Nokia Kills the Ovi Brand

If you bought a Nokia device in the last four years, then you probably used the Ovi Store in order to download some apps or even music. The Ovi store, which was launched in order to compete with Apple’s iTunes, has met with moderate success and still does a few million downloads a month.

Time to say goodbye…

But it looks like Nokia is rethinking its brand strategy and has decided to kill off the Ovi name. In a statement posted on the official blog, Nokia said, “Today, Nokia made a decision to change our service branding from Ovi to Nokia. The main reason for this change is so we can leverage the high-value of the Nokia master brand to better support future plans to deliver disruptive and compelling mobile experiences globally. It is important to reiterate that we are changing the name of our services from Ovi to Nokia, not closing them”.

They also addressed the most important question that Ovi users might have, ‘Will this mean big changes in services experience?’ Pino Bonetti, editor in chief of the blog said, “Not at all. The only difference consumers can expect to see is the replacement of the brand Ovi with Nokia, not only on their device software and the web but also in other places such as printed material or online media and advertisements”.

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Nokia has also stated that the transition will be smooth and seamless one with the rebranding process being completed by the end of 2011.