Nokia wanted to bring amazing presentation of the new Lumia phones. Particularly a good description of the amazing camera features. They announced a good looking demonstration video in Nokia Conversations blog post. Here is the video. It looks amazing when you view it. The video and pictures look really good, almost too good to be true.
That’s when things started to got really wrong on the PR perspective.
It became embarrassing when observant found that the sample shown in the video was a completely different equipment than a Nokia mobile phone, which was subsequently granted. So the amazing video turned to be faked. It was not demonstration of Lumia 920 video capabilities.
As if faking the video wasn’t bad enough. More mud started to fly when the Lumian still photo features the presentation of the images authenticity was suspected – and for good reason. Nokia confirms that Nokia’s PureView still photos also include fakes.
Now Nokia spokesperson agrees that the PureView ad is misleading. They stressed that it was “never the company’s intention to deceive anyone”. Nokia says it’s now looking into updating the original video with a footnote so that it’s clear that the images are simulated, and the original Nokia Conversations blog post that announced the video has been updated with the following text: “the OIS video, above, was not shot using the Lumia 920.”
I see this PR mistake was a mega mistake for Nokia. The biggest mistake was that they were not clearly telling what they were showing on the video. When advertisement video shows something that is not true to reality, it should be shown clearly on the presentation. This was meant to be a product presentation (or at least it looked like it), so it should have stayed on the facts. In the video Nokia compares pictures (with texts describing this) takes with Lumia 920 to other mobile phone camera, so the viewer should expect real pictures to be used here.
There has been problems for customers to trust Nokia earlier, and this does not help the people to trust what Nokia says.
This example also shows how easily you can get caught on lying on the modern Internet media. When topic is interesting, a large number of people will view your presentation. And when a large number of people see it, there are usually a large number of experts on different fields that can spot out things that do not seem to be right. Usually it happens so that one spots out that something does not look right, and publishes it in blog. Then some other person that might not have spotted that earlier takes another look at the claim, and can do their own research on this publishing more finding. Usually when the things are not right as they were were said to be, the truth is found out sooner or later. Usually sooner and with more visibility than the companies spreading those non-truthful claims want that to happen. Stay in the facts on your communications. If you publish something that is not true to reality, tell clearly that this is fiction. So clearly that viewers will get that.
More references material on this can be found at New mobile phone camera technologies article discussion section.
22 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Iltalehti tells referring to Helsingin Sanomat magazine at
http://www.iltasanomat.fi/digi/art-1288497853408.html
Nokia employee opened for the video scandal: Elop ordered a “harsh investigations”
Nokia on Thursday asked the forgiveness of the fact that its published advertisement video was not made with the new phone.
Anonymous Nokia employee says that there are going on “relatively harsh investigations” in an attempt to find out what happened and prevent similar future.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Millions of pairs of eyes followed when Nokia announced new Lumia phones Wednesday.
Nokia now admits to Iltasanomat a that in the announcement there were many example images that were not taken with Lumia phones.
The pictures in the video were not authentic. The pictures of blond woman (same that was on video) were not taken with Lumia phone.
In hindsight, whether the matter should not have said?
- As we said, the context of the video and related content would have had to mention that pictures were taken with other device than the Nokia Lumia 920.
This was a mistake that was found too late.
Now, we have corrected the error in the video.
Source: http://www.iltasanomat.fi/digi/art-1288497695446.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
This explains the latest Nokia image clutter
Nokia video has still images, which are intended only to “demonstrate” image stabilization.
The video is also still images with blond woman posing on Mannerheimintie in Helsinki. The pictures are very professional looking and perfectly lit. Latest external photoshoots ottama image revealed that the blonde was surrounded by a full description of the equipment.
Many Internet bloggers say that it is impossible to make such images with Lumia 920 camera.
Petteri Järvinen described Nokia’s trick on his blog pr-disaster and found that none of the text “simulated images” to save it.
Source: http://www.iltalehti.fi/digi/2012090716050377_du.shtml
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia’s Communications Manager Tom Kuuppelonmäki acknowledges that the pictures and video that has been taken with a mobile phone. According to him, intended to demonstrate the Image Stabilizer function.
- In hindsight, would have had to communicate more precisely, that they have not been taken with the Lumia 920 patients, Kuuppelonmäki said to Iltalehti.
Source: http://www.iltalehti.fi/digi/2012090716053203_du.shtml
Tomi Engdahl says:
Exclusive photos: We put Nokia’s controversial Lumia 920 PureView camera to the test
http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/7/3299784/nokia-lumia-920-pureview-camera-hi-res-photos
After faking a video and images to promote the PureView camera, Nokia goes into full-on damage control mode.
The apologies were needed, but the damage was done. The headline feature for Nokia’s headline phone has been flagged by controversy, putting a cloud over the launch and casting doubt on the very thing that was supposed to have been Nokia’s biggest strength.
it did offer us the full, untouched JPEGs out of the camera to publish online for the first time.
Instead, “PureView” has now become a more generic term for Nokia’s camera technology, applied to any device which Nokia believes is a step above the competition. Nokia tells us that “It’s about the benefits, it’s not about the spec.” On the Lumia 920, the main technical advantage is the Optical Image Stabilization technology (OIS) that “floats” the lens on springs. That enables video that’s less shaky and taking low-light images in situations where other phones would produce very dark images.
Nokia has posted actual images that came from a prototype Lumia 920 on its Conversations Blog, but with all the controversy it wanted to show definitively that those photos were real.
The prototype Nokia Lumia 920 certainly features the kind of camera technology that deserves some hype. It’s just too bad that Nokia decided to lie when it was hyping it. We’re hoping that the Optical Image Stabilization on video will be equally impressive on production hardware — but it’s much harder to take it on faith that it will be after all the recent drama.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia’s hardware deserved much better than what Nokia’s marketing team did to it
Source: http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/7/3299784/nokia-lumia-920-pureview-camera-hi-res-photos
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia Again Apologizes Over Ads for Phone
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444273704577639722171451042.html
Nokia Corp. expanded its apology for using misleading marketing materials for a new line of phones.
The company last week acknowledged that it didn’t use the PureView camera of its forthcoming Lumia 920 to shoot a portion of a video used in promotional material for the phone.
In both cases, Nokia was called out by independent blogs for not having disclosed that the images weren’t captured by a Lumia.
Nokia used a hand-held video camera and lighting rig rather than the Lumia to create the material in question. Then it used that material as evidence that the technology in its new phones, set to go on sale this year, was superior to competitors’ technology already on the market.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia’s Misleading Video Dents Lumia’s Image
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/07/nokia-lumia-misleading-video/
To help explain the feature, the company posted a video demonstrating the Lumia’s optical image stabilization
Too bad that the video wasn’t even shot with a Lumia phone.
The technology site Pocket Now was first to spot this. Nokia confirmed the use of a different camera and eventually apologized
“In our enthusiasm, we showed poor judgment by neglecting to include a disclaimer that the video was not shot using a Lumia 920,” said Doug Dawson, head of media relations at Nokia
The company has since amended the videos to include a disclaimer.
“Stephen learned about the situation upon landing in Finland from New York,”
the botched video presentation was a downer. And it helped add to the general perception that Nokia’s event was lackluster. On the day it unveiled new Lumias, its stock dropped 16 percent.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia’s new Lumia WP8 phones launch danger of being wrong in the past marketing in the legs, while the company has had to request a second time I’m sorry “misleading marketing material.” Says the Financial Times.
According to several media brouhaha caused quite a fuss within Nokia
Source: http://www.kauppalehti.fi/etusivu/uusi+kohu+-+nokialta+jo+toinen+anteeksipyynto/201209256427?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia Expands Apology for Misleading Lumia 920 Video, Photos
http://mashable.com/2012/09/08/nokia-lumia-920-misleading/
Nokia expanded its apology over faked video and photos used to publicize the company’s newest flagship phone.
Lumia 920 features the “PureView” camera, which has a “floating lens” optical image stabilization (OIS) technology that Nokia claims lets users take sharp photos and video.
Earlier this week, Nokia admitted a video that purportedly demonstrates the benefits of the 920′s OIS capabilities was “a simulation” and not shot using its PureView camera. It later revealed on Saturday that promotional photos were also faked.
“The video was produced while the Nokia Lumia 920 was in early prototype and still not ready to show the full benefits of the amazing innovation it contains,” spokesman Brett Young told Mashable in an emailed statement. “While there was no intention to mislead, the failure to add a disclaimer to the video was obviously a mistake.”
We should have posted a disclaimer stating this was a representation of OIS only,” wrote spokeswoman Heidi Lemmetyinen.
The video is now marked with a “Simulation of OIS technology” disclaimer
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Engadget Interview: Nokia’s Kevin Shields on PureView, floating sensors and the ‘missile’ that is the Lumia 920
http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/07/nokia-kevin-shields-on-pureview/
he’s most excited about the PureView sensor in the Lumia 920.
“What we’ve done with the optical image stabilization is perhaps a minor mechanical miracle.”
He’s of course referring to the floating camera assembly in the device, said to offer a sort of physical image stabilization of the sort we’ve never seen on a mobile device before — a breakthrough that he thinks is as big as, or perhaps even bigger than, the massive leap forward we saw from the 808 PureView.
In the 808 the idea was to ship a massive sensor and it introduced the concept of pixel oversampling. Here, the goal is very different. We said ‘Hey, let’s suspend this entire optical assembly.’
PureView really is about our investment in radical camera technologies. The 808 was one of them, the first one, and what we’ve done with the 920 is a different, radical approach. My message would be: ‘Wait, wait, wait, wait. Let go a little bit.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The world is expected to: Nokia screwed up on purpose
Worldwide, it is believed that Nokia’s described as a failed 920-Lumian advertising campaign was aware of the act.
Source: http://www.kauppalehti.fi/5/i/etusivu/index.jsp?type=normal
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia Lumia 920 vs Apple iPhone 4S video (image stabilisation / floating lens technology)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GgV2GxFd4c&feature=player_embedded
Far from a scientific assessment but video captured on Nokia Lumia 920 vs Apple iPhone 4S. Optical image stabilisation is impressive based on personal ad-hoc this test.
Nokia Lumia 920 Hands-on- Pureview Camera Test….Awesome!!!!
http://booredatwork.com/2012/09/06/nokia-lumia-920-hands-on-pureview-camera-test-awesome/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HveAu4WSqVc&feature=related
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia said the technology lets the Lumia 920 capture five to 10 times more light per shot than competing smartphones and boasts unparalleled video stabilisation features.
Harlow used the Berlin event to issue a further apology for the video.
“You may have heard about a video that simulated the Pureview technology’s effect,” said Harlow.
“We’re still in the process of understanding how it happened. It was poor judgement not to put a disclaimer saying it was a simulation. But it should not distract from the point, the Lumia 920 does take the best images on any smartphone.”
Source: The Inquirer (http://s.tt/1n4a9)
Tomi says:
You Think Nokia Uses Deceptive Advertising? Have You Heard of Apple?
http://pocketnow.com/2012/09/11/false-advertising-apple-vs-nokia/
All hell broke loose last week when we noticed that Nokia’s sample example comparison of their optical image stabilization video recording capabilities wasn’t really filmed by a guy on a bicycle. It was really filmed by a guy on a van with what looks like professional video production equipment and lighting.
The interesting thing is that the most profitable tech company in the world lies to us all the time in their commercials and airs them constantly on public television. Apple is often being busted for false advertising, but they never really do anything about it.
So, that’s Nokia doing their best to make things right, while Apple insults you and continues to lie in their advertisements. Which deserves more positive media attention in your opinion? Which company seems more trustworthy?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia Lumia 920 PureView VS Samsung Galaxy S3 Live, side by side comparison video
http://mynokiablog.com/2012/09/21/nokia-lumia-920-pureview-vs-samsung-galaxy-s3-live-side-by-side-comparison-video/
In this video we can see not only the Nokia Lumia 920 but also the SGSIII. Both are strapped to a remote controlled car (so shake is both equal) you can see the car drive around and after both record, we see the playback.
Tomi Engdahl says:
iPhone 5 and Nokia Lumia 920 face off with image stabilization test (hands-on video, updated with Galaxy S III and HTC One X)
http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/25/iphone-5-lumia-920-image-stabilization-face-off/
Nokia’s Lumia 920 packs the industry’s best image stabilization — there’s no questioning that — thanks to a camera module that pairs both sensor and lens-based optical IS.
The iPhone 5 also offers a notable improvement over its Apple-made predecessor on the video front, but considering that its stabilization is of the digital variety, we wouldn’t expect it to top Nokia’s new flagship.
We had an opportunity to test both smartphones in a head-to-head demo at Nokia’s research and development facility in Tampere
As expected, the Nokia phone was able to capture far smoother video than what we snapped with the iPhone, with both devices secured side-by-side in a homemade foam holster.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia’s smartphone product marketing manager Ilari Nurmi has left the company.
Nurmi was responsible for Nokia product marketing and strategy for smart phones.
Source: http://www.iltalehti.fi/digi/2012100516167069_du.shtml
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