Samsung has teamed up with Hip-Hop legend Jay-Z to release his latest album Magna Carta Holy Grail three days before public release exclusively to Samsung Galaxy users.
This is a brilliant marketing campaign and to be honest I do not know which of the two parties come out better off from this deal as this project will create a large buzz and no doubt increase retention and conversion rates (this is all speculative, but I am pretty confident this will be the case).
As part of the deal Samsung bought 1 million copies of the album to give to its Galaxy phone users, thus making the album platinum before it even goes on sale. Jay-Z also benefits because even if his album gets leaked before the official release date , which is a great possibly, he has secured a minimum number of record sales.
You can check the advert on the website for the album here.
Free original content for customers is an effective way to retain customers
Jay-Z is a PR machine in his own right, Samsung have positioned themselves as cool and current by partnering up with him
My Verdict: 4 Stars
2. Smirnoff DJ Fresh Mindtune Project
The whole "alcoholic beverage company sponsoring house festivals and warehouse raves" has been done to death, however Smirnoff have taken a refreshing spin on a stale and overused concept.
Smirnoff teams up with prolific drum and bass DJ, DJ Fresh and three physically disabled musicians to use state of the art technology allowing the disabled men to produce and record a track with their minds. The entire project was filmed and documented for the Smirnoff Youtube channel with shortened version made for TV.
It is probably the most imaginative and heartfelt projects I have seen by a alcohol company. This project not only generates brand awareness but will also strengthen brand relationship with its existing customers. This is evident by the positive feedback from bloggers and viewers, with the key work consistently used to describe the project being "inspiring". You can watch the full length video here.
My Verdict: 5 Stars
3. Evian Baby&Me App
Evian expand on their Live Young campaign by creating a smartphone app called Baby&Me. The premise is simple, you take a photo of your face, and the app makes a baby version of you.
I gave it a try and this is what I apparently look like as a baby.
It took several attempts to get the app working and after scrolling through the app reviews I was not the only one who encountered this problem. While it is a fun app to use while time wasting, I do not think it has gained much traction, because there are many other similar apps that are more user friendly.
Verdict: 2 Stars
4. Share a Coke Campaign
Who would have known such a simple idea such as putting personalised names on a drink would generate such a buzz on social media? Starbucks did. Before their brand image started going south because of the tax fiasco Starbucks was advertised by every coffee drinker with a twitter page. Every other day I would see someone tweeting "OMG My name is Luke, but I told the barista my name is Gandolf! lol"
With competition eating away at Coca colas market share they decided to adopt the strategy and it worked well for them. Consumer engagement went through the roof it seems people go out to by Coke bottles just to find their name on it.
PS: Coke saved themselves a lot of drama by forseeing the backlash that would occur if the only names available were western name, so they catered to most cultures in order to keep it inclusive regardless or nationality.
I'm yet to find my name "Eni" on a Coke bottle though. Well a man can dream
Verdict: 4 Stars
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Connect on LinkedIn: Eni Osonaike
