Ostrich
Samsung
Issue 43 | June 2017
Agency
Leo Burnett Chicago
Creative Team
Global Chief Creative Officer: Mark Tutssel US Chief Creative Officer: Britt Nolan SVP, Creative Director: Colin Selikow, Vince Cook Associate Creative Director: Chris Walker, Alan Shen
Production Team
SVP, Executive Producer: Matt Blitz Director of Music: Chris Clark Assistant Music Producer: Alec Stern Production Company: MJZ Director: Matthijis Van Heinjningen Editorial Company: Work Editor: Jono Griffith Grade: MPC Colorist: Mark Gethin Executive Producer, Color: Meghan Lang Color Producer: Rebecca Boorsma Associate Color Producer: Elyse Robinson VFX: MPC Executive Producer, VFX: Karen Anderson Producer: Nicole Saccardi, Tomek Zietkiewicz, Sophie Lebreton, Neela Kumuda Parankusham Previs Team: Jeremie Abrial, Xavier Zahrra Coordinator: Dori Sharvit Creative Director: Michael Gregory, Diarmid Harrison Murray
Other Credits
SVP, Global Business Lead: Radim Svoboda Global Account Director: Ashley Beam Global Account Supervisor: Huy Ngo Global Account Executive: Emily Smith SVP, Global Strategy Director: Kara Yang VP, Global Strategy Director: Chris Bridgland Talent Manager: Mike Hurley Senior Business Manager: Rhonda Senase-Thome
Date
March 2017
Background
Samsung wanted to transform themselves from a faceless technology corporation, to a human purposesful BRAND based in their core belief: That meaningful progress can only happen when you dare to defy barriers.
They create amazing products so that you can use them to overcome the ‘no longer impossible’ barriers in your life.
The brief: Create a global tagline and idea platform that makes people understand & believe in why they do what they do.
Idea
The answer? “Do What You Can’t.”
A concise expression of Samsung’s defy barriers philosophy.
A line that talks to both Samsung’s engineering DNA, and to what their products empower you to do.
And to launch the thought, a story was needed that could transcend language, culture, and demographics. A story was needed that centered around the amazing Samsung innovations that empower dreamers to do something impossible. And that naturally led to thinking about ostriches.
An Ostrich on the South African desert wanders away from her herd looking for food. She approaches a house and accidentally gets a Samsung Gear VR headset stuck over her eyes. There’s a running flight simulator playing on the device. Suddenly, a bird who has never soared above the clouds, gets her first taste of flight.
Inspired by the amazing, immersive 360 vistas, the hero embarks on the quest to fly. She tries and fails as the herd watches on. Night falls. The ostrich is discouraged. But she never gives up. While the herd sleeps, she practices—never giving up on her dream.
As the sun rises the hero is ready. She looks to the clouds, takes a deep breath and begins to run. She spreads her wings and proves that even if you fail, that when you’re committed to doing what you can’t, nothing is impossible. A perfect metaphor for Samsung’s new global brand line.
Results
“Ostrich” has become one of the most viral films of 2017 with 15 million views and counting in the first two weeks.