Nokia Drops 'Ovi' Brand Following Microsoft Collaboration

Strengthening its brand recognition with Windows Phone users, Nokia has opted to drop the "Ovi" branding from many of its services, including the game-carrying Ovi Store, in favor of simply renaming them "Nokia," the company revealed. In a post on Nokia's official blog, the company said that the massive transition will begin in July of this year, with the ultimate goal of "anyone holding a Nokia phone" -- including older models -- to see the new branding through software updates by the end of 2012. "The reasons for this decision includes the fact that Nokia is a well-known and highly-loved brand the world over," said Nokia EVP and chief marketing officer Jerri DeVard. "By centralizing our services identity under one brand, not two, we will reinforce the powerful master brand of Nokia and unify our brand architecture." Nokia's Ovi Store mobile game and app distribution network, encompassing the former N-Gage Store, surpassed a worldwide userbase of 140 million people last year. Other services using Ovi branding include maps, music, messaging, and "life tools." The company adopted the Windows Phone as its primary smartphone platform earlier this year. It would appear this move to unify its branding was made in order that customers operating Windows Phones would be exposed to the parent Nokia name when using its services, rather than its sub-brand. According to the company, the transition should be "smooth and seamless," and its service roadmap will continue as planned.