Samsung to Blanket Heathrow’s Terminal 5 With Galaxy S5 Ads

• By
• Lisa Fleisher
• CONNECT

A Samsung representative cleans a Galaxy S5 display at a Best Buy store in San Francisco.

Bloomberg

With all the fanfare of a great PR stunt, Samsung Electronics sa005930.SE +1.28%id it would rebrand Terminal 5 at London Heathrow Airport to promote its new Galaxy S5 phone.
Starting Monday at one of the busiest airports in the world, dozens of digital advertising screens inside the terminal will show images of the phone that went on sale last month as well as the branding, “Terminal Samsung Galaxy S5.”
Samsung said the two-week campaign would be the first time Heathrow has permitted a brand takeover of Terminal 5, the airport’s newest and largest terminal. According to the airport, nearly 30 million passengers passed through Terminal 5 in 2012, the latest date available.
A spokeswoman declined to say how much money the company is spending on the campaign. Among smartphone makers, Samsung is one of the heaviest spenders on marketing.
But don’t expect to hear announcements alerting passengers to hurry through the Galaxy for final boarding call. Tickets will still direct passengers to gates in Terminal 5, and there won’t be a grand banner draped over the entrance.
“We’re not renaming the terminal exactly,” said a Heathrow spokeswoman, who declined to be named.
The move wasn’t coordinated with Heathrow, she said. Generally, advertisers can do what they want with their advertising space, she said.
“As long as it’s OK with our passengers we’re OK with it,” she said.
Samsung said sales of the phone were doing brisk business, with more than 11 million units sold.