Campaign: Reunion
Brand: Samsung Galaxy Note 3+ Gear and Vodafone Network
Company: Samsung India and Vodafone India
Agency: Ogilvy India
The Campaign
Here is a riddle. A foreigner in a remote part of India is enroute to uniting with the rest of his other traveller friends. Here, he is lost in language, translation and yes, even in person. So, who comes to his rescue? Any guesses? Well, but of course, our very own resourceful omnipresent friend ? ‘the third-screen’. This is the latest television commercial from the Samsung stable to promote its new smartphone launch, Galaxy Note 3+ Gear, which is powered by the Vodafone network.
The commercial opens on a rickety bus with a foreigner on board along with many other locals slowly climbing uphill. He is on his way to meet his friends in remote Kasol. Here, he narrates the story of his journey through a song that plays in the background as the commercial progresses. Through the lyrics, he describes how for 13 long hours he was sitting in that bus and his personal entertainment (read Galaxy Note 3+ Gear) was certainly a plus. He recounts that when he got down from the bus to visit the washroom, he was in a dilemma when he was confronted with the ‘male’ and ‘female’ signs written in Hindi on the respective doors. Thank goodness for machines, he says as his gadget comes to his rescue providing him instant translations. A little later, lost again and with the weather worsening, the young man realises the urgency to find shortcuts. Again, his Galaxy Note 3+ Gear – powered by the Vodafone network comes handy. He takes the shortcut through the jungle and after a lonely walk for a while, he is finally reunited with his friends.
Our Take
Created by Ogilvy India, this television commercial is surely an absolute original. It is witty and functional and is not just a selling spiel on the looks and the features of the latest product in town. Rather, the demonstration is all about what can be done with the product through regular day-to-day events and actions. Here, the brief given to the agency was to establish the superiority of the Vodafone network by positioning it as the best network for Note III, the new smartphone from Samsung. And voila!: The superiority is indeed established. This could be one of the best integrations where neither of the two brands in the TVC ? Samsung and Vodafone ? overshadow each other. Meanwhile, the music does play an integral role in the film. The commercial builds up through a easy hummable rhyme depicting the traveller’s journey with simple lyrics. It was more than essential for the commercial to weave the strength of the network and the ‘seamless’ experience of the new Note III into an integral story. And through all aspects of the communication – the visuals, lyrics and the story of the reunion ? the commercial delivers this ?unparalleled partnership? hands down.
