MAM
Nokia unveils first flagship store in Moscow
MUMBAI: Amidst an array of multimedia effects and interactive kiosks, Nokia announced its intention of opening several Nokia Flagship Stores in “shopping capitals of the world.” The first one was inaugurated today in the Pushkin Square district of Moscow, Russia.
In addition to generating sales, a key objective of each Nokia Flagship Store will be to showcase Nokia’s complete portfolio of products and services, offering consumers an opportunity to experience the full benefits of mobility in a comfortable, cutting-edge environment.
“Through an innovative retail experience like the new Nokia Flagship Stores, Nokia aims to inspire and educate consumers to the benefits of mobility and broaden the appeal of the Nokia brand. It is a place for discovery and entertainment. Whether it is demonstrating the features and capabilities of our latest multimedia smartphone or assisting a consumer with their mobile email settings, we want to offer a relaxing, interactive environment for consumers to truly experience the power of mobility,” said Nokia president and COO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo.
At a Nokia Flagship Store, consumers can test the latest Nokia mobile devices and learn about new mobile services and technologies. Trained staff will be on hand to help consumers find a product or service that reflects their lifestyle and individual needs.
Interactive, multimedia displays will engage visitors as they visit the store, encouraging them to share images or send messages to friends… and connect with individuals around the world. Consumers will also be able to set-up their new devices, review service provider options and test the range of mobile enhancements related to their new phone.
One area of the Nokia Flagship Stores will be dedicated to mobile gaming with direct access to the N-Gage Arena, Nokia’s global mobile gaming network. Visitors to the store will be able to experience the excitement of connected mobile gaming by playing Asphalt: Urban GT 2 and posting their best scores to the online rankings board shown on the display monitor. As more flagship stores open around the world, visitors will be able to compete directly against scores posted by those playing at other Nokia stores.
“Consumer focus is at the heart of our strategy and the Nokia Flagship Stores enable us to increase our focus at the retail level. Through the Flagship Stores we want to develop a close one-to-one relationship with consumers, listen to their feedback and find valuable consumer insights. This will be crucial information and allow us to faster respond with products and services that meet consumers’ needs and desires. The concept behind the Nokia Flagship Stores represents something truly special in the retail world. It will be unlike anything consumers looking for a mobile phone have ever experienced,” explained Nokia global retail and trade marketing director Cliff Crosbie.
The Nokia Flagship Stores will be opened in high-profile locations in major shopping destinations in the next couple of years. Like Moscow, each Nokia Flagship Store will be located in the best retail locations in high-traffic urban settings in major markets worldwide. Customer service will be the key driver. The Nokia Flagship Stores will be owned, managed and operated by Nokia to provide the best level of experience, education and inspiration in mobile device retailing.
The Nokia Flagship Stores will form the top end of Nokia’s newly revised retail strategy that includes retail and operator partners and their more than 300,000 retail outlets globally. All of these customer outlets will remain essential to Nokia’s ongoing success and continue to be the main sales channels in the future. The feedback and learnings received through the Flagship stores will be shared and implemented with Nokia’s retail and operator partners.
AD Agencies
Abhay Duggal joins JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales
The streaming giant brings in a seasoned revenue hand as the battle for Hindi television advertising heats up
MUMBAI: Abhay Duggal has a new desk, and JioStar has a new weapon. The media and entertainment veteran has joined JioStar as director of entertainment ad sales for Hindi general entertainment channels, adding 17 years of hard-won revenue experience to one of India’s most powerful broadcasting operations.
Duggal is no stranger to big portfolios or bruising markets. Before joining JioStar, he spent a brief stint at Republic World as deputy general manager and north regional head for ad sales. Before that, he put in three years at Enterr10 Television, where he ran the north region for Dangal TV and Dangal 2, two of India’s leading free-to-air Hindi channels. The north alone accounted for more than 50 per cent of total channel revenue on his watch, a number that tends to get attention in any sales meeting.
His longest stint was at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where he spent over six years rising to associate director of sales. There he commanded the Hindi movies cluster across seven channels, owned more than half of north India’s revenue across flagship properties including Zee TV and &TV, and closed marquee sponsorships across the Indian Premier League, Zee Rishtey Awards and Dance India Dance. He also handled monetisation for the English movies and entertainment cluster and the global news channel WION, a portfolio that would stretch most sales teams twice his size.
Earlier in his career Duggal closed what was then a Rs 3 crore single deal at Reliance Broadcast Network, one of the largest in Indian radio at the time, before that he helped launch and monetise JAINHITS, India’s first HITS-based cable and satellite platform.
His edge, by his own account, lies in marrying data and instinct: translating audience trends, inventory signals and client demands into long-term partnerships built on cost-per-rating-point discipline rather than short-term deal chasing. In a media landscape being reshaped by streaming, fragmented attention and AI-driven advertising, that kind of rigour is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable.
JioStar, which blends the scale of Reliance’s Jio platform with the content firepower of Star, is doubling down on its advertising business at precisely the moment the Hindi GEC market is getting more competitive. Bringing in someone who has spent nearly two decades doing exactly this, across some of India’s most watched channels, is a pointed statement of intent. Duggal has spent his career turning audiences into revenue. JioStar is clearly betting he can do it again, and bigger.
