You wouldn’t think that a mobile phone launch would have anything to do with a major airport, would you?
But it appears that isn’t the case, since Nokia have chosen Heathrow Airport as one of just two locations where its upcoming new phone will be released to the general public.
The phone is officially called the Nokia 5800, but it also goes by the name of the Tube. It is very likely that this second name will be the one to catch on with the public, but why is Nokia making such a song and dance over this limited release? Surely it would be better off releasing it far and wide and making the most of the increase in sales?
You would think so, but in actual fact there is some crafty thinking going on here. The phone itself is apparently something of a rival to the Apple iPhone, which has been on sale for some time now. The launch has already been delayed; it was originally supposed to be available to buy towards the end of last year.
So why choose just two locations to release it in, and why choose Heathrow Airport as one of them?
There doesn’t seem to be any real answer to this. The other location is the main store that Nokia has, which is in Regent Street, so these really aren’t just your average store.
This clearly shows how well trafficked Terminal 5 actually is. Nokia wouldn’t have chosen this as a location if it didn’t think it was worth it. After all, why launch a new product in a shop that doesn’t have the footfall – and the potential customers – to pay for it?
The phone will also be ready to buy online at their website on this date, and apparently there will be a full release at various other locations and stores at the end of the month.
But this is a really good piece of news as far as Heathrow Airport is concerned. It isn’t very often that an airport is chosen as the centre of an event like this, but the decision is a pretty smart one. When you consider the thousands of people that pass through the new Terminal 5 every day, this gives Nokia a potential customer base of people that have come to the airport from lots of different countries.
That makes it a great opportunity to sell the new phone to all kinds of people who may just be lucky enough to be in Heathrow Airport on the day of release. It seems likely that anyone else in the London area will go to the Regent Street branch, but it is highly likely that the Heathrow store will also see a lot of interest in this new release.
You wouldn’t normally think about major new mobile phone releases in conjunction with the busiest airport in the UK. But with this event in the pipeline Heathrow could be entering a whole new role for the future.