Nokia is going all out to get people to buy its newly announced Lumia smartphones when they launch in the UK and other markets later in November. That includes the use of some rather odd marketing stunts. Business Insider reports that during the Nokia World keynote today in London, the company"s marketing VP Steven Overman described some of these over-the-top marketing plans.
They include setting up fake saunas over at local bus stops, hiring DJs to play sets on sidewalks, and even having having people dressed up to look like Windows Live tiles to go run through the streets. Overman says that these kinds of events are targeting the young consumer, around 25 years old or so.
So how do all of these stunts get people to actually buy the Windows Phone 7-based Lumia devices? Overman said that the hope is people will take pictures of the living Windows Live tiles and the saunas and the sidewalk DJs and then share and talk about them with their friends. Overman said, "These amazing everyday experiences will form a path, a journey, to the moment of truth. And that"s the store."
Assuming people actually go to stores to check out the Lumia 710 and Lumia 800 devices after seeing these odd stunts, Nokia promises that there will be plenty of these phones to try out for themselves. Indeed, Nokia"s CEO Stephan Elop claims that the company will have, " ... more seeding devices in the hands of retail professionals than we"ve ever done in our history."