Nokia opts for names not numbers for cellphones

Stuart Corner
Friday, 08 September 2006 01:42

Opinion and Analysis

Having witnessed the success or the Motorola RAZR and the LG 'chocolate' Nokia is reported to be planning to give its phones names instead of numbers, but there are good reasons for sticking with numbers.

Reuters quoted Nokia head of marketing, Keith Pardy, saying ''What you will see coming from us in the future is not just a numbering system, you are going to start to see names that carry a meaning and are important to consumers."

And its' easy to see why. When you've waxed lyrical about the latest model in the L'Amour range "Elaborate tribal markings provide a unique point for contemporary design interpretation, where form and decoration are married seamlessly together" it's a bit of a let down to have to admit that it's known as the Nokia 7373.

However there are very good reasons for sticking with numbers when you are making products for a global market. Just ask the car makers. They’ve been struggling with this one for years: new names are hard to come by, so they often recycle names from models long gone. Words that are innocuous in one country can be downright dangerous in another (Like 'Pajero' in Portuguese). And, let's face it, there is a certain cachet in just having a number.

Two of the most up-market brands in the world - Mercedes and BMW - still stick with numbers. However, unlike Nokia, they do have the real estate to display model numbers prominently on their products, and these tend to be around rather longer than the average cellphone.

It will be interesting to see what names Nokia comes up with. Perhaps they should run a global competition.


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