Story behind Nokia's impact on advertisement and youth culture

The impact of Nokia advertisement on the music industry.

You may remember some of the clunkier, and chunky, phones that were prevalent in the early 2000s. Nokia devices had cemented itself into popular culture due to its popularity and commonality amongst users, especially in youth culture. The pictures you see in front of you, such as the One 2 One advertisement, incorporated both the fashion styles of the time and the Nokia phone. Utilising see through PVC jackets, claiming you “won’t want to hide.” As the phone was a symbol of status, at the time, amongst youth and music culture.

As the companies reputation grew, so did their desire to move into different markets. One new market, was music. “Looks weird, sounds great” was the Motto for the new Nokia 5510. Which had the resounding storage capability of 64mb for audio files, but for 2001 this was a huge deal for on-the-go music listening. Even today, the impact of the Nokia phones can be seen around popular culture through the classic snake game, ringtone, and recognisable Nokia “connecting people” logo. Nokia even inspired the name of the artist “Princess Nokia”, named after the brand of cheap “Obamaphone” she was eligible for as a low-income earner before her success. She was also part of the International Stussy tribe in 2017.

Although Nokia’s impact has been waning since Apple and Samsung took over the mobile phone market, the advertisements remain prolific and some of the most original advertisement branding to exist.