Nokia drops Ovi, migrates brand to “Nokia” starting July

Nokia has today announced that as part of the release of new devices in the near future, the company is to drop the Ovi range of services and rebrand them as “Nokia” services, a transition the Finnish giant expects to start in July and continue into 2012.

All of the services that currently under the Ovi brand will soon be know as Nokia, centralising the brand to ensure consumers are able to link the company to the range of tools and services it provides. Nokia says that as part of the reband, service roadmaps will not be impacted.

Although Nokia doesn’t specify which countries will see the rebranding first, it is expected that North American and European markets will see the new Nokia brand first, completing across all countries and services by the end of 2012. Those already owning Nokia phones will slowly see the name change propagate via device updates.

The name change will also help Nokia build a brand around its partnership with Microsoft and the future roll out of Windows Phone 7 devices. By dropping the Ovi brand, Nokia will not have to market both the Nokia and Ovi tools, keeping it all under one name.

Nokia’s EVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Jerri DeVard explains:

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“We have made the decision to change our service branding from Ovi to Nokia. By centralizing our services identity under one brand, not two, we will reinforce the powerful master brand of Nokia and unify our brand architecture – while continuing to deliver compelling opportunities and experiences for partners and consumers alike.”

DeVard wants consumers to associate the best services with the Nokia brand, removing any differentiation that could potentially confuse. Nokia says it will update devices but also change printed material or online media and advertisements, working as hard as possible to make it a seamless transition.