Agency: Jack Morton/Weber Shandwick
Client: Samsung
First to market with its 3D LED TV, Samsung wanted to get the word out quickly and grab the leadership position. They launched the campaign to drive home the message that “Samsung 3D TV liberates television content into a new dimension.”
The event took place in Times Square, the heart of New York City. A surprise concert was held by the Black Eyed Peas and filmed in 3D by Avatar film director James Cameron and his crew, which brought to life the concept that content had been liberated from the bondage of 2D. The stage was designed as a giant TV screen. The concert was choreographed so The Black Eyed Peas would appear trapped within a 2D TV frame before breaking out into 3D. Samsung logos in the backdrop kept the brand in every snapshot and video.
Stage construction drove prior buzz. Thirty minutes prior to the concert, a countdown clock appeared on video screens in Times Square building additional excitement. In addition, the concert was leaked on Twitter.
In addition, four buses were wrapped with Samsung 3D LED TV graphics announcing the arrival of the world’s first 3D LED TV. At high-traffic stops, the b-boys, a male breakdancing troupe, jumped out and began dancing, starting out flat – trapped in 2D – and then moving into 3D. The Samsung bus backdrop was captured in all film footage and photography.
At a VIP Samsung-blue carpet event, which hosted celebrities such as Donald Trump and Hillary Duff, The Black Eyed Peas, James Cameron and others wore Samsung 3D glasses to demonstrate 3D’s coolability.
Roughly 25,000 people showed up to the Times Square event, second only in size to New Year’s Eve. The program scored nearly 2.5 billion impressions with an estimated advertising value of $32 million. More than 4,000 media placements ran in every major global market.
