Samsung x Fortnite
FROM AN ACTIVATION TO A CULTURAL PHENOMENON
In the highly crowded smartphone category, we were tasked with launching the $1000 Samsung Galaxy Note9. With its advanced power, speed and battery capabilities, previous models in the Galaxy Note range had been marketed as devices for business. However, to kick-start sales we needed to find a way to reposition the new Note9.
To do this, we turned to the fasted growing consumer group of 2018: mobile gamers. We discovered that the same features that made the Note9 a great phone for business also made it a phone that could keep up with the demands of mobile gamers; with 65% of them indicating that battery life and processing power would influence their smartphone choice.
So how could Samsung capture the hearts, minds and consideration of gamers? Especially when at the time, there was a noticeable absentee amongst the games offered on Android: the most popular game in the world, Fortnite.
We turned it into a cultural moment and at the Galaxy Note9 unveiling announced a partnership to finally bring Fortnite to Android, exclusively on the Galaxy storefront. And the cherry on top? There was even a Galaxy exclusive in-game skin. To show it off to the world, a digital Time Square billboard went live the minute the news broke.
The Supply Drop:
To give these gamers a taste of what they could expect with the Galaxy Note9, we surprised the biggest gaming influencer in the world, Ninja, with his very own real-life Fortnite supply drop, built to look exactly like one from the game.
Inside the drop was the first playable Note9 and Galaxy skin, which he revealed live on his Twitch stream to his 13 million subscribers.
With no paid media behind it, his videos averaged 20,000 views a minute for the first week they were on his channel. Other, smaller, gaming channels picked up the story and reposted it with their reactions to the unveiling.
To continue our Supply Drop activation and reach as wide an audience of gamers as possible, we sent other drops to the 3 other top gaming YouTubers: Ali-A, Markiplier and SSSniperwolf. The contents of each of their boxes were slightly different and more personalized, with custom items symbolic of their online personas that we made in conjunction with Epic Games. Each of them made their own unboxing and impressions videos, giving Fortnite fans a deeper look into the capabilities of the phone.
We also sent a supply drop to Fortnite superfan (and 2018 World Cup Golden Boot Winner) Harry Kane to get his thoughts on the new device.
The Reaction:
Due to the spread of Ninja’s video, when the Galaxy Note9 demo models hit stores the next day, Fortnite fans across the country were ready and waiting to try their hand on the new devices. Then, a Redditor noticed something: he realized that he could game the system by using in-store demo phones to obtain the new Galaxy skin, without purchasing the device. With this information, the lid was off and the top posts on the Fortnite Reddit were all talking about how to get the Galaxy skin for free.
This hole in security was quickly patched but the posts kept coming and people kept trying, keeping the Galaxy skin and the Note9 at the center in online and social conversations for weeks after it was released.
A Galaxy Skin black market soon opened up on eBay and gamers sold the skin for as much as $7000.
The Results:
The Galaxy Skin became the most-hyped and most-wanted skin in Fortnite. Social mentions of Samsung in gaming increased by 2000% and mentions of the Galaxy Note9 jumped by 873%- in a single day. Overall search traffic for Note9 increased by 97% with 95% average positive sentiment across the influencer content. Galaxy Note9 pre-orders increased by 243% amongst 18-24 year olds and we got fans of our competitors in-store and hands-on with the Note9 like never before. The Galaxy Skin was used in over 25 million games of Fortnite, per month, worldwide and generated 2.6 billion impressions.
Awards Received:
Clio Awards:
Silver - Digital/Mobile: Other
Silver - Social Media: Multi-Platform
Cannes Lions:
Silver Lion - Mobile: Social Business & Commerce
Shortlisted - Entertainment: Talent: Digital and Social
Shortlisted - Entertainment: Excellence in Brand Integration for Games
Shortlisted - Creative Strategy: Consumer Durables
Shortlisted - Direct Lion: Launch/Relaunch
Shortlisted - Mobile: Influencer/Talent
D&AD:
Yellow (gold) Pencil - Media/Use of Online
Graphite (silver) Pencil - Media/Use of collaboration
Wood (bronze) Pencil - Digital Marketing / Integrated Digital Campaigns
Shortlisted - Digital Marketing / Use of Talent & Influencers
The One Club - ADC Awards:
Silver Cube - Direct/Wildcard
Silver Cube - Branded Content & Entertainment
Webby Awards:
Webby Winner for Advertising, Media & PR - Mobile Campaigns
AICP Next:
Winner - Integrated Campaign
Winner - Digital experiences
Winner - Influencer
Effie Awards:
Bronze - Engaged Community
The One Show
Merit - Influencer Marketing/Multi-Channel
Merit - Creative Effectiveness
Shortlisted - Mobile: Gaming
C. 2018 - R/GA