Nokia N900: “Focus Group”

Channeling the same rebel spirit as the recent Verizon adverts for the Motorola Droid, this viral for the Nokia N900 injects the nucleus of a narrative into what could be a fun campaign.

The turn to grittier aesthetics makes sense. Attempts to unseat the incumbent iPhone using the same glossy look as Apple only confuses customers; the trick is to differentiate the brands somehow. Trouble is, Nokia and Motorola have struck the same chord at more or less the same time.

The recently posted Droid “Stealth” spot directed by Rupert Sanders aims at creating the same sense of epic mystery as the Nokia N900 campaign, albeit with a much slicker production value. It’s the J.J. Abrams school of advertising, with phones instead of “mystery boxes.”

Who will win? At this point, it’s hard to say: but it seems that they’ll still be fighting for second place.

“Focus group” was directed by Jack Masters and conceived by agency Jack Morton. The Mill’s Bif (Fabrice Le Nezet, Jules Janaud and Francois Roisin) helmed the post-production efforts.

Thanks to Harm for the tip.

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About the author

Justin Cone

/ justincone.com
Together with Carlos El Asmar, Justin co-founded Motionographer, F5 and The Motion Awards. He currently lives in Austin, Texas with is wife, son and fluffball of a dog. Before taking on Motionographer full-time, Justin worked in various capacities at Psyop, NBC-Universal, Apple, Adobe and SCAD.

7 Comments

kult

“That was awesome!”

Definitely. Loved it.

Marc B.

In the end it’s all about the product and the iPhone still kicks their asses.

I’m by no means an Apple fanboy but their phone is superior to anything out there.

Make a good product and the ads become less important.

ochyming

Is this site about art or whining about the way companies makes business?
Please!
Good work, but please give more kudos to artists themselves than phone companies.

Attempts to unseat the incumbent iPhone using the same glossy look as Apple only confuses customers; the trick is to differentiate the brands somehow.

And since when an ad or branding actually has anything to do with the product quality?

Justin Cone

My post is focused on the ad campaigns, not the phones. As the phones themselves are resembling each other more and more, the branding strategy adopted by carriers and phone companies is crucial. The execution of these strategies (by the studios) is hugely important, but (as is usually the case) it’s the result of decisions much higher up the production chain.

I’m guessing you know that, but I’m confused by your comment. It sounds as if you’re saying that studios work in a vacuum, apart from the market dynamics created by runaway successes like the iPhone.

ochyming

OK, my frustration with phones shouldn’t be directed to you.
I stand corrected.

uccimaru

Its amazing how BIF’s style is so incredibly visible here. When I first saw it I thought it was directed by them too.

Amazing work both in narrative and in slick CG.

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