Nokia Launches Student Advertising Initiative.

Nokia announced that it would create a North American initiative of its college advertising program, The New U, which began as a pilot program with the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia during the fall 2002 and spring 2003 semesters. Two of the student ads created in the pilot were made into national TV spots featuring the new Nokia 3650 camera phone and will begin airing nationally this week.

Designed to find, foster and promote the best creative minds among university-level advertising programs, The New U provides students an opportunity to develop TV commercials for real products. The success of the pilot program encouraged Nokia to make a minimum two-year commitment to The New U. Simulating the client-agency creative briefing, representatives from Nokia will visit each participating school to provide students with an overview of the brand and the featured Nokia product. Students will then handle all aspects of ad creation including conceptualizing, copywriting, filming, editing and presentation to Nokia.

During the pilot program, Missouri advertising students were asked to design 30-second TV commercials demonstrating a new way to show your world with the new Nokia 3650 phone which features a built-in camera. Beginning March 26, Nokia began showcasing eight ads produced by the students during the fall 2002 semester on its web site http://www.nokiausa.com/newu . The general public can view the ads online, select the one they believe is the best and register for a chance to win one of eight Nokia 3650 camera phones, the phone featured in the ads. Each week between March 26 and May 23, a new student ad will be featured online and a Nokia 3650 camera phone will be given away.

“We held the students to the same criteria we would have our ad agency and we were thrilled with the ads that resulted,” said Debra Kennedy, general manager consumer marketing Nokia USA. “Once we realized the benefits of the program to the students, we knew we wanted to build upon the initial program and provide more students with the opportunity to gain valuable real-world experience and build their portfolios. The ad concepts were fresh and fun so we quickly decided to incorporate two of them into our advertising mix.” The two Missouri School of Journalism ads selected by Nokia for production were produced by its advertising agency, Dallas-based The Richards Group. The students responsible for creating the spots were onsite for production and served as art directors at the advertising shoot.

“It is increasingly important for students to have real world experience prior to graduating to compete in the current marketplace,” said Jack Smith, instructor at the Missouri School of Journalism. “This is an incredible opportunity for these students to learn from practical application and to build their portfolios. I think it speaks well for the budding talent preparing to enter the workforce that Nokia used the concepts for their advertising campaign.”

The New U program will launch in the United States and Canada in August with the University of Texas, University of Colorado, Southern Methodist University, Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia and Georgian College scheduled to participate. Nokia will select ads from each school to be displayed on the Nokia web site for the general public to view and rank. One winning ad will be chosen each semester based on the online ranking conducted by consumers. Students who develop the winning ad for fall 2003 will win a trip to the Nokia Sugar Bowl, as well as the opportunity to attend a Nokia advertising shoot. All schools participating in the program will also receive a donation from Nokia.

“The Nokia brand has always been about ‘Connecting People’ — connecting people to opportunities, experiences and other people. With this program we are hoping to connect students to opportunities that they would not have had otherwise, which will help them in their future endeavors and careers,” said Kennedy.

For information on how your university can qualify for The New U program, log on to http://www.nokiausa.com/newu