Nokia was already in big trouble with ever declining sales, but their latest blunder may just be the end of this company.
A promovideo for the Nokia Lumia 920 which was supposed to highlight the quality of the camera on this phone, was proven to be filmed with a professional camera.
Big Oops.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cimDfEIEiu0]
The video shows a girl riding a bike, presumably filmed by her boyfriend (als on a bike) with his Lumia. Except at a certain point in the video, you can see a reflection of a van and someone holding a professional camera:
Nokia was forced to apologize immediately and had to try and explain this huge blunder. But the question if is this already failing company can really come back from this debacle. After all, if the message you want to communicate is that the camera on your phone is far better than others, yet you have to use a professional camera to get that point across, chances are people won’t believe you.
So what can we learn, what should you learn from Nokia’s blunder?
I can think of two things:
1. Don’t lie
Time after time companies are caught in lies in promoting their stuff and it never ends well. Truth always comes out (or as the literal translation of a well known Dutch saying goes: no matter how fast a lie is, the truth always catches up…).
We see this in Christian communication as well: slick ads or videos of great looking church goers with perfectly clean and well behaved kids, all having a great time in a cosy church where the pastor preaches an uplifting message. But we all know the reality is a little different and certainly less perfect and people feel cheated and disappointed when they are confronted with the truth.
Sure, you are allowed to communicate the strengths and attractive points of your organization, but stay on the right side of the truth. Don’t resort to lies in your communication, don’t pretend to be something you’re not. It won’t work in the long run.
2. Trust your product
No matter what you’re selling or promoting, even if it’s a church or a Christian event, you have to trust your product or message. If it needs enhancing, if you need to change anything in order to cover up well-known weaknesses, you may want to work on the product or message before communicating it.
You cannot expect people to believe and trust your message, if you yourself don’t have trust in the first place. If the camera on the Lumia was indeed so superb, why would they have needed to film with a different camera?
Thoughts?
Marcus Williamson says
Ouch is all I can say
Rachel Blom says
Yup, ouch is about right 🙂
Frank Ramage says
And all they had to do was put the ubiquitous “Simulated Images” in 4 point type at the bottom and it wouldn’t be a lie.
Rachel Blom says
Sure, that would have protected them from lying, but it still would have been a sign of mistrust in their own product, right?
Darryl Schoeman says
Hey Rachel. Great post and well done in linking the lesson to the Church.
Rachel Blom says
Thanks man!