People are more accustomed to brands being present in all areas of culture, even the areas that would be traditionally be seen as entertainment. Partnerships with celebrities work best when a celebrity uses a product in the way they would in their day-to-day, it feels more authentic and still manages to command the audience’s attention.

During the Oscars, Ellen was provided with a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and told to integrate the device into the show in a way that was natural to how she already uses a smartphone. The unplanned selfie was a relatable use case for the device and brought it to the forefront of an existing cultural phenomenon.

In 2014, Samsung partnered with the Oscars to introduce One Samsung: a connected suite of premium products united by incredible innovation and unmatched design.

Challenge

Demonstrate Samsung as an innovation leader in screens from the 1.56 inch screen on a Gear to the 110-inch Curved UHD TV screen and everything in between.

Objectives

Put Samsung front and center of the cultural conversation during the biggest celebration of on-screen action.

Strategy

Show that from big to small, incredible things happen on Samsung screens.

Execution

Samsung successfully owned the Oscars with a fully-integrated approach.

1. Announce “One Samsung”

5-minutes of airtime showed amazing things happening on Samsung screens through lifestyle and product-focused commercials. Samsung’s full product range was displayed, from premium tablets and UHD TV, while also teasing the newly announced Galaxy S5, Gear 2 and Gear Fit.

2. Own the Red Carpet

On the red carpet Samsung gave exclusive pre-show and backstage access.

In the first-ever Oscars in-show product integration, the Galaxy Note 3 was front and center in the hands of the host, Ellen.

Then in an incredible demonstration of making something incredible happen, one of the biggest moments of the night came when Ellen, on her own initiative, rounded up 10 of Hollywood's biggest celebrities for an impromptu selfie - which became the most retweeted photo ever.

3. Sustain Momentum

Following the Oscars, we continued to work with Ellen on a live post-Oscars special on her show. In celebration of the most retweeted selfie of all time, Samsung donated $1 for every time the selfie was retweeted, resulting in a $3MM donation to a good cause. We also gave away 320 Samsung Galaxy Note 3 devices to her studio audience members and held an extension contest via EllenTV.com where 30 entrants were able to enter-to-win a Note 3.

Samsung began with 5-minutes of commercial airtime during the Oscars where the company introduced the idea that amazing things happen on Samsung screens. Then Samsung proved it with activations on the red carpet and during the show.

Samsung put the Galaxy Note 3 in the hands of the host, Ellen, who on her own initiative took an un-staged selfie during the program with some of the world’s most famous faces, setting out to make it the most retweeted photo of all time. The world saw it on the big screen and contributed to its success on the second screen.

Our partnership with the Oscars put Samsung devices at the center of the cultural conversation.

- Highest-rated Oscars broadcast in 14 years with 43.7 million viewers.

- In the first minute, 219,006 people retweeted the selfie.

- Ellen Degeneres's 'Samsung Selfie' broke the record for the most retweeted selfie of all time knocking Barack Obama's - 'Four More Years' out of the top spot.

- 3.3MM total retweets of Ellen’s selfie.

- 88MM social media impressions; 69K Samsung brand mentions.

- 58% of brand mentions during Oscars went to Samsung.

- Ellen’s post-Oscars special was the highest rated Ellen Degeneres Show episode ever.