Irish lifestyle management company Kudos has won a contract worth €300K from Nokia to supply a free concierge service to Carphone Warehouse customers.
Under the deal, contract customers who purchase particular Nokia mobiles at Carphone Warehouse can avail of a year’s free 24×7 lifestyle management service.
“Our service is a bit like having your own personal assistant,” commented Claire Walsh, Kudos. “Today people are cash rich but time poor. We have trained experts at the end of a telephone line who will help you find a plumber, hard-to-get concert ticket, unusual gift or simply arrange travel itineraries.”
“In the Ireland of today you don’t have to be rich and famous to lead a busy life,” said Conor Pierce, general manager, Nokia Ireland. “Most of us have to multitask and juggle different roles. The problem is finding time between commuting, work and home life. Our Nokia Concierge Service is one answer to the stresses that make up life in Ireland today.”
Stephen Mackerel, chief executive, Carphone Warehouse, remarked: “This is an exclusive free service to Nokia contract customers at Carphone Warehouse. If they were to buy this themselves then it would cost them €300 a month.”
Purchasers of Nokia handsets from Carphone Warehouse can automatically avail of the service with the offer currently applying to purchases of a Nokia Red 6300, N95, N95 8GB, E90, E61i, 8600 Luna, 8800 or 6120.
“As competition in all markets increases, companies are looking for strong differentiators other than price,” added Walsh. “As companies strive to retain customers, lifestyle concierge or management has a major role to play as a loyalty and retention tool.”
Kudos, a subsidiary of Irish-owned BPI Telecom, has also signed its first customer in the financial services sector. The company has a partnership with Ten UK, a British lifestyle concierge services provider.
By Niall Byrne
