Samsung Galaxy Note: Peter the Elephant

Product: Samsung Galaxy NoteCreative Agency: The Viral Factory

I wonder what must have gone through the creative team's head, when they first set their eyes on this monstrous freak of a phone. What would have been the discussion like inside the board room, the brainstorming sessions, ideas after ideas thrown at the dustbin, slowly realizing the futility of it all. How do we sell a phone this big? Who would buy a phone this big? I can throw all the technical specs at you to make you realize how big a phone this really is, in performance, in screen size, etc. But a picture is worth a thousand words.

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But Samsung had done its market research well, they knew who were their target customers and their product positioning was spot on- "A hybrid device for people who don't want a stand alone tablet". They knew there was a market for such a device and they believed that the product would sell. Now all they needed was a good marketing campaign, that would highlight its most obvious flaw as its biggest strength. They gave this unenviable task to The Viral Factory and the result was a gigantic success. Behold the mighty elephant and the mighty phone !

If you have seen this already then you would have been awestruck and awesomed,now let me tell you why:

• First rule for going viral "Give people something to talk about" and an elephant using a phone is something that everyone would talk about. From your grandma to your coworker, you would love to share this video with anyone and everyone. The Peter the elephant ad has almost 2.5 million views in hardly a months time on YouTube and has been shared over 4000 times. That speaks volume about its virality.
• In the simplicity of the ad lies its true genius. The biggest challenge any tech company faces is to portray their products as an easy to use device. The more features you throw at them, more the perception grows in the customers mind that it is a complex product. By showing an elephant using the phone, the message is loud and clear "If an elephant can use it, so can you"
• The obvious question that would pop in our cynical mind after watching this video, is that it could be some digital trickery. But they quell the doubts by showing additional background footage of the elephant playing with the phone. This is what the You-tube page says: "Peter the elephant plays with a Samsung Galaxy Note. This is all real, no film trickery, post-production or hidden cuts -- he's just a very clever elephant".  You can watch the additional videos. This helps in building trust towards the brand.
• The "Awww" Quotient: The elephant is totally endearing and adorable, and its emotional appeal is across all customer segments. Now we all want a pet elephant don't we?

So a big phone uses a big elephant to sell itself. How big a success do you think it became?5 million devices sold in 5 months. Now that is big ![Image Credit: Vectorstock]