Bryter's UK MD Seb Martin takes a look at the rebooted Nokia 3210 to see what sits behind the launch
Introduction
Smartphones are everywhere, with ownership amongst UK adults almost 100%. Pretty much everyone that can afford a smartphone (and most of those that can’t) have one. These devices are now so central to our lives that we can’t be without them, even for a few minutes. This in turn is causing problems, with ‘smartphone addiction’, particularly concerned parents who worry about how much time their kids are spending on screens.
Nokia, the once powerhouse of the mobile phone world has responded by relaunching a new take on its classic feature phone, the ‘3210’ under the tagline ‘the joy of missing out’, a play on FOMO (fear of missing out). A line commonly used to articulate a negative byproduct of social media usage.
It’s easy to see where this will have come from, and no doubt research with smartphone users and parents formed a part of this. Frustration with kids glued to their phone 24/7, phones at the dinner table, mindless scrolling through TikTok, never reading a book, not going out in the fresh air, filming concerts instead of watching them…the list of negatives related to smartphones goes on and on; distraction is available 24/7 as long as you have power and signal. I’m sure all of us that use a smartphone, or have kids that own a smartphone, have said similar things or felt similarly frustrated at one point or another.
Nokia thinks they have the answer. A new (well, rebooted) feature phone with no apps, no internet access, just the core functionality of calls and text (and snake). Just the important stuff. And as the Nokia website says ‘if it’s important they’ll call or text’
But, will this new approach work? Are consumers ready to trade off the functionality of their devices to get some of their focus back. The company seems to be pitching it at an adult audience as a kind of practical-cum-retro phone experience, with nostalgic design and long battery life the key features. It references the era of the phone; ‘the noughties’, and that the device is great for ‘long weekends, festivals and road trips’. I would also imagine a secondary audience to this would be parents buying their kids a phone. This this isn’t really promoted as a use case on the website, but HMDs new ‘Better Phone project’ a scheme aimed at encouraging more responsible use of phones amongst kids would suggest that this is an audience feature phones could be targeted at.
Personally, I’m struggling with the way the device is positioned and exactly who it is for. Let’s look at two potential audiences of ‘adults that already own a smartphone’ and ‘parents buying a smartphone for their child’ and try to understand why this device may or may not appeal.
Adults that already own a smartphone
Here Nokia seems to be going for the retro play, along the lines of ‘hey, remember how much better it was when phones weren’t a major distraction, let’s get back to simpler times’. This is problematic, as we very quickly run into the intention-action gap. We might say we want to spend less time on our phone, in the same way that we want to eat healthier, go to the gym more, drink less alcohol and spend more time doing productive or healthy activities. The problem is, we don’t tend to follow through on it. The same is true for our kids unfortunately. We don’t want them on screens all the time, but screens suddenly become a more attractive option when couples are trying to have a meal in peace and the kid is bored, or they’re on a stressful plane journey or a long car ride. So, while we may have good intentions on this front, this is likely where they will stay; as good intentions and nothing more. Plus, in order to achieve this we need to ditch our smartphone and go back to a feature phone. This means goodbye email, maps, social media, news, pictures, videos and all other useful apps and content that we take for granted as part of everyday life. The genie is out of the bottle on this one, and not going to be put back in any time soon. Smartphones and their functionality are an integral part of everyday life, and whilst we may wistfully yearn for simpler times when it comes to our phone, this is a trade-off that most people are unwilling to make for practical as well as more emotional reasons. When it comes to children, it’s more nuanced and an understanding of the smartphone buying journey for kids is an important consideration.
Parents buying a smartphone for their child
So, if most adults are out, what about parents buying their kids a phone? There may be some opportunity here, but a fundamental understanding of the purchase journey is essential to pitch this at the right audience, with the right features and benefits in mind. The age at which children get their first phone is progressively getting younger, but (in the UK at least) it is not uncommon for children to be given a smartphone around the age of 10 or 11, often coinciding with them going to senior school and gaining an additional degree of independence. There are plenty of kids that get a smartphone earlier than this though, and even if they don’t own one, they will be given access to a parent’s device at various times, a process that effectively trains them in the use of these devices.
Pitching a feature phone as being appropriate to the 10-11 year old market would be a mistake. Kids have a lot of influence over the make and model of handset at this point, and would rather die than turn up to school with a feature phone from a lesser known brand. Also, despite parents saying they don’t want their kids to become addicted to their phone, they also want their kids to be happy and to fit in. Smartphones, for better or worse, are an integral part of everyday life and for kids an important part of their social identity. Parents recognize this, and also understand that children need to learn how to use these technologies if they are going to be part of modern-day society. On balance, most will see a smartphone as the more rational (even safer) choice, even if they recognize it comes with risks and downsides. They also recognize they will be hounded to death if they don’t accede to their kids demands for one at this age.
Affordability could be a persuasive argument, with the cost of a decent smartphone running into the £00’s vs the roughly £75 price tag for a new 3210. But this is unlikely to hit a wide audience, as there is an expanding market for refurbs, and also a trend of hand me down smartphones, where the parent will give their child their old phone when they upgrade. This has a double benefit of enabling the child to get access to a socially acceptable make and model of phone, without breaking the bank for the parent or making them feel like they are spoiling their child by buying them a high end phone.
We also have to recognize that for most parents the battleground is not the device itself, it’s apps and usage. Parents will be thinking more in terms of restricting access to adult content, social media applications and even WiFi access at night, rather than the phone itself. It will be extremely difficult to shift the narrative to the device as the solution to the problems of what is being accessed, and how much time is being spent on the phone.
So, what about younger kids. This is probably where the opportunity lies, but the window is likely to be quite narrow. Parents often justify giving phones to their kids so that they can stay in touch with them when they are out of the home and unsupervised. A perfect use case for a feature phone such as this. But, if we assume kids will be given a smartphone by about age 10 or 11, that doesn’t leave much of a window for when they are free to roam the streets or play in the park with friends and they don’t have a smartphone. The plus side is that the phone is relatively cheap, and a long battery life ensures it will stay powered up and parents and kids will be able to reach each other at all times.
Conclusion
On balance this looks like a play by Nokia to reboot a beloved old handset and squeeze some more value from it, rather than a relaunch based on genuine consumer need. On paper it might look like a good idea as people say they want to spend less time on their phone, the reality is they are unlikely to take such drastic steps as ditching the smartphone for a feature phone. Pitching the device as the antidote to smartphone addiction is unlikely to resonate at a meaningful level and convert to a high number of sales. Time will tell though, and it will be interesting to see who does buy these devices and what their motivation was for doing so. My money is on snake.
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