Li Guoqing, the 40-year-old founder of online retailer Dangdang, is not short of a word on the subject of his own business, but when asked why he chose a Nokia mobile phone he hesitates a while before replying, "It has a number of features I like, and can save a lot of phone numbers. Anyway, I have used Nokia for a long time. I feel loyal to it."

This simple answer is perhaps just what Nokia would like to hear. A brand cannot be built in a day, but brands generate a special relationship between a company and its consumers. This is reflected in the brand value of Nokia, which came eighth in the BusinessWeek/Interbrand 2004 World's Most Valuable Brands ranking.

The success of the Nokia brand, named after a small town in Finland, is not reliant on technology. Rather its marketing and company structure has struck a chord with rich Chinese consumers, who feel it is a brand they can trust. Nokia's fundamental concept is simple: the more hi-tech the product, the more input is needed from Nokia on how best to design the product for its users. Nokia currently has 54 research and development centres in 14 countries and regions, employing 20,000 people - or 40% of the total Nokia headcount - in R&D. All research is based on close market tracking, in-depth surveys, and customer analysis.

In the Entrepreneurs Lifestyle Survey, Nokia came top with 47% of the votes. It was a comfortable win over Motorola, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson. But continued success seems not to have gone to Nokia's head, nor caused it to lose its sensitivity to market trends. In the words of Tapio Hedman, Vice President of Communications at Nokia Mobile Phones: "Nokia is always injecting new vigour into its products. An established brand is like having insurance. That feeling will not disappear overnight."