Microsoft Is Putting the Iconic Nokia Brand Name Out to Pasture

When has a brand outlived its usefulness?

There is no specific marker or metric, but Microsoft's decision to phase out the Nokia brand provides some sense of the framework within which such choices are taken.

On the negative side, Nokia represented for many years, possibly as long as a generation, the association with technological innovation. But it is probable that the current generation of users thinks of the brand as a has-been. Such history is detrimental to building brand value and may be sufficiently strong that they render attempts to revive it too expensive or simply impossible.

From the standpoint of building value for the future, given Microsoft's desire to revive its own brand, creating a Microsoft Mobility marque offers opportunities both to rebuild a once iconic mobile brand - and to associate Microsoft with the notion of mobility, which, despite its historic strengths in operating laptops has faltered in the smarthphone era. The costs of changing that name have diminished as it has lost its meaning to the current generation of consumers. But given a rest, and the enduring value inherent in recognizable names with positive halos, a rebirth by someone at some point in the future is quite possible. JL

Mark Sullivan reports in Venture Beat:

Microsoft now appears ready to put Nokia's iconic brand name out to pasture.
Microsoft closed its deal to acquire the mobile and services division of Nokia last fall, and it now appears ready to put Nokia’s iconic mobile brand name out to pasture.
The Nokia name dominated a huge chunk of the early history of mobile phones, and its demise will take some getting used to.
The phase-out of the name is spelled out in the terms and conditions in Microsoft’s $7.2 billion deal to acquire Nokia, announced in September 2013. As we reported in late April, Microsoft’s mobile division will now be called Microsoft Mobile.
A leaked document sent to Nokia employees when the acquisition was formally announced sets a schedule for the mobile brand’s demise. A copy of the memorandum was recovered and posted by Evleaks .
Here are the highlights:
Microsoft can continue using the Nokia brand for Lumia devices for another 18 months. It can use the Nokia brand for Nokia X devices until the end of 2015. It can use the Nokia brand for another ten years for other Nokia phones (feature phones).
Microsoft says it intends to keep Nokia retail stores and “Care Centers” open for the time being.