Intuit and Nokia are teaming up to develop and deliver mobile and web-based marketing service for small businesses around the world. The official pitch goes like this (from the press release):
Addressing one of the leading concerns for the world’s estimated 500 million small businesses, the new service will be designed to help them get more business through personalized, relevant offers and marketing messages, in a way unmatched by traditional methods.
The first market launch of the service is expected in the fourth quarter of this year, with further details set to be announced at that time.
From where I stand, this is an interesting alliance. Nokia on one hand is still world’s largest phone maker, whereas Intuit’s QuickBooks and their web-based service(s) are already used by millions of small businesses around the world. So it’s like a combination of Nokia’s knowledge of mobile space and Intuit’s number cracking capabilities. We’ll definitely follow where this goes and keep you folks in the loop…