The Smart Phone Line
Samsung New Zealand
Issue 29 | December 2013
Agency
Colenso BBDO
Creative Team
Creative Chairman Nick Worthington Digital Creative Director Aaron Turk Creative Team Simon Vicars Brett Colliver Development team Paul Headington Craig MacGregor Adam Wood Agency Producers Scott Chapman Paul Courtney Amanda Theobald Account Team Scott Coldham
Production Team
Production partner Assembly Open Frameworks Developer Custom Logic Screen installation Oceania LED Signage installation Rollercoaster
Other Credits
Samsung New Zealand Marketing Director Mike Cornwell Samsung New Zealand Group Marketing Manager – Mobile & IT Debbie Fell
Date
April 2013
Background
The Samsung Galaxy S4 was an Android smartphone launched in late April 2013. Its arrival was eagerly anticipated by anyone for whom its upgraded hardware and increased focus on software meant it would be even more of a life companion than any other previous handset.
Idea
Those who wanted to be among the very first to get their hands on the latest technology used to have to camp out for days in front of the relevant stores.
To promote the game-changing S4, a game-changing strategy was adopted, using the phone's fans to promote
its many qualities in social media.
The Smart Phone Line was introduced on Samsung's Facebook page and via web banners. Fans signed in through their Facebook or Twitter accounts. Every day they were provided with
new details of the phone's features for them to share with their networks. The more their friends shared, re-tweeted or liked their comments and posts, the further up the queue they moved.
The Smart Phone Line was projected onto a 150ft long electronic billboard in the centre of Auckland. Passers- by could see the jostling for position towards the head of the line, where the winner would get given free the first Galaxy S4 in New Zealand.
Results
12,000 fans queued for two weeks and shared 74,000 product feature stories to 2.9 milion newsfeeds.
52,000 Facebook posts and 34,000 tweets pushed news of the launch right across social media.
Media coverage exceeded Samsung's best previous smartphone launch by 165%. With a PR and Media amplification budget of just under $100,000, the Galaxy S4 got $1.4m of PR.
Our Thoughts
For a lot of traditional ad agencies, the digital revolution has been bewildering. They have failed to grasp the fundamental changes in how people will and will not respond to advertising. For Colenso BBDO, however, it has been transformative. Five years ago they were the No.32 agency in The Big Won rankings and in 2012 they were No.1. So far in 2013 they are at No.4 thanks to ideas like this.
It has become a cliche´ at conferences to hear speakers say, ‘People don’t believe what brands tell them, people believe what their friends tell them’. But very few brand strategies set out to actively involve their fans. When they do, the results can be fabulous – for both client and agency. Turning Samsung fans into a media channel was not just clever but perfectly appropriate.