Micromax, Karbonn, Maxx, etc have grown. Has Nokia become complacent? Is IPL the next brand building platform (these were key sponsors)?

(Excerpt from discussions initiated by Prasun Banerjee, Marketing Director, Haier India in the ‘Marketing Pundit’ group on Linkedin.com)

Deep Banerjee wrote:
There are 2 distinct questions that you have posed.
I'd say that Nokia indeed had become very complacent and possibly had started believing that they will have a never ending gala time on the Indian turf. They have literally been caught off-guard. It would be interesting to watch how with the kind of deep pockets and technical capability Nokia has, how they plan to fight back.
Cricket is religion for the Indian mass. So IPL is a good vehicle to reach out to the mass to build brand awareness. Brands like Micromax, Karbonn, Maxx, etc have spent hundreds of crores collectively in IPL. They reaped the initial results. Now they must concentrate on customer engagement and post sales service for goodwill and sustainable results. A discerning customer & a brand fanatic like me will never get carried away just because their names were splashed all around during the IPL.

Rahul Sinha wrote:
Micromax, Karbonn and Maxx underline the same point - if you become complacent, competition will nibble your market share - their phones are good, they have the same features and they are priced unbelievably low. Initially the perception would be of low quality (how can they make this at this price?) and later the perception will be I have been cheated by my current players (how can I be caught like this?). Both the cases, the customer will try to avoid these new players (either to stay away from bad products or to stay aligned with his world). If these three however ensure they have good product and they offer good after sale service, WOM will take over in 12-18 months and then it will be all the way down for the competition.
IPL could become the next place for brands to make an entry but then all big stages will be similar. (a new serial, in program at SRGMP, etc.). IPL does give the ideal platform for someone to step in and talk about their new offers.