Samsung New Zealand is embracing failure in a new brand film
Samsung New Zealand has launched a brand film encouraging people to embrace failure as the brand seeks to win back consumer trust.
The film tells the story of Sarah Walker, a top BMX rider and Olympic Silver medalist, who was injured in the BMX World Championships and failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics.
The film features a voiceover from Walker who talks about failure and overcoming barriers in her career, saying: “Failing is awesome. If you don’t fail you are not really pushing it.”
Launching on TV, online and social media this month, the film is part of the brand’s ongoing “Defying Barriers” platform, which aims to demonstrate how Samsung products can give consumers more freedom.
It comes as Samsung looks to rebuild its reputation and consumer trust globally following widespread incidents with faulty products and global recalls.
However, a global ranking of the world’s most valuable brands found that Samsung increased its value in 2016 despite the widespread problems.
The campaign comes on the heels of a record year for Samsung in New Zealand, which saw the brand’s mobile phones increase sales, with the Samsung's share of the smartphone market overtaking Apple's for the first time.
Ahmad Salim, group business director at ColensoBBDO, the agency behind the campaign, said the ‘embrace failure’ message was a deliberate move to address shaken consumer confidence.
“Sarah Walker is a well-known kiwi athlete who has overcome obstacles and refused to give up, despite breaking multiple bones. We felt this strong, unstoppable athlete was a great representation of the brand.
“Samsung is not trying to shy away from what has happened and they’ve accepted full responsibility for the problems. This film was a way to demonstrate that the brand will keep pushing for better and will not let challenges get them down.
“New Zealand is an egalitarian society and they don’t like tall poppies or people who take themselves too seriously. That’s one of the reasons Samsung wanted to take this approach and make a film that showed they could embrace failure.