Motorola was THE giant of the cellular industry.  They aren’t any more.  There are many theories about what happened.  Motorola attributes the slow down to the economic recession… a recession that started in the U.S. but is fast spreading to Asia and Europe. Certainly there is data to back up Motorola’s perspective.  The leader, Nokia, has laid off workers too.  Both Nokia and Ericsson stocks have felt the impact of the times.

But there are other factors that are believed to have impacted Motorola’s slide down the communications ladder.  The Nokia 51 series; now reported to be one of, it not, the best selling cellular phone in history. The 61 series followed close behind.  Then, feeding the pop culture created by the 51’s, the 3210 transformed the cellular phone from instrument to canvas and created a tribe. The tribal rites include the process of exchanging “parts” – from logos to rings to animated messages. Phones now express personality, reflect changes in fashion or mood.

How did Nokia get there? From Finland, they entered the world through ethnography and design research, studying the needs, wants and unspoken desires of their potential users around the world. They listened carefully, watched their consumers interact. They watched user around the world. They learned, for instance, that U.S. and Asian consumers do not use their cell phones in the same way, they have created different cultures surrounding cellular communication.

By studying a broad range of consumers, Nokia was able to create series of phones with a global market and local appeal.  The most powerful of all combinations.

Ever hear of Nike?  Anybody ever ask you to “Just do it!”?  If you haven’t, we’d like to invite you to the 21st century where the Nike tribe inhabits the earth.  Nike started with a focus on bioengineering and superior materials but their marketing genius comes from a profound connection with their consumer.  Multinationals travel to the Nike Mecca to learn the way in which Nike marketers, designers, engineers…whole teams immerse themselves in their consumer’s cultures.  They have identified, created and promoted heroes and heroines to lead the tribal hordes into the promised land of performance and “coolness”.  The result…a vast and global tribe emblazoned with the distinctive swish, the mark of belonging.

Bug.  What image comes to mind?  Cockroach?  Mosquito?  Or Volkswagen Beetle?  The classic “Herbie” design has metamorphasized into an updated but reminiscent design.   Kids, possibly conceived in the original, crave the new model.   The icon shape is all about recall.  Immediately recognizable.  Designed to be cute, cultish, and desired.  It sells.