Why is this work relevant for PR?

Seen as “uncool” by millennial and Gen Z females, Samsung phones had a perception problem. We needed to target this audience to shift their perceptions.To do this, we employed influencers to hack Fashion Week and embed Samsung phones into the place where all cool trends start the world of high fashion. A standard sponsorship would be lost in the coverage of the event. We needed an idea that would get people talking, grab headlines and blow up newsfeeds. With ‘The Hidden Runway’ we used influencers to hack Fashion Week and demonstrate that Samsung doesn’t just follow trends, we set them.

Background

Samsung devices have long been associated with ‘tech nerds’ by millennial and Gen Z females. Given, for most, the phone is an extension of identity, being seen as untrendy by owning one was akin to social self-sabotage. There’s nothing more uncool than a brand trying to convince people it’s cool. We needed to find a way to talk to our audience on their level and seamlessly embed Samsung phones into their world, using trendsetters they already respected. The brief was clear, come up with an idea to change the way millennial and Gen Z females thought of Samsung; from uncool to ahead of the curve. We needed to make the Galaxy Z Flip not just another phone, but a coveted fashion accessory. And where is the one place you’ll find all the latest styles, trends and accessories? At Fashion Week.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

We hacked Australian Fashion Week using four top tier fashion influencers : @harperandharley, @sarahellen, @_yanyanchan, @rozalia_russian - influencers already popular in the feeds of our target audience.Each day of Fashion Week they caused a stir by wearing outfits taken from the final show, looks no one had seen before, paired with Samsung phones. Their followers clamoured to know who they were wearing, but they kept quiet.The influencers were papped and snapped at every turn, always with a Samsung in hand. Their pictures were posted and reposted across the internet, putting Samsung phones on best dressed lists from Vogue to Russh and Elle. The designer remained a mystery. Then, sitting in the front row of the final runway, all was revealed. Every look our fashionistas wore that week hit the catwalk, along with our amazing Samsung devices our influencer’s socials blew up and Samsung became the hottest accessory of Fashion.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

We knew everyone was at Fashion Week to talk about the clothes, so we purposefully withheld one key piece of information to create buzz - who our influencers were wearing. The less we said, the more attention we got. The key message was simple, Samsung is a brand for the fashion forward. We needed to prove it.Our target audience were fashion conscious Gen Z and millennial female iPhone-users. To authentically show up in their feeds and the websites they followed for style inspiration, we had a second audience to appeal to: event photographers and fashion editors. To do this we deliberately put the influencers in outfits we knew would cause a stir, because the looks hadn’t been seen before.We briefed the influencers to create and post their own content, generating further buzz and earned amplification. Samsung put money behind these posts so they appeared more frequently in audience's feeds.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

The Hidden Runway activity ran for the duration of Australian Fashion Week, Australian fashion's premier event, 31 May - 4 June, 2021. From Days 1-5 of the event, the influencers posted daily images and stories to Instagram, without ever naming the designer they were wearing, despite pleas from their fans. At the event they were papped by the event photographers and had their looks featured organically on fashion websites, unpaid for - always with a Samsung in hand. Samsung put paid spend behind these posts to get them appearing more frequently in the feeds of our target audience. Then, sitting in the front row of the final show the influencers posted images of the looks they’d been wearing all week, revealing the designer, as they were seen walking down the runway.

List the results (30% of vote)

Images of the influencers with their Samsungs achieved coverage on best dressed lists for Fashion Week including Vogue, Elle and Russh. Searching ‘Australian Fashion Week’ on Getty images now brings up images of Samsung phones, seamlessly embedded into the event. The posts on the influencers own feeds from the event received thousands of comments and positive interactions for Samsung. We saw a noticeable difference in consideration for Samsung during Fashion Week with a spike in site visits and dwell time. Key results: 41m+ campaign impressions +14k site visits during Fashion Week +48% dwell time during Fashion Week 98% positive brand engagement