When Jen Mok looks back at her early days at Nokia six years ago, she sounds almost wistful in remembering an uncomplicated time for mobile phone marketers.
Back then, a phone was just a phone. Marketers played around with the look and feel of the phone. Then technological one-upmanship by the big manufacturers changed the game completely. "These days, with technology getting so complicated, the marketing has become very dynamic and very challenging," says the Nokia marketing manager for mobile phones in Singapore.
Still, how difficult can it be in a region with a seemingly insatiable appetite for mobile phones? Surely, it would be as easy as selling candy to kids.
Mok is quick to dismiss the notion. While the "techies" or early adopters understand and embrace new gadgets eagerly, the mass market needs plenty of help before they can be persuaded to part with their cash.
"My role is to make it easy, and bring out the end-user benefits as much as possible because technical issues are always very intimidating and very off-putting."
It's not that Mok is complaining. Her job comes with the enviable perks of listening to music and playing games during office hours - all in the name of product familiarisation - and testing the latest models ahead of the pack. And she's working in a market that is proving to be a bright spot for Nokia as it actively reshapes itself yet again for a new chapter.
"(Singapore is) well into a replacement market. In the past we saw people trading in their phones every nine to 12 months. People are now replacing it every six months."
The phone-obsessed tend to be tech-savvy males aged between 22 to 35. Even grim economic times haven't cooled their ardour for fancy new gadgets.
Which can only be a good thing for Nokia. The Finnish giant is due to launch the Nokia 3300 model this month, bringing together music and technology.
In partnership with Warner Music, the 3300 will allow music fans to legally download the music label's young, upcoming artistes. A second major innovation is the year-end launch of its N-Gage product line, Nokia's attempt to create a mobile phone gaming segment.
The techies may drive Nokia to innovate, but the sheer size of the mass market - just getting to grips with multimedia messaging - is not one any handset vendor can afford to ignore.
Nokia recently partnered with Singapore's broadcaster, MediaCorp, to produce three versions of one-minute mini movies to demonstrate the emotional values of MMS. While the take-up rate for MMS-equipped phones is high, it's still early days to determine whether MMS' functionality will be used to its full potential and become as prevalent as SMS in the near future. "As a manufacturer, we are doing our part by stimulating the market with the MMS campaign we have embarked on. The operators know our product roadmap. They know ahead we are launching a number of MMS and other phones and their functionalities. That will really help them do their own planning in advance."
Mok may speak like a techie, but she's a marketer by training, having worked at Sentosa Development Corporation and then retailer, Guardian Pharmacy. "As a manufacturer, you're more focused on managing a product's life cycle and moving onto the next model. It's a very different kind of marketing with Guardian because you're promoting a diverse range of products to promote the pharmacy as a one-stop shop." It helps that the brand she markets is one she's "pretty proud of". "I joined the company and managed to see it growing to be a market leader. That to me is the most encouraging part of the job."
MOK: ON THE RECORD
Software sell - It's no longer about selling just a gadget or a hardware. It involves a lot of software, which is what it has evolved to as we move towards MMS and 3G.
Mini but mighty - In the past nobody could imagine that the phone could do so much. Now we are able to put them in one gadget and even smaller and with far more features than the past.
Gaming ambitions - The challenges arise because we're evolving so fast. We are moving into the game segment as we launch the new Nokia N-gage phone.
Breaking through - Being in such a dynamic industry, we tend to do a lot more things. The fun part of the challenge is to have a breakthrough in new ideas in a new campaign.
MMS future - MMS has a lot of potential in Singapore. We belong to a very sophisticated market and we do appreciate this kind of new technology and innovation.
Simplyfing the message - Because there's so (many features in a phone), the messages can also be very complex and complicated.