Product versus product experience

After the spin of product launches comes the customer reality. Here’s the Phones4u shopfront on Oxford Street in London. The iPhone is most prominent and, as it always has, relies on a simple shot of the product doing something. The product is the experience. In contrast, Nokia’s new Lumia 800 is framed by a clever multi-coloured portal, intended to draw your eye onto the tiny handset at its centre. The product experience – at least, the product experience Nokia has imagined in its marketing campaign – is the focus. However clever the spin, perhaps it is better to let devices speak for themselves? What do you think? How do you like to be advertised to?