Nokia CEO, Stephen Elop, has clear plans on where Nokia needs to be if it’s to win the hearts and minds of America. It’s not about delivering a global product, it’s about recognising that regional differences exist and making those differences count.

Speaking at the Open Mobile Summit, Elop was quite open about the fact Nokia has a great challenge facing it in North America. However, it’s clear that it’s high on the agenda and the first thing he suggests the company needs to do is listen. As he stated, ‘we have to have empathy with each territory’ and ‘deliver the products that delight the US’.

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He believes that the US operators have an important role to play in many regions, particularly the United States, as he put it ‘they [the operators] understand one thing, the consumer gets to decide’ so by taking an approach that meets the needs of consumers in each territory, both in terms of hardware as well as services and application.

Delighting audiences isn’t just about giving them localised apps and services, It’s also about delivering innovation in a rapid fashion. Nokia has been accused in the past of being too slow to react, hence Android becoming so popular so quickly. Elop believes that in order to deliver on the promise, Nokia needs a fundamental reset, to empower people to ‘move move move’ as he puts it.

By shifting attitudes internally at Nokia and adding a sense of urgency and accountability, we’ll see the coming moving more aggressively. With new devices having development cycles cut by as much as a third we’ll see a faster release schedule for innovation.

We’re clearly still a few months away from the first Nokia Windows Phone but it looks like we’ve some pretty amazing times ahead. What do you think, is Nokia making the kinds of changes you want to see from the world’s favourite phone company? Let us know in the Comments below.