The Idols platform offered up a lot of restrictions to its sponsors. Samsung, as the headline sponsor for Idols, had to adhere to the areas allocated in the contract dictated by Global and all branding had to be approved and shared with local Idols/MNet board and co-sponsors. The agency in charge of concept creation creative development, looked at the areas given as restrictions, which were namely: TV spots during the show, digital banners/mailers on and from the Idols and MNet/DSTV broadcast sites and on-site activation branding. The agency looked at how Samsung could best maximize the sponsorship with Idols to create a presence with significantly more impact than a basic logo and product sponsorship. The agency leveraged Idols’ importance to the South African youth to activate a program that would amplify the capabilities of Samsung mobile devices.

In order to draw an audience and raise awareness of the content, we approached four campuses of the Performing Arts in South Africa. With the assistance of our brand ambassador and the activation team, we were able to reach out to young, aspiring musicians of all types and get them interested in the campaign. Involving students promoted word-of-mouth exposure, resulting in a growth in online submissions and auditions. In the end, 4 of the 5 finalists were chosen from home. Campuses were grateful to Samsung for giving the students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase their talents.

Even with low Internet penetration and slow bandwidth in the country, this was easily the strongest and most successful digital campaign ever for Samsung Mobile South Africa.

Samsung had made a brand statement with regards to music and the capabilities of mobile in showcasing your talents to the world through sharing across the Internet.

Samsung touched students all around South Africa and forever changed the lives of five young men; something they will cherish and remember forever.

- 215501 Social Media Impressions

- 8.8M Online Impressions

- 2703 Online registrations

- 67284 Video Views

- 7189 Video Ratings

- Total Reach: 14.2M ( ATL: 3.9M / Online: 10.3M)