Samsung partners with British Fashion Council for night mode campaign
In addition to the S-pen, Samsung’s big push for its new flagship phone series is its camera. As the technology company’s marketing and omnichannel director for Samsung UK and Ireland, Annika Bizon told us during its recent Unpacked event that the camera lies at the forefront of how it aims to appeal to younger audiences.
The campaign uses Loverboy’s Charles Jeffery to sell the capabilities of the S22’s camera
“We have to start the consumer journey with the consumer versus with the product. That’s the difference, [it] is actually putting the consumer right at the center of that conversation. We’ve got to have meticulous touchpoint planning so that we delight customers in as personalized and authentic a way as possible through that digital journey. The role social plays in this – as we’ve just spoken to – is incredibly important.”
To that end, Samsung has just launched a new campaign, in cooperation with the British Fashion Council and “fashion’s king of the night” Charles Jeffrey, to create a film shot entirely at night in a campaign by Mother. It aims to highlight the effectiveness of the camera’s night mode, which allows for better photography in low-light environments.
It is a play for the social audiences Samsung is targeting with this new iteration of the hardware. Just as TikTok is deemed an ‘essential app’ on some of Samsung’s hardware, marketing the ability to take better photographs at night creates an incentive for social media users to integrate the phone into all aspects of their lives – both social and parasocial.
Commenting on the campaign, Samsung Mobile UK’s head of brand, mobile, wearable and hearables Alex Conaway said: “We are thrilled to partner with these two extraordinary creative forces to celebrate the launch of the new Samsung Galaxy S22 Series. Our new devices enable night photography and video capture like never before, and Charli XCX and Charles Jeffrey have helped us create some of our most compelling and groundbreaking content yet.
“We’re excited to be exploring the world of fashion and pop culture through our devices, and this campaign will find a perfect home as part of our Innovation Tech Partnership with London Fashion Week.”
Charles Jeffery, founder and creative director of Loverboy, added: “The inspiration for my collections comes from my love of alternative subcultures [and] abstract art and passion for music. This collaboration with Samsung and Charli XCX, to launch the Galaxy S22 Series, celebrates the dreamlike experiences and memories of nightlife culture and nights out with friends.”
The challenge for technology brands – even those with products that span the breadth of the luxury-utility spectrum such as Samsung – is standing out with new products. New features are incremental and, while they add up to huge change over time, the challenge is making them enough of a ‘feature’ to appeal to consumers who already own a smartphone.
For the launch of the S22 Samsung has evidently chosen to focus on the social and gaming aspects of the new handset range. The partnership with Jeffery and the British Fashion Council is an attempt to harness the social channels Samsung knows matter to its audience in order to make the users themselves ambassadors, posting effective adverts for the camera’s night mode to their own channels.
The campaign will run on paid social from March 4 2022 and is a continuation of the series of films and events that bring together creators from across various passion points.