If the winner of Colmar Brunton’s Ad Impact Award is any guide, you still can’t beat a celebrity endorsement, because New Zealanders absolutely loved Samsung’s ad featuring All Black Izzy Dagg and the new Galaxy S5.
Each scene in the video, which was which was conceptualised by Colenso BBDO and shot by Augusto, places emphasis on a different perk of the phone. Dagg is shown speaking on the phone in the shower, using it measure his heart rate, taking 12-megapixel photographs and watching videos.
While the ad is clearly promoting the new Samsung phone, it also appears to be taunting its biggest rival Apple, as it focuses on features the iPhone doesn’t have, a strategy that has been embraced regularly as part of its ‘the next best thing is already here’ campaign.
“Samsung’s ad performed extremely well and exceeded norms,” says Harriet Dixon, account director at Colmar Brunton. “Viewers enjoyed watching the ad so much, nearly half said it was one they would talk about with friends. Encouragingly for Samsung, this ad also received the highest persuasion score we have seen all year, with the majority of viewers indicating this ad made them more likely to use Samsung. The attempt to point out the differences between the S5 and other smartphones on the market also appears to have been successful, with most viewers recognising this ad contained different information to other telecommunications ads. This persuasive campaign is a real jewel for Samsung, with New Zealanders finding it interesting, distinctive and involving.”
While teams do play a role in the company’s sponsorship deals throughout the world (it currently sponsors both the Australian and South African rugby teams), the company’s strategy predominantly involves the backing of individuals, such as Lionel Messi, Maria Sharapova, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, Usain Bolt, Ana Ivanovic and David Ferrer.
Volkswagen’s new crowd-sourced ad ‘The People’s Film’ also scored well, with its trip down memory lane and montage of New Zealander’s photographs striking a cord with viewers. Mitre 10’s quirky new ad, featuring a surprised rooster at the sound of New Zealanders up before dawn on the weekend, was also well received.
