We hope you’re as excited as we are for SMW13, powered by Nokia. Looking over the incredible list of activities around the world, we know it’s going to be one of the best yet. As we finalize preparations, we want to make sure you meet Beatrice Olumhense from Lagos. You’ve already met the other Nokians working behind the scenes, New York’s Brad Spikes, Copenhagen’s Henriette Povlsen, and Milan’s Alessandro Cusmano. Beatrice is no less amazing- get to know her a little more with us!
Beatrice, how long have you been with Nokia and what gets you most excited about your work with them?
I’ve been with Nokia for a little over six years now, and I’m most excited about the dynamic changes in the industry as a whole. Nokia is bringing new technologies on our new smartphone range and unique solutions which are significantly changing the way people experience and share their world.
What Nokia campaigns would our supporters in Lagos be familiar with?
The Nigerian youth will be quite familiar with our Asha Range launch campaign, which featured a unique Cypher Rap battle known as “Don’t Break the Beat.” Contestants across major cities in the country registered to compete to be the King/Queen of Rap. It was a fierce competition which was run over 12wks and even had #passthemic, a fall out of the finale event, trend for almost two days on Twitter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N62pD7XKt-I
This is the first time SMW comes to Lagos. Can you tell us more about the culture of mobile in Lagos and Africa overall and how Nokia has adapted to it?
Nokia is really excited about SMW coming to Lagos, which is why we are 100% behind it, being the Global Sponsor. The African landscape is the next frontier for most brands and technology is playing a key role in moving the continent forward. Nokia remains the Market Leader in Nigeria and continues to deploy winning solutions from offering the most affordable access to the internet to developing solutions like the Nokia Xpress browser which compresses data by up to 90%, is 3X fasters and is used daily by millions all over the world, with Nigeria being the 3rd largest population accessing the internet via our mobile.
Our recent partnership with Facebook on the new Asha 205 with a Facebook hardkey is testament to the fact that even social media brands like Facebook realize that in Africa 90% of access is via mobile. Consumers today are able to keep up to date with global news and information real time, create, co-create and share content with their friends or simply be passively engaged with content created by others. Social democracy is now part of our daily lives where we can make our voices heard on platforms of the brands we love, to those of political and social conscious causes.
What is the most popular Nokia device in Lagos right now?
The Lumia 920 is now the most desirable product in our portfolio. It is currently our flagship product which spots the unique Pureview Imaging technology with Optical image stabilization. It boasts the famous Nokia City Lens & Maps and runs on the new Windows Phone 8, bringing all the Microsoft support to businesses and individuals with the Microsoft suite of services
Music is core component of the Nigerian culture. How is Nokia supporting that passion- through Nokia Music and in other ways?
Nokia is as passionate about music as all Nigerians. We were the first manufacturer locally to support our growing music industry working with Storm Records & Chocolate City to get local music content pre-loaded on our devices & supporting album launches. We continue to drive talent shows and competitions around this platform such as Nokia First Chance & Don’t Break the Beat, working with Music channels such as Nigeize & Soundcity to create new TV content and now working with select artiste on a new project. Globally we have rolled out our music store offering free local and international content to several markets.
Nokia is getting behind a special tour of Lagos highlighting the beauty of the city. Can you tell us a bit more and how Nokia devices are best equipped to bring out this natural beauty?
We love to see the awesome new images created by our consumers using our imaging features and our new Pureview technology helps our consumers capture high definition images, blur free videos even in low light thanks the Optical Image stabilization feature. With the unique smartshoot and cinemagraph applications, they can edit and add interesting animation to the images and share immediately to all their social media accounts to be viewed by their friends, fans and followers. The responsive screen of the Lumia Windows Phone 8 Range offers the brightest, fastest and most sensitive touchscreen which makes every colour clear and image responsive to your fingertips. Everyone is blown away by the Nokia City Lens which is an augmented reality application which shows all the essential and hospitality spots closest to them and consumers can upload their own photos, reviews to locations and directly tag each image using our Nokia Maps technology.
Where can attendees in Lagos find the local Nokia team this February?
This month is all about the Social Media Week, consumers can find us at the MACE at Terra Kulture & BIT Hub at the Porsche Event Centre in Victoria Island. I’m excited that SMW recognizes Africa and especially Lagos, Nigeria as a vibrant hub where online engagement continues to be on the rise. We believe that most African’s will use the Internet first via a mobile device and Nokia is excited that we will bring the next billion consumers online not only with our devices but also continue to break down the barriers to get consumers the best value.
If you’re in Lagos, make sure you swing by to see Nokia in action and say hi to Beatrice! Then keep up with Nokia Nigeria socially:
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Follow them on Twitter at @Nokia_Nigeria