• Ad Age, Thursday, April 20, 2006 11:45 AM

Nokia Corp. has hired a new marketing boss who previously worked for Pepsi-Cola in an attempt to shore up its sagging presence in the U.S. cell phone market. Veteran package goods marketer Craig Coffey, 43, was named to the position of vice president-marketing, North America, for mobile phones. Coffey was formerly vice president-marketing and strategy, Pepsi-Cola Co., where he developed a number of partnerships and innovative marketing initiatives such as the Pepsi Zone, lounges for teens in malls. The lounges included couches, Xbox video games and a vending machine. He also spearheaded Pepsi's partnership with Lipton Tea. Nokia is the dominant mobile phone maker in most parts of the world but has been losing market share in the U.S., dropping from a 28 percent share in 2003 to 27 percent in 2004 and down to 17 percent in 2005. Industry experts say the problem is that compared to competitors like Motorola, Nokia sorely lacks innovative product design. "They are having [trouble] connecting their brand value to products that mean something to U.S. users," said Chris Ambrosio, director global devices research, Strategy Analytics. "Motorola has marketing sizzle and the product design to back it up."

Read the whole story at Ad Age »