We started with a defined audience and a clear end goal which, if achieved, would move the dial in terms of sales/perception.

Our ambition was to make a washing machine ‘culturally famous’ so that potential consumers might discuss/hear about QuickDrive at a dinner party or over breakfast.

We began with a question: How do you make a washing machine entertaining?

Our answer was rooted in research and insight. We knew people spent time ‘watching the washing’ whilst waiting for boring (and dare we say hypnotic) laundry cycles to end. This hypothesis was tested via research which found that British adults spend an average of 61 days in a lifetime staring at spin cycles.

This insight informed our creative - making a virtue of the perceived ‘boring’ nature of laundry by promoting the fastest Samsung washing machine ever made via the artistic medium of Slow TV and film.

The campaign was executed in three stages:

Stage 1 – A disruptive TV spot

The longest single shot advertisement ever screened on British TV (the first primetime ad directed/conceived by a British PR company).

The 200 second ad featuring a continuous shot of a QuickDrive laundry cycle premiered as a complete ad-break takeover delivering the first DA social trends in Samsung UK history.

Stage 2 – Feature film

‘Washing Machine – The Movie’. A feature film showcasing the hero 66 minute fast cotton wash cycle accompanied by an original soundtrack composed/performed by Michael Nyman.

The film was announced following the advert screening with a blaze of publicity including news stories, artist interviews, movie trailers, posters and behind the scenes video content.

Stage 3 – London Premiere

The movie received a red carpet premiere attended by media, film critics and influencers and was subsequently made available free via Samsung channels.

The campaign smashed targets and delivered a huge uplift in sales.

The work provided the first social trends in Samsung DA history and generated worldwide press coverage including 300+ features in the UK where our story was covered in every national newspaper (often multiple times) alongside ‘product centric’ video content.

Media highlights that hit core target audience included an extended ‘and finally’ package on the BBC’s flagship TV news programme Newsnight, the movie soundtrack being played extensively on Radio 3 and lively debates on Radio 2 and 6 Music.

Worldwide highlights included a front page splash (including product shot) in the Wall Street Journal

238% uplift in sales

400+ Media articles secured (300 in the UK) 100% positive

52% of coverage featured product-centric video/pictures

165m OTS reaching 7 in 10 of all UK adults

0.7p cost of reach

35 TV and radio features

6.2m video views across all content created – (including 2.5m ABC1)

1st ever Samsung Domestic Appliances social trends

15 million+ Twitter impressions

1,775% uplift in earned impressions vs. normal monthly Samsung washing machine conversation

+10pts Increase in positive sentiment above average

Samsung DA ranked No.1 buzz brand by YouGov Brand Index in December 2018 (Up 177%year on year)

“A ground-breaking campaign that has set the benchmark against which future campaigns will be measured. This was the most successful and innovative Samsung campaign of my long career – generating a huge amount of earned media coverage and delivering against the bottom line.” Hadrian Bauman, President Samsung Electronics UK