The fairest cell phones in the land
presenters display the Elle No 1 Glamphone.
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Two French companies - Hachette Filipacchi Post Co Ltd and PCL & Alcatel Mobile Phones Ltd - have jointly created a new mobile phone that is aimed directly at devoted followers of fashion.
Their Elle No1 Glamphone was launched in Thailand yesterday.Hachettee Filipacchi Post makes the Elle brand of clothing and accessories and Alcatel makes cell phones and IT systems. The two firms aim to exploit Elle's long-time design experience to add seasonal fashionability to Alcatel's phones. The partners have come up with a Spring-Summer collection, featuring red and black flip phones with the Elle logo on the front and the Alcatel logo on the back. The phones have all usual the basic functions as well as a dual-band system, a colour camera, a video function with sound and voice recognition to dial numbers. The phones have already been launched in Europe, Latin America, and Russia, and 250,000 units have been sold globally. Thailand is the second Asian country, after Malaysia, to get the Elle No 1 Glamphone. China is next on the list. According to Gregory Fermanian, director of Asia-Pacific marketing for Alcatel (Thailand), the price in Thailand is Bt8,900. Alcatel will sell only 3,000 to 4,000 phones here in order to have it recognised as that fashionista draw card: a limited edition. In the initial stages, the phones will be sold exclusively in Central stores, starting with Central Chidlom. Fermanian said that although many well-known cell-phone brands are very strong in functions and design, Alcatel will still stay ahead of them because it has the fashion design expertise of Elle. Janet E Low, Asean licensing manager for Hachette Filipacchi Post said no matter how many functions were built into phones, people use them simply for talking and sending messages most of the time. People concerned with trends tend to look at what others wear or use and cell phones are an item reflecting personality. To build awareness, the partners will arrange fashion shows and advertise in the three magazines in the Elle group - Elle, Marie Claire and Cleo. Fermanian said the exact amount to be spent on marketing was difficult to specify. Both firms have their own marketing plans as well as a combined campaign. The Spring-Summer collection of cell phones targets modern women, a group that is expected to make up 80 per cent of Thai customers. Although its hardly proper in the world of high fashion to mention money, Elle's sales in Thailand last year totalled US$20 million (Bt756.8 million) and Alcatel's local sales amounted to Bt350 million. Nitida Asawanipont The Nation
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