Nokia was facing considerable performance issues with its batteries. Sales were ebbing, taking trust with it, and even diehard Nokia loyalists were found to be moving away.
We had to find a convincing way of championing the brand in the context of a PR campaign. While Nokia did not use celebrities worldwide, we thought it would be the best solution in the current scenario. We recommended a testimonial campaign fronted by a star that espoused Nokia’s values of popularity, credibility, youth connect, and authenticity. While we shortlisted a few, we eventually zeroed in on a national hero:
Shah Rukh Khan.
Shah Rukh ticked all the boxes, leading to complete synergy between the brand and the star. And since both SRK and Nokia symbolized trust, it was an unbeatable combination.
Nokia’s front-of-jersey branding for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), one of IPL’s longest associations.
SRK tweets the Bothie feature on the Nokia 8.
Nokia recycles phones with SRK.
In Chennai Express, Shah Rukh Khan connects with people using a Nokia.
Nokia connects with people who love music by launching the KKR album on its phone.
The testimonial campaign proved to be immensely successful resulting not only in a corresponding increase in sales but also in repairing Nokia’s image with a feature on the Most Trustworthy Brands List for that year.