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MOTOAURA in London - some musings

Earlier this week I had a chance to spend a couple of days in company of some great people from all over the world, and there was a good reason why they all came to London on that day. In fact, the sole purpose of our visit was to take a closer look at the MOTOAURA - even though its original announcement had taken place earlier, the launch event was slotted for late November, around a month prior to hitting the selves. It may sound somewhat tangled, however, and why would someone need to hold such an expensive event for one phone? I can't answer any of these questions, but instead I can offer you some musings and thoughts of my own.

The hotel we were accommodated in didn't came as a major surprise - at the end of the day the Motorola AURA is a fashion-conscious handset; and every time some phone maker showcases a designer solution, they inevitably pick one of Philippe Starck's hotels. Curiously, both the HTC Diamond and Samsung D900, both notable for their strong fashion appeal, were presented at these venues too. By the way, those of you who don't know that already - Stark's hotel is called St. Martin's Lane Нotel located right after the National Gallery.

At first the press-conference was pretty dry as nobody seemed eager enough to ask about anything however more towards the end Motorola's officials got flooded with questions as to why and how the AURA saw daylight at all. Nevertheless, after that we were allowed access to the designers and marketeers, so that all questions could be answered in a more casual way. Eventually, they made me leave one of these groups and sent straight to the studio, where I was to be filmed in a promo-video for Motorola. I remember that sitting in a designer chair, although utterly uncomfortable, this thought crossed my mind: I said a lot of warm words about the AURA, however I had no intentions of pleasing the people making this mini-movie or even getting into it in the first place. So I didn't make anything up and meant every word, but in a strange way, while all this was true, it sounded more like me flattering the phone. Why? Probably because I don't see the AURA as a phone per se. To my mind, it's makes a good accessory, and only then an okay phone - after all the MOTOAURA's primary goal is to outline the owner's status and inspire him with its very design. "Look at me!" it screams "I set you back more two thousand bucks - don't you have plenty of everything? Sure you do!" Some will scoff at such a primitive thought process, but the truth is, it has been driving the entire luxury market for ages now, and the Motorola AURA fits right in.

This phone has been in the works for almost two years, and the major problem they encountered were the materials and craftsmanship (i.e. rounded display and unique technologies used inside). The AURA's software was of little importance, though, and to tell the truth they didn't put much effort into it - it's based on the LJ platform (MOTOMAGX), and Motorola aren't intending to develop it any further for a number of reasons. So it's obvious why they opted not to spend a whole lot of resources on tweaking it for the AURA's quirky display shape.

However the main question that kept coming back to haunt me, and that I asked Motorola's managers again and again was "What the AURA really is? Why today? Don't you feel bad about the time and money spent on the development?" However against the backdrop of a long blacklist of canceled products the last argument doesn't seem all that vital - many phones simply disappeared right before their release days, such as they RAZR3 Ruby.

Unfortunately I didn't get a plain answer, but instead had a few thoughts of my own. The thing is, since they have just canceled a whole array of phones and revised their strategy all over again, it's absolutely necessary to assure everyone that Motorola still "has it". And the AURA is a perfect PR-project for these purposes with its very unique materials and offbeat design, that looks like no other offering out there. In other words they get the maximum media reach and effect without investing too much.

It's not a mainstream phone by any stretch of imagination - in Motorola's wildest dreams they see its sales at one hundred thousand mark, although the AURA is unlikely to sell better than 35-50 thousand units during the first year. On top of that it won't see any price cuts or subsidies from Motorola. All my direct questions as to whether the MOTOAURA would follow in the footsteps of the RAZR series (that didn't stay in the premium segment for too long), met the same answer "it's a product of an entirely different class, we will never even consider this". I used to believe them, but as it turned out I was wrong, so at the moment I'm very skeptical about this statement, but I suppose that given the production volumes, materials and elaborate assembly process, the AURA's price won't dive too much. Time will tell.

As far as other bits and pieces go, it's worth noting that in some countries the AURA will launch as "R1" - for example, in Italy the phone's original name is associated with cheap credit cards, so for obvious reasons they will be marketing it there as "Motorola R1". Also it goes without saying that the AURA's retail box is as grand as the phone itself with its sides decked out in wood. However in terms of the sales package contents, this phone doesn't offer much beyond the most essential items.

Our hotel also hosted an AURA-themed installation from November, 29 through December, 5. There was a special door located on the left of the hotel entrance, that led into a white room with a huge display mounted right into the wall. This, along with a strong scent of acrylic paint could make one literally freeze for a moment and feel the aura of this phone (pun intended). The installation called "Time out of Scale" was created by UN Studio's Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bas UNStudio. Here is how Motorola's official press-release outlined it - "One-of-a-kind projects offer architects an opportunity to break constraints and explore concepts that are both challenging and unprecedented. Taking AURA as our inspiration, the installation has enabled us to explore and deconstruct the themes of time and craftsmanship beyond what is 'known' and to create an 'experience' where anything seems possible".

We also had a chance to watch how Londoners reacted to the installation - random passer-bys would occasionally sneak into the area, eye at the phone itself and only then take a look around. Curiously, the ones who seemed most interested in the AURA were the people who would never be able to afford it. Another thing of note was that the installation never seemed abandoned, although it wasn't crowded either.

The phone will be available in London some time in January, exclusively at Selfridges, then it will spread across select retailers, but there won't be many of them, make no mistake about that. Other markets won't be much different. While the AURA will go for 2000 USD or so, local carriers will be allowed to subsidize it, much like Nokia's premium offerings.

We were also shown a wealth of promo-materials, such as a deconstructed phone, or a couple of pieces of glass with different parts of the MOTOAURA (as if they were cut out) trapped inside. Needless to say, all these items looked particularly fascinating and served as all another demonstration of the quality of the AURA's materials.

But even more interesting were various cradles crafted exclusively for the AURA, that will be used in retail stores.

Will it sell well? Definitely yes. However, it's important to realize that it's not a phone per se, but rather a fashionable accessory that happens to have some calling features onboard. The AURA's target audience won't care much about its usability or practicality - at the end of the day, they are after its design and some history behind it. On a side note, don't expect Motorola to launch a sequel to the AURA, or at least not in the next two-three years. All in all, it's a very likable solution for those who would like to break from the mould and do so with style at that.

Eldar Murtazin ([email protected])
Translated by Oleg Kononosov ([email protected])

Published — 8 December 2008

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