Steven Overman has resigned from his position as vice president for global branding and marketing strategy at Nokia, BGR sister site BGR India reported. The former executive was responsible for drafting the high-profile partnership with Microsoft, and also for marketing the company’s Lumia and Asha smartphones. Before joining Nokia in 2010, Overman previously worked at Lowe Worldwide where he led the marketing team that handled Nokia’s account. Despite producing a number of appealing products with extensive marketing campaigns, Nokia has continued to struggle. Lumia Windows Phone shipments increased to 5.6 million units in the first quarter of 2013, up from 4.4 million in the previous quarter. In North America, however, the company only shipped 400,000 smartphones, down from 700,000 in December.
UPDATE: A Nokia spokesperson reached out to BGR to clarify that Overman was not responsible for the partnership with Microsoft, noting that it was the “executive board and several others that are responsible for the Microsoft partnership and who drafted the DA.”
