It’s one of the most engaging corporate social networks built to date. Nokia’s Mosh takes open social to a new level, letting Nokia mobile phone users build, request and exchange applications, ring tones, widgets, wall paper, video and more.
The company facilitates the space, but does not control, edit or approve any of the content, letting its customers have free rein. The end result is an Idea Storm on steroids, where Nokia phone users take open phone platforms to interact, develop relationships, and share content.
At the Mobile World Congress, I had the opportunity to chat with Jennifer Shah, Nokia’s marketing manager for Mosh. Since Mosh launched in late May of 2007, it has generated more than 200,000 users and 28 million downloads. That’s an incredible user base for a brand specific social network that’s served as a Word-of-Mouth based, value-added offering.
Corporate blogger Russell, literally an empty shirt, offers a really funny approach to interacting with the community. Russell intentionally "over-blogs," providing laughable propaganda from Nokia, highlighting power users and discussing developments. Here are a few choice examples:
- "The MOSH mansion has been crazy lately."
- "Comrades! Welcome to MOSH. I hope you enjoyed my search ads, or trust they at least piqued your curiosity. As a silly sausage, I apologize for bothering you."
- "Yet, selfish Russell is selfish. I’d happily take the credit for each and every MOSH accomplishment if I could."
Nokia’s commitment to social media is clear. The company’s main message to social communities is promoted through PR and advertising: "Open to Anything." The strategy: Let users do whatever they want with their phones and on our social network.
It’s interesting to note that word of mouth, media relations and advertising come first with Mosh, not the blog. The blog is used as a simple community engagement tool.
This brilliant marketing combination may be lethal for Apple’s floundering iPhone, whose sales have taken off in the U.S. but are sluggish elsewhere in the world. As AT&T continues to open its network later this year and lets socially savvy Nokia‘s higher end devices into the U.S. market, home turf may no longer be safe for control-happy Steve Jobs and company.
That’s pretty darned cool. I hadn’t seen it, but now, when I’m looking for an example for one of my hare-brained rants, I can point to this post. Great work!
Well, they have certainly done a good job and I’m pretty sure they did their homework. The line Open for Anything is just as lines should be. Short and simple yet conveys exactly what the site is all about. It’s a great way to get Nokia users together and get them to become even more enthusiastic about the brand.
It’s nice to think that opening AT&T’s network will really drive the adoption of Nokia phones. But that fact is, you can do that now (I’m currently running an N95 on AT&T). The fact is people in the U.S. aren’t willing to pay $750 for a phone. They’re used to paying nothing for a basic cameraphone or about $200-$300 for a smart phone/PDA. Users in the U.S. have been trained that way. My guess is that no amount of marketing will change that. Nokia Mosh is great though, free stuff in a world that charges for everything.