The brief was to help Samsung Nordic build their brand in watching experiences via an earned media campaign, by pushing the limits of their usual tech context, towards lifestyle and design. Samsung has a broad TV range, created for different rooms and personalities. But it’s very difficult to get any in-depth attention outside the tech forum. Our mission was therefore to create a new creative idea with the objective to gain reach and qualitative high cred articles in top tier design and lifestyle media, with the long-term goal to be perceived as a premium brand within lifestyle and design. Within the context of premium design, Samsung's ultimate objectives are to be perceived as cool, "in," and a hot topic along with achieving higher brand liking.

First came the sofa, then came the TV. Since then, the TV has developed at an avalanche-like speed to adapt to new watching behaviors, while the sofa has remained largely unchanged. SHIFT is a sofa for the future, a sustainable and flexible sofa for modern living. It adapts to changing behaviors, TV technologies, and viewing positions, using minimal resources in its design. SHIFT reflects societal changes and the need for eco-friendly solutions, fitting new consumer generations, compact living arrangements, and residential mobility.

SHIFT is based on in-depth research and is intended to fully engage the world's most influential design media; why it’s based on insight that design geeks, especially those in furniture design, find appealing. The idea is executed for journalists themselves to create their own unique take on the project, based on their interpretation of the sofa (that could shift form to be whatever you want it to be).

Samsung Nordic launched SHIFT to enhance its brand presence among design enthusiasts worldwide and mediate Samsung as a premium brand. The strategy is based on earned exposure and utilizes niche journalists as message carriers and the insight telling us design journalists demands more than just a neat final product. The campaign provides well-documented material from the entire research and design process, an in-depth case study, and press material tailored for different genres and countries. The aim is to create a buzz around Samsung's brand and product offerings before events like Stockholm Design Week. This approach led to design journalists from various countries visiting the installation and producing unique content for their magazines. The campaign's primary objective is to leverage the design press to reach the target audience.The ultimate goal is to establish Samsung as a hot topic in the design community, with SHIFT being a must-follow concept for design enthusiasts.

Before its official launch during Stockholm Design Week, SHIFT generated hype through high-credibility journalists. Therefore, the installation drew a constant stream of invited and organic visitors during the event, meeting designers and Samsung representatives for in-depth discussions on the future of watching behavior and functional design.

The campaign aimed to position its Samsung product manager, Magnus Nilsson, as a thought leader in functional design and future user behavior. The campaign sparked discussions among the world's design media, resulting in in-depth interviews with Magnus. Its case study inspired journalists to create their unique output, with the ultimate goal of influencing the design community.

With the aim to inspire we presented an in-depth case study as well, that combined insights and creative output from the process. All to open up the possibilities for journalists to create their own unique output based on their own interpretations.

SHIFT was listed as one of the most interesting projects of the week in important media outlets such as ICON, INTERNI, Milk Decorations, Architonic, FRAME to name a few and one of the world's most interesting design projects in Trendhunter.

Visibility results (key to reach and impact target audience):

Campaign reach (no media budget): 1,1B+

Monthly unique visitors in top tier design media: 120M+

At least one unique publication in 15 key markets

Estimated Circulation: 100 countries

Earned value: 10M+ euro

Impact/perception results

50% of the target audience exposed to SHIFT claims to like the Samsung brand more (approx. 14% better than ref* value). 45% (50%+ ref. value) claim to associate SHIFT with values such as “being in” / “hot topic”, and “status”. And 43% (39%+ ref. value) claimed that SHIFT evoked a sense of uniqueness. SHIFT also put 64% of recipients in a good mood (Approx. 19% better than ref. value). Which, due to Kahneman, is the most important characteristic for receiving and remembering the messages. *Stated reference values are based on best practice results gathered out of industry leading commercials. (Source: moodscores.com)

Brand voice and thought leadership

During the launch event, sofa design talks were held to connect Samsung's brand image to premium design associations. Samsung's Product Manager, Magnus Nilsson, was at the forefront of the launch and connected future watching habits to Samsung TV tech during the launch, leading to international media coverage. By linking Samsung's product benefits to the design, we achieved our desired outcome.