Episode 115 - Samsung Join the Flip Side Ad Reviewed By Adobe, Bluestripe Group and Beam Suntory
Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Flip4 ad plays on brand loyalty with a funny clip that follows a consumer’s thoughts about switching phones, complete with a slight jab at Apple. The ad, chosen by Contagious and created by Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, tells a compelling story that many of us are likely to go through if we think about changing our phone.
While the full ad is fun and compelling, is it gripping enough from the start? Will audiences watch the whole thing and is it convincing enough to do more than just make you consider switching, in passing?
Our guests Michael Klein (Global Director of Industry Strategy and Marketing for Retail, Travel and Consumer Goods Industries at Adobe), Andy Oakes (CEO of the Bluestripe Group) and Jerry Daykin (VP of Media at Beam Suntory) scored this ad a 3.6 out of 5. Watch and see what you think!
Episode 115 - Samsung Join the Flip Side Ad Reviewed By Adobe, Bluestripe Group and Beam Suntory
Transcript - It’s not perfect, but you get the idea!
Tom Ollerton 0:00
Hello, and welcome to Advertisers Watching Ads. This is a weekly show where brands watch other brands' ads.
My name is Tom Ollerton. I'm the founder of Automated Creative, and we're brought to you as ever by our partners, Contagious who have helped choose the ad this week. But before we get to that ad, let's meet this week's guests.
Michael Klein 0:24
Hi, everybody, Michael Klein. I work for Adobe. I'm the Global Director of Industry Strategy and Marketing for Retail, Travel and Consumer Goods Industries.
Andy Oakes 0:32
Hi, I'm Andy Oakes, the Chief Executive Officer of the Bluestripe Group and the Publisher of New Digital Age.
Jerry Daykin 0:38
And I'm Jerry Daykin, VP of Media at the alcohol company Beam Suntory.
Tom Ollerton 0:43
What a panel! Let's watch this week's ad.
Can you give this idea, execution, campaign a mark out of five? So one, two, three... A four, a three, and four. That's still a pretty high scoring ad! So well done, Samsung.
Jerry Daykin 2:45
I really liked it. It's quite surreal. It's quite weird. Almost impossible to sell phones these days. They're kind of the same. And also, I think there is that insight, especially if you're an Apple consumer, if ever you think about changing your phone, and it feels like hard work. Why would I do that? And they just dramatized that really well. And interestingly, and like, you wouldn't sit through a two-minute video of like them telling you the features. But time kind of flew by. I like, I liked it.
Michael Klein 3:09
I liked it as well. It certainly was different than some of the advertising we've been seeing here in the US for the same device, which has been very straightforward, make kind of a, sense of humor about it, as opposed to just trying to sell you feature functionality. And you know, the whole idea of the refrigerator and the sandwich and the yoga room. I thought it was quite clever.
Andy Oakes 3:32
I thought this was great. Really enjoyed it. That playing with the concept of ditching brand loyalty is great. I've just really enjoyed that.
Tom Ollerton 3:37
Is this enough to get you to switch?
Jerry Daykin 3:40
They're like two weeks late for me because I just got the new one. My friend, Kat, who works at Kara, has the phone and whenever she has it out, we're like, "Oh, wow, that is wonderful and amazing." And there's a part of me that's like, less emotional and more practical. Like, I would never leave Apple because like my photos, my apps, my this, that and the other. But it was an emotional part as well. I know that technically there is a solution where they can put some of that stuff, et cetera. So it didn't work. So I didn't buy it, but I didn't see it in time. And I think, it starts to niggle away at that, like, "I couldn't change and there's no reason not to."
Andy Oakes 4:12
Yeah, I would agree with Jerry on that. It is that niggly thing that you think, "Oh, that's me." That's me, the person that never changes, who just changed up to the new iPhone because there was a new iPhone. And like Jerry, there was a niggle.
Jerry Daykin 4:24
In like a friendly way as well because you kind of don't like, if you just tell people like, "Oh, you're stupid for always buying an iPhone," or something. It would never land. But this is kind of like... Niggles because they didn't quite say that. But...
Michael Klein 4:35
Yeah, it didn't make me say, "I'm gonna go run and get one." But it piqued my interest enough that I said to myself, "Hmm, maybe I need to take a look at this." I'm one of those weird people that have two phones. I have a personal phone and I have a work phone. Kind of like, oh, well maybe, you know, I'm about ready to change my work phone based on my plan. So I can keep my personal iPhone but maybe I'll switch my work phone.
Tom Ollerton 4:59
Let's talk about that 2-minuteness, right? Like, cinema if I'm ready watch something. Yes, they'll probably make it through that. But is this going to work in a... What's the average view through the Facebook ad these days? A second. Is there anything remotely that interesting in this ad?
Andy Oakes 5:13
They're gonna have trouble getting it as a YouTube ad, aren't they? There's no one going for the full thing. And because the first seven or eight seconds are the bit where you think, "Oh, this ad is crap." "Hey, look at my phone. It's cool." And if you only watched that bit, you think, "Oh, that was a crap ad." And then it goes into the good bit. So yeah, there could be an issue with that. I just wondered... The cynic in me wonders, is this the one to win awards? Is this the one they give to the judges because you know, they'll watch all two minutes.
Jerry Daykin 5:36
This is a huge campaign. Samsung spends a huge amount of money. There will be a lot of much more like traditional feature adverts. They'll have all the adverts with the networks and things. Like, there's a lot that goes around this. And it's only one part of it. But I do think it's interesting in that it's a disarming part because so much of that like, feature: buy now, available, blah, blah, blah, it's like, same, same, same. And if, if you actually get people to watch this in a cinema or TV or somewhere, I think it does start to niggle at you emotionally, which is a big part of how people ultimately make decisions.
Tom Ollerton 6:09
Michael, what would have made this better?
Michael Klein 6:11
Getting to the point a little bit. Did they need that many examples of the sandwich and the refrigerator and the yoga? I think it became a little bit of overkill of the point they were trying to make there and resting your marketing or your message on one key feature, not going to probably get a lot of people over the finish line. So were there ways to highlight other feature functionality that might be important to the audience would be another thought that I had.
Jerry Daykin 6:41
Having said that maybe they overdid that, there's as a part of me that thinks they could just take it even further. And I just like, want to walk around the city and like every... I want it to happen in real life. I want like every hinge I see to be like branded Samsung, I just want it to go like, insane. And like every door, every fold up seat, they just need to go... They need to take the ridiculous joke and run with it.
Tom Ollerton 7:01
That's a nice build. Have a little Samsung hinges on everything.
Jerry Daykin 7:04
Everywhere.
Andy Oakes 7:05
There are lots of things that fold that don't need to fold. The folding of the pizza offended me. You don't need to fold that pizza, that didn't need to be done. And the scary kid waving, didn't need that in there. And then it sort of loops it loses its way just for that last six seconds or so where it was all a dream and it wasn't and then she... It happens again. She's on the bus and the whole thing starts again. It doesn't need both of those last two pieces. You can either keep it at the, "I'm gonna go and buy a phone," or "I've already got one and here's the bloke on the bus being influenced by my behavior." The conceit itself of everything folding is brilliant, and I loved it.
Tom Ollerton 7:37
So on the count of three, would you sign it off or not? One, two, three... So that was, what was that? Two, two and a half... Yes. Yeah. Right.
Jerry Daykin 7:47
Creatively, yes. I'm intrigued by the media plan that actually gets it in front of people, but it's a lovely creative.
Michael Klein 7:53
I don't think I'd completely sign off yet. I'd like it but I'd be asking for changes.
Tom Ollerton 7:58
Alright, guys, thank you so much. And we'll see you all next week.
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