FINDING A PLACE IN THE HEART OF GEN Y

TitleFINDING A PLACE IN THE HEART OF GEN Y
BrandSAMSUNG
Product / ServiceSAMSUNG Q470 NOTEBOOK COMPUTER
CategoryA05. Best Launch or Re-Launch
EntrantMSLGROUP CHINA Shanghai, CHINA
PR Agency MSLGROUP CHINA Shanghai, CHINA
PR Agency 2 GENEDIGI GROUP Beijing, CHINA
Entrant Company MSLGROUP CHINA Shanghai, CHINA

Credits

Name Company Position
Yuanzheng Zhu Genedigi/Mslgroup
Aubin Empanger-Wang Genedigi/Mslgroup General Manager
Tony Liu Genedigi/Mslgroup
He Ba Genedigi/Mslgroup

The Campaign

Samsung was preparing to launch the new model of the Q series notebook computer, Q 470. Given its functionality and price point, the product was pitched at students and young professionals. However, research showed that the Q Series wasn’t a top of mind choice for them. This GenY audience of China - probably the most over stimulated consumer group in history with MNCs bombarding their senses for a share of China’s growth – traditionally favoured brands such as Lenovo and HP. How could Samsung attract their attention and win their hearts with a view to driving sales? Samsung decided that instead of echoing a sense of aspiration which reflected the tone of many China brand campaigns, they would instead build a grassroots campaign and become a ‘real and relevant’ part of GenY’s everyday lifestyle and environment. So, through a Q series helpful ‘human face’ in university campuses, fun content such as micro-films and cartoons which shared the notebook’s qualities and USPs, GenY experienced the Q470 in a ‘real’ way – nothing more, nothing less. This multi-channel approach achieved Samsung’s internal sales KPIs (confidential), doubled market awareness and pushed brand awareness into the top 10.

The Brief

Given the Q series notebook underwhelming brand awareness and market share, we had to catch the attention of consumers in order to drive sales. Given the notebook’s price point and functionality, it was pitched at students and young professionals. Research told us that this over-stimulated consumer group were tired of being told to ‘aspire.’ Instead, they wanted something familiar, already a part of their lifestyle and something that shared their current interests. According to the Campus Marketing Institute research, word of mouth (WOM) and social media would be the best way to achieve this.

Results

Brand Awareness and Sales: Samsung’s monthly notebook market awareness nearly doubled from 2.3% in 2011 to 4.3% following the product launch. According to the ZOL Data Centre, the overall brand awareness jumped 6 places to top 8 after the Q470 launch. The Samsung Q470 met its sales targets for 2012. Social Media and PR Results: There were 39,600,000 links regarding the product and brand on Baidu search engine. Baidu online user attention jumped 150%. Total social media impressions exceeded 50,000,000. Total of more than 75,000 reposts and 13,400 comments were generated. More than 200,000 words regarding the launch event were reported and 45 print media, 99 online media were published. Driving Influence: The “Q Alliance” grew 250% from an initial 40 members in 40 universities across 10 different cities to over 1,000 members in 70 universities across 18 cities. Over 200 activities were organized, engaging with over 2,000,000 university students.

Execution

Together with the Chinese University Students Volunteers Association we established the ‘Samsung Q Alliance’ which provided students with on-the-ground technical support and training from peers. We participated in GenY interests such April Fool’s Day, when we posted on social media a fun micro-film about a young professional who owned a Q notebook being tricked by colleagues to showcase the product’s reliability. We also participated in Chinese Valentine’s Day and launched an APP called “Samsung Love Words on Your CVD”, where users could create and send anonymous E-cards. We reached into students’ daily lives through a series of cartoons during summer, which focused on humorous experiences young people had before they owned the functional Q Notebook, and shared them on social media. We then simultaneously held launch events in 10 different universities across 10 cities, each connected in real-time through video, shared live online and attended by journalists and stakeholders.

The Situation

In China, the Samsung notebook faces fierce market competition from global and other leading Asian tablet and smart phone brands. 55% of China’s notebook market is shared by Lenovo, Asus and HP. Samsung needed to somehow crack their competitor’s dominance in the market and become known for its notebook, not just its tablet and smart phone. According to ZOL Data Centre’s report 2011, the brand awareness of the Samsung tablet and the smart phone ranked top 2 and top 3 respectively, while the notebook did not even feature in the top 10.

The Strategy

From our research we knew that Samsung had to become an integral part of GenY’s lifestyle and environment. So we rejected the ‘new China’ image, bucked the trend and instead went for a ground-up campaign that would show in a real, fun and relevant way how the Q series notebook was a convenient choice for their day-to-day needs and demands. We planned an integrated strategy that created brand champions from a grassroots level at universities, combined issues and topics that young people are interested in with the product’s functionality and brand, and delivered them through exciting content which research told us GenY loved - micro-film and cartoons.