There’s increasing competition in the world of smartphones, with new brands and handsets with similar specs. How could we earn people’s hearts and minds, while highlighting the technology inside Samsung Galaxy phones that make them special and pushing its human connection further through their belief for using their 'tech for good'.

Objectives

• Highlight the phone’s advanced camera technology to deliver the human connection with the audience
• Drive earned attention through relevant cultural, engaging, authentic and newsworthy stories that genuinely link Samsung phones and people’s passion points when there’s no new product news
• Reach a younger, more consumer-centric, less technical audience, through coverage in news and broader lifestyle media
• Drive appeal and brand differentiation amongst a younger (Gen Z) audience
• Be multi-market: resonate across as many European countries as possible

Strategy & Execution

To make younger people love Samsung phones beyond tech and price, we decided to break away from just product news and find a purpose-forward creative idea that would live in broader culture and gain their attention and curiosity. The idea had to work across diverse regional countries to engage media and wider audience.

We wanted to start a real conversation that would generate engagement and earn media, far beyond anything achieved focussing on camera features alone.

We created Wildlife Watch: a customised live streaming experience that enables people worldwide to become virtual wildlife rangers, using Samsung phones on the African plains as surveillance devices.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE handsets planted to live-stream from across the Balule Nature Reserve in South Africa, part of the Kruger National Park, made way for a 24-hour worldwide wildlife watch, protecting the animals, raising awareness of poaching and improving the rangers’ surveillance and supporting them in their daily tasks.

The handset’s pro-grade cameras captured live footage, while upcycled handsets were redeployed as perimeter fence CCTV cameras. The campaign boosted the reach of Africam’s infrastructure by 50% during the 2-month campaign.

‘Watchers’ could move between cameras, report suspicious sightings to the all-female anti-poaching unit ‘the Black Mambas’ and share images from the watch on social.

Anyone could become a virtual ranger on Wildlife-Watch.com, our campaign hub. Samung.com also directed viewers there.

A 60” film created on shoots in South Africa and Berlin featured activist and international DJ Peggy Gou, directing young Europeans to take the watch.

A 20” social edit was shared across 30+ European markets and a live Instagram Q&A brought our audience closer to Peggy and a Black Mamba ranger.