HELSINKI, FINLAND – Former Nokia exec Pekka Rantala has been named chief marketing officer of HMD global Oy (HMD), the new global licensee of the Nokia brand for mobile phones and tablets.
After 17 years in Nokia's mobile phone business, Rantala went on to become CEO of Rovio Entertainment, best known as the creator of "Angry Birds", and was most recently chairman of Jot Automation, a supplier of services to the global electronics industry.
According to Monday’s news release, Rantala will lead Nokia’s return to the global consumer market, and his first priority is to recruit a team of marketers, brand specialists, and communicators to engage global mobile phone users.
"Pekka has an important mission to rejuvenate the Nokia brand in mobile phones”, said HMD global CEO Arto Nummela, in the release. “He is an experienced consumer marketer who knows how to run global operations and teams, and is passionate about the Nokia brand. Branding has become a critical differentiator in mobile phones, and 96% of global mobile phone users are familiar with the Nokia brand, our unique asset. We know people around the world are excited about a new wave of Nokia phones, and we are working hard to create a beautiful range of Nokia-branded devices that people will love."
"There are very few opportunities like this, to work with a global brand with the power to touch hundreds of millions of people every day”, added Rantala. “It is a privilege to work with this unique brand, to engage with the millions of dedicated Nokia phone fans around the world and create a generation of new ones. We are going to bring together a new team of talented people who can build something incredible."
Nokia announced in May that it had signed a strategic brand and intellectual property licensing agreement enabling HMD to create new generation of Nokia-branded devices for the next ten years.
