2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

CREATORS LOUNGE

BrandSAMSUNG
Product/ServiceGALAXY
EntrantCHEIL WORLDWIDE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryDurable Consumer Goods including Automotive
Idea Creation CHEIL WORLDWIDE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production CHEIL WORLDWIDE Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

Samsung launched 3 new flagship smartphones during the Coronavirus pandemic. To launch the Galaxy Note20, Z Fold2 and Galaxy S20 FE, the “Creators Lounge” was conceptualized as an exclusive experiential playground featuring unique experiences tailored to showcase the best of the new Samsung Galaxy devices. The Creators Lounge featured a melting pot of creative talent, bringing together content creators, influencers, bloggers and media across the region to create content and take over social media, resulting in a stream of creative brand experience content shared on their social channels generating an overwhelming amount of engagement about the experience and the phones.

Background

Samsung were one of the first brands in the region to launch a brand activation following the reopening of the UAE. After months of restrictions, we brought together influencers and content creators along with bloggers and media to the Creators Lounge, where they were able to unleash their creativity with the new Galaxy devices, in a safe environment. The Creators Lounge was purposefully designed with Covid-19 social precautions and distancing measures, resulting in a private, invite only, experience exclusively for our guests, allowing them free reign to capture content safely. By getting together and hands on with Samsung Galaxy Note20, Fold2 and S20 FE, our Creators experienced a number of activation zones designed to showcase the best of the new phone features. The content produced and shared resulted in record figures of reach and engagement across social media, outperforming general brand communication and generating over 7 million impressions.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

The Creators Lounge offered a chance for content creators to finally get hands on with the new Samsung Galaxy smartphones that were launched during the Covid-19 lockdown. In order to profile the hero features of the new phones, the experiences at the Creators Lounge were purpose built activations specifically designed to showcase the features of the new phones. The Note20 S Pen was profiled as a magic wand capable of controlling the phone functions and more. The Fold2 display delivered a wow factor as a phone of the future. The S20 FE was shown off with its rainbow display of colourful options. As one of the first brand activations in the region, the experience was produced to ensure the necessary safety precautions were followed and enabled our content creators the freedom to be creative in an experiential playground that was shared with their followers.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Consumption of online content dramatically increased during the Covid-19 lockdown. Brands across the region turned to influencers to drive user generated content online amongst the millennials and Gen Z audience. But the communication from influencers were often saturated as they were all in their homes creating their version and style of brand content. We recognized that in order to create buzz and ensure a clear communication message is achieved, bringing influencers together in an exclusive experiential experience and providing them their own private playground of content capturing opportunities will ensure the communication of the brand image and product features is consistent, exciting and sharable.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

Samsung’s first brand experience since the lockdown, the Creators Lounge was an experiential showcase designed exclusively for influencers, content creators, bloggers and media. A full day experience was divided in to 3 sessions to limit guest numbers and allowing sufficient time for our Creators to have a complete experience with the phones, reconnect with each other and create! There was even a comprehensive sanitization procedure of the venue and devices between each session. We designed an app for the event to streamline the guest journey and a central part of the event experience. The app allowed for contactless guest registration and used at each experience zone, where our specially trained brand ambassadors were stationed to shoot content for our Creators and instantly shared to them via the app. The app was connected with the interactive screen displayed at the event, displaying the content taken instantly for all to see.

List the results (30% of vote)

Each individual product received significantly higher levels of engagement than traditional brand communications. The Z Fold2 achieved 10 x greater engagement and double the click through rates. The S20 FE received double the engagement amount and click through rates. The Note20, which was already actively in market, received 6% more engagement from the Creators Lounge content. The content that was shared across Samsung and guest channels (content creators, influencers, bloggers and media) generated over 7 million impressions. The public response across these online channels featured high levels of engagement on all social platforms (focused on Facebook and Instagram), with many commenting on their favoured device displayed across the stream of online content. Overall, the content generated from the Creators Lounge outperformed traditional digital media communications on Samsung channels, with 2.6M impressions and a 10% engagement rate.

Credits

Name Company Role
Firas Jabbour Cheil Creative Producer
Links
Application URL