Samsung Flipvertising Campaign Case Study

Introduction

If you keep up with the advertising trends followed by mobile phones, you must know that Samsung always challenged the conventions. The most recent innovative ad is that of the Galaxy Flip series which was launched with a campaign titled “Flipvertising”. The ad, in fact, prompted the audience to wait and watch the ad than just skip or avoid it as usual with advertisements.

It was in 2022, precisely in the month of September, that Samsung Electronics Australia transformed the digital advertising landscape. The script targeted the ads into an interactive treasure hunt which attracted the usually less engaging Gen Z demographic and generated a major hike in engagement. This surpassed the usual skip and scroll habit of the majority and a considerable decrease in the ad blocks as well. 

Here is a detailed investigation of the experimental Flipvertising campaign which incorporated a bold marketing move that set a new standard for employing storytelling techniques.

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Campaign Background and Context

The smartphone market in Australia had a challenging environment for Samsung while Apple remained dominant in the territory. With Galaxy Z Flip’s unique foldable build, Samsung redefined smartphone design and built. Having a futuristic appeal in mind, the phone required a campaign that could make it ground-breaking. Thus, the Flipvertising Campaign was designed to mirror the phone’s unique flip feature invoking a fresh, playful and interactive engagement. 

The brand wanted to create instances that would spark curiosity, ensure involvement and leave a lasting impression. It was launched to an audience that was always doubtful about the marketing messages. Research showed that 17% of Gen Z consumers considered targeted social media ads as “always” an invasion of privacy. Set against a competitive market, it was indeed a challenge for Samsung. 

Objectives and Strategic Insight

Samsung’s objectives were very clear. Attracting maximum engagement tops the list. Instead of ads finding the targeted audiences, the Flipvertising campaign invited the targeted audience to come after them. The strategic setup actually succeeded in bringing a sales hike and reflected in the popularity as well. After all, the Gen Z category were actively talking about it! Here is what the company outlined as objectives:

Drive Hype and Interest

An understanding of the brand and keen interest in specifications and functionality can drive the young consumers into the brand. They are in fact the ones who make some noise about things and turn things into trends. All the brand did was give a nudge by introducing them to the campaign. This reinforced the brand’s identity.

Generate Engagement Organically

The Gen Z and to an extended millennial audience were the active participants in the campaign. Their curiosity to unveil the details about this brand and the innovative product was the right kind of target the company came up with. Though things were all planned out, the participation of the audience or the potential consumers made the engagement organic. This totally worked in the brand’s favour.

Leverage User-Generated Content

The participation of the Gen Z group created a buzz on the social media platforms bringing more people into the campaign. The content thus created surely gets leveraged for the brand’s promotion. It was more appealing to the wider audience as they came to know about the product from the people they know and not from the company as is usual.

Increase Product Consideration

The young demographics always despise the traditional marketing techniques and advertisements. Discovering things on their own, the young audience might consider buying the phone more likely wanting to be among the first to own the new product in the market.

To make this all work-out Samsung had clear-cut insights on what they have to work around. The young audience don’t want to be talked to and be told about what they need to do. The call to action and pushing things does not work with the young set of people. A strict sense of control is what they value. Neither do they attend to the forced engagement that traditional advertising failed to acquire. Instead of all this the brand should be presented in a way that its identity is convincing enough that the audience chooses to check it out. This is what the campaign held tight. 

Creative Concept: What is Flipvertising?

Samsung’s Flipvertising is simply a digital marketing campaign that challenged the traditional marketing techniques by targeting Gen Z engagement who repel from advertisements. To achieve this they turned the advertisement setting into a competitive and game-like experience that lasted for ten days. The participants need to seek out Samsung ads online to win the brand new Galaxy Z Flip 4 phone. This was really attractive as well as interesting for them.

The mechanics of the campaign were creative, complex yet very elegant. The key phrase that got all the attention was “hack the algorithm”.

The Treasure Hunt Structure:

Samsung created three cryptic videos online highlighting the key features of their new Galaxy Z Flip 4. This included the primary flip design, hands-free flex camera, and the different colour variants it comes in. Each of these videos contained subtle clues suggesting specific words to be searched in order to find the next video in the sequence. This made a good number of people type down their key words and phrases online.

Algorithm Manipulation:

Once the participants started searching with the specified words, Google’s algorithm adjusted to bringing them a steady stream of content on Samsung’s Flip phones organically. This included the frequently asked questions on the product reviews, comparisons between different brands and tech insights on them. The content created and generated by the fans and influencers with unboxing videos also worked along this. This served as a much better advertising technique than traditional ads do.

The Final Prize:

Once the participants are done watching all the three videos, they will be taken to a pool of YouTube videos where they can find the final winning ad. This contained unique codes which can be redeemed for the promised Galaxy Z Flip 4. This turned out to be a win-win for both the parties.

This strategic campaign thus built a different level of connection with the users demanding attention and then rewarding it well.

Execution and Technology Used

The part the technical team played is immensely foundational. The technical execution of Flipvertising was a collaborative effort of Samsung with CHEP Network and Google’s engineering teams. It was a very challenging task for them considering the  complexity involved in the campaign process. Here is a glimpse of what was involved in the process.

Search Integration in the Platform

The campaign included a multi-platform approach which helped combine Google Search, YouTube and other social media channels. CHEP Network worked to manually integrate the target mechanisms embedding secret codes. They created ten unique codes every day within the YouTube ads. 

Influencer Participation

Social media teasers were released with influencer collaborations. The campaign was launched by tech influencers Dylan Page and EllyAwesomeTech with explanatory videos. They gave away the initial clues across various social media platforms. This was followed by providing additional hints posted on Samsung’s social media channels one after the other. 

Technical Innovation

The technical aspects were top-notch given the complexity of the campaign. Considering the appearance, they had interactive HTML5 creatives that worked well with the device orientation. The campaign required manual override of automated advertising systems. Real-time ad placements worked much better than traditional ways. 

They made sure that the campaign worked well across all platforms and devices seamlessly which ensured maximized impact.

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User Interaction and Engagement Strategy

The key factor that ensured engagement was the interactive nature of the campaign. It was not something that we traditionally followed. The participants were not passive consumers of the preset video advertisements that the brand designed. They became active participants of the fun that this campaign offers with a sense of control. There are a set of touchpoints that they had for engagement.

Search Gamification

The participants were encouraged to continue searching with motivational Google text ads like “You’re a little closer to finding the Flipvertisement”. It does not stop there. They are asked to search for a few more right words to get the algorithm in your favour. Gamified landing pages tracked the user engagement.

Community Building

In addition to online engagements, the campaign initiated active discussions among peers and online. Platforms like Reddit had many questions raised around Flipvertising like those on algorithm manipulation and creating an organic word-of-mouth marketing. Social sharing amplified the talk and engagement on the campaign as well as people started comparing their clues.

Competition Structure

The competition had a structure that found the winner on a daily basis. The first person to successfully complete the challenge each day won Galaxy Z Flip 4 instantly. The remaining participants entered a broader prize draw. Such a daily reset sustained the engagement throughout the campaign.

The participants were given simple tasks like flipping their phones to reveal their hidden messages (a play on the keyword!), sharing screenshots on social media handles after decoding the ads, etc.

These factors enabled the campaign to have organic engagement and leverage them to promote the brand and its product.

Results and KPIs

The result that the Flipvertising Campaign generated was exceptionally high.

Sales Performance:

Search Performance:

• 133% higher search volume than any previous Samsung Z Flip launch.
• 185,400 unique searches generated with only $500K media support.
• Search engagement was 6x benchmark for paid and 2x benchmark for organic.

Campaign Performance:

Public and Industry Reaction

This daring attempt made by Samsung was known for the campaign’s innovative process. It brought wider acclaim among the consumers as well as the industry professionals. The part algorithms play held the majority’s attention starting discussions about the future of digital advertising. Digital marketing streams addressed the campaign as a masterclass in digital innovation. It also got a few awards and recognitions. These include:

• Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2023 in the Social & Influencer category.
• Grand Prix at Spikes Asia 2023 in both Creative Data and Direct categories.
• Multiple Gold Effie Awards recognizing effectiveness.

The campaign thus turned out to be a milestone in the digital advertising realm that marked the evolving trends in the dynamic marketing landscape. The customers’ and participants’ response coupled with the media coverage the Flipvertising campaign skyrocketed the brand’s name and identity among a wider audience that lasts longer than usual. 

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Key Marketing Takeaways

The insights Samsung’s Flipvertising has opened up for modern digital marketing goes beyond the ones the campaign had during its inception. It stands as the practical example that the new ad enthusiasts can get a model from.

• Samsung transformed the algorithm skepticism into a fun engagement tool. 
• By prompting consumers to consume Samsung-related content, the campaign exposed them to authentic reviews that were more credible than any paid advertisements. 
• Transforming advertising into a game increased engagement exponentially. The competitive factor coupled with daily rewards kept their interest alive throughout the campaign. 
• The campaign proved that even the most resistant demographics will engage with brands if they can make them feel authentic and rewarding. 
• Success needs seamless integration across multiple platforms with adequate technical support and execution. This needs to challenge the boundaries of existing advertising patterns.

In addition to finding these factors you must realize that Samsung didn’t compromise on the product’s signature design or brand identity. They just leveraged what they had and pivoted their marketing strategy to suit the perspective of the younger generation, who are the target audience.

Conclusion

Samsung’s Flipvertising marks a transformation in the digital advertising landscape. It demonstrates that creativity and innovation can convert the most challenging audience into active participants in your marketing game. They redefined how brands can engage with algorithm-savvy consumers. Giving a sense of control and agency to the consumers acted as the game changing step. Thus the most advertisement repellent demographics engaged with the campaign and left rewarded. 

As the digital advertising landscape continues to evolve, Flipvertising stands as a testament to the power of creative management of the challenging marketing environment. They ticked the boxes of problem-solving, technical innovation, and deep audience understanding while designing the campaign idea. They didn’t just sell their products but flipped the entire industry on their heads. The Flip series continues with its flip built design reaching the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7.