopeful look and making everyone feel awkward while patrons make their smartphone decision.
"Something amazing" indeed needs to come soon for Nokia (Image credit: Bloomberg)
Who are these volunteers populating the so-called “Nokia Army”? Nokia employees, that’s who, from all facts of the organization, from “such diverse departments as finance to human resources”, according to the report.
If indeed the report is true, that means that either Nokia is “strongly encouraging” (i.e., gently forcing) its employees to fight for their company and by proxy, their jobs, or Nokia support staff employees just really believe passionately in what they’re doing. If the former, this is a desperation move; if the latter, Nokia has a shot at re-establishing itself on the strength of its company-wide belief in its own success.
