Verridian plc (www.verridian.co.uk) has been working closely with Nokia to provide training and marketing services for over five years. The latest activity in this ongoing relationship has been to build a valuable online resource for Nokia Carkit Installers.

For Nokia the most important link in the chain for Carkit sales is the installer as they recommend the best solutions to end-users as well as install them. Helping them to make informed recommendations and providing them with detailed and useful resources at their fingertips, and the opportunity to engage directly with Nokia and other installers, was a key requirement for Nokia when creating the new www.nokiacarkit.com microsite.

The Microsite is a members only website and is hosted by Verridian, although having worked to Nokia’s strict brand guidelines users just see a seamless extension of the Nokia online universe. In fact, one of the challenges was designing the site with Nokia’s unique DNA as well as making it relevant to what is a very specific target audience.

The fully interactive site has been built to provide vital information to the global community of Nokia Carkit Installers. User and installation guides, application software, a compatibility checker, news updates and access to installation experts at Nokia.

The website also features a forum for the installer community moderated by Nokia experts. This allows members to post and answer questions on anything relating to the Nokia Carkit. This opportunity to engage with peers and Nokia is proving a popular feature of the new site.

One of the biggest technical challenges was with the sites compatibility checker. This allows registered users to check the compatibility of the Carkit models with any mobile handset from any manufacturer. This was a huge amount of data when you consider the amount of handsets out there but a vital function for the site.

www.nokiacarkit.com took just six weeks to complete with the Verridian team working closely with the Nokia team, a role made easier due to the unique perspective into the client’s needs that Verridian has gained after five years of working together.  

In May 2009 the English version of the site launched after just six weeks of development and achieved over 150 registrations from installers within the first week. Phase 2 of the project is to launch six international language versions to give the site even more functionality and a real international reach.

Wolfgang Gaertner at Nokia commented, “The Nokia team is working closely with Verridian who are delivering an outstanding service to Nokia Carkit installers across the world. Nokiacarkit.com is the first step in a larger planned service and to date the execution and service delivered by Verridian has been excellent. This is a living tool that will continue to evolve. We are particularly excited with the forum that is allowing installers to communicate with each other - recommending, learning, exchanging experiences and ideas - and also engaging with Nokia experts directly. With Verridian’s assistance we have gone from having no centralised resource to one which offers fantastic support to installers and delivered in a short timeframe”