SAMSUNG SELFIE CAMPAIGN WINS AFRICAN EXCELLENCE AWARD

A series (2015) launch campaign recognised
for winning Guinness World Record

 Samsung Electronics South Africa has been awarded the prestigious African Excellence Award – receiving first place in the ‘Event and Experiential Marketing Category’ for its Galaxy A-series Selfie Guinness World Record Campaign. The concept of the initiative was developed in line with the launch of the then new category Samsung Galaxy A-series.
 
The African Excellence Awards honours outstanding achievements in the field of PR and communications and recognises the efforts of businesses across Africa in these fields for accomplishments in customer care, marketing, innovation, implementation and performance.
 
As part of the award winning initiative, Samsung Electronics SA broke the Guinness World Record™ on 31st January 2015 for the most selfies taken in one day. A record breaking 12,598 self-portraits were captured on the Galaxy A-series devices within 24 hours and were made available for download from the virtual Samsung selfie photo album.
 
According to Craige Fleischer, Director: Integrated Mobility at Samsung SA, “the rationale behind developing this campaign was to utilise the ‘selfie’ feature, which has become a mainstay in defining our virtual identity, to showcase the enhanced camera capabilities of the Galaxy A-series. While selfies are not only a form of artistic expression, they are also a display of self-confidence. The ‘selfie’ is a powerful way to assert our self-love, individuality and our independence.”
 
“Through this creative campaign and its implementation and publicity, our agencies, Epic MSLGROUP and Efficiency Advertising, were able to effectively communicate Samsung’s message of empowering people and brought our customers together and in an effort to reach our goals as a brand and ultimately, be winners.”
 
Locals living in Johannesburg and Cape Town were invited simultaneously by partner radio stations – 94.7 and KFM – to take part in the record attempt at shopping malls – Sandton City and Canal Walk respectively. Samsung experts were on-hand throughout the day to offer assistance to the thousands of participants of all ages as they tested the enhanced selfie features of the Samsung Galaxy A-series devices.
 
Samsung is also launching its Galaxy A-series (2016) in April, offering new possibilities where consumers will be able to take their selfies to the next level. The 120 Degree Angle camera allows them to include more friends or scenery in their pictures. The A5/A7 (2016) image capturing is extra-ordinary with the 13MP rear and 5MP front camera.
 
“If you are skeptical whether the ‘selfie’ is a growing phenomenon, or passing fad, the word received notoriety as The Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year in 2013. Data generated by Samsung estimates that selfies make up almost one-third of all photos taken by people aged 18-24. To date over 300 million selfies have been posted on Instagram while researchers estimate that the average millennial will spend about an hour a week to take up to 25,700 selfies in their lifetime,” Fleischer concludes.