OnePlus is expected to launch a new budget phone called the OnePlus Nord on July 10. On the surface this sounds like a typical tidbit …
OnePlus is expected to launch a new budget phone called the OnePlus Nord on July 10. On the surface this sounds like a typical tidbit of phone industry news that’s not worth much thought. But the Chinese phone-maker is spending an inordinate amount of energy drumming up hype for, what is essentially, a sub-$500 phone that’ll be available only in the UK and India for now.
For instance, it created not one, but two Instagram accounts for it — one perhaps prematurely for the name «Lite Z Thing,» and one for what appears to be the official «Nord» codename. It’s also releasing a four-part series on YouTube about the development of the phone. You can watch the first 10-minute episode below.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting to promote your product, and OnePlus is no stranger to unorthodox tactics. When it first started out, the company had an invite-only system for customers to buy its phones, and set up pop-up stores in key markets. On a more distasteful note, OnePlus also launched, and then quickly ended, a campaign encouraging women to send photos of themselves for a free OnePlus One phone back in 2014. Not for nothing, but OnePlus didn’t claw its way into the overcrowded phone industry, where Apple and Samsung rule all, by moseying about with ho-hum ad campaigns.
But the decision to let cameras follow top executives, department heads and employees during the creation of the OnePlus Nord is an odd one.
