IOC Partner Samsung Blends World's National Anthems Into A Unity Rio 2016 Remix

Samsung’s latest global strand of Olympic Games activation ties together several national anthems from around the world to form what it describes as a song of international unity – The Anthem – which is the brand’s marquee Olympics spot.

The advertising arm of the global campaign is led a new TV and digital spot, developed in tandem with Leo Burnett Chicago and Leo Burnett Sydney, leverages pre-Olympic excitement and promotes the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.

The spearhead TV commercial – which features an impressive set of Samsung athlete ambassadors ranging from Team GB diver Tom Daley, French Paralympian Arnaud Assoumani, American athlete Alysia Montaño, runner Margret Rumat Rumat Hassan of South Sudan, Australian boxer Shelley Watts and Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina – starts with a young Australian girl holding a Samsung handset and singing the Botswana and then moves scenes from country to country..

To highlight the coming together of nations and a world without borders the film features contrasting locations, singers and anthems: for example, the Malaysian anthem is sung by a Parisian and the New Zealand anthem rings out across the UK.

The theme is unity and the objective is to break down geographical barriers and boost Samsung’s current strategy of developing a more human marketing focus.

The Samsung anthem lyrics are:

Through our unity and harmony, we’ll remain at peace as one.
For we are young and free, with glowing hearts we see the rise.
The day of glory has arrived, oh say can you see, a vivid ray of love and hope descends to Earth.
The people living united and progressive, join together all of our hearts as one.
Happy and glorious, listen to us gently with the infinite love.
Unity and justice and freedom, stand unchanged by wind and frost.
Offer peace to friends, and united we shall stand.

The spot (which notched up 786,584 YouTube views in first 24 hours) and its stars also feature across the campaign’s digital social media activation phase that uses the #DoWhatYouCant and links to the www.samsung.com/galaxy/olympics web hub.

The Anthem. Proud sponsor of a world without barriers. #DoWhatYouCant #Rio2016 @Olympics https://t.co/blsWSsibJ2 https://t.co/z2iKu6zBGR

— Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) July 21, 2016

The consumer electronics, mobile and tech goliath believes that campaign echoes its corporate mission to ‘help to break down geographic barriers and unite the world through deep, borderless connections’.

‘By singing The Anthem, fans and athletes across the globe can feel a shared sense of pride and unity and together celebrate collective progress, which is integral to the spirit of the Olympic Games,’ explains Younghee Lee, Samsung Electronics Executive VP of global marketing.

The brand’s sports endorsers will also feature in other Samsung supporting work – both global and local campaigns – work around Rio 2016.

The big idea behind the line-up of Rio digital and social content is to tell stories about defying barriers and overcoming obstacles and helping people around the world connect with what it means to ‘Do What You Can’t’.

Progress is proving the strength of motherhood. @AlysiaMontano #DoWhatYouCant https://t.co/PY7hCD6myZ https://t.co/vDPANh4vYa

— Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) July 23, 2016

Progress is conquering a sport you’ve never tried. @Shelley__Watts #DoWhatYouCant https://t.co/0ieQZwiCcL https://t.co/fi3XyDR9WR

— Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) July 25, 2016

For example, Rumat Rumat Hassan fronts the powerful ‘the Chant’ spot celebrating South Sudan as the most recent country to be recognised by the IOC – which has already racked up 22m YouTube views),

while Team GB athlete ambassadors feature in the domestic UK campaign which builds on the brand’s Jack Whitehall fronted ‘School Of Rugby’ Rugby World Cup work with a ‘School Of Rio’ marketing extension (see case study).

Comment

It is, of course, a nice sentiment, plus the spot’s pacing and song/location contrasts neatly underscore a message that fits both for a mobile brand and for the Olympic ideal of international good will.

Samsung’s PR release around the campaign pitches the promotion as focusing on bringing people together at a time when the world feels like a fragile place.

This might be pitching the role of sponsorship activation a too high – even for a global Olympic partner – but it does reinforce Samsung’s evolving focus away from simple product functionality and towards how technology can help people.

‘Our marketing used to be futuristic and world-first technology type messaging, but now we all talk about how we can change people’s lives for the better through this technology. So it is a huge shift not only for marketers but also for the top management,’ outlines Younghee Lee.

This Summer Games activation follows on from its previous Winter Olympics work (see ‘Everyone’s Olympic Games’ case study and ‘Team Russia‘ case study), as well as its more recent ‘The Only Way To Know’ Youth Winter Olympics campaigns (see case study).

Samsung began its Olympic Games involvement as a local sponsor of the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games.

Beginning with the Nagano 1998 Olympic Winter Games, the company extended its commitment to the Olympic Movement as the Worldwide Olympic Partner in the Wireless Communications Equipment category, providing its proprietary wireless communications platform, called Wireless Olympic Works (WOW), and mobile devices.

These innovative mobile phone technologies provide the Olympic Family with real-time, user location-based information service, interactive communications, and Samsung Pay.

Samsung hosts various Olympic campaigns to share the excitement of the Olympic Games with people around the world and enable everyone to participate in the Games through its innovative mobile technology. Samsung’s commitment as a Worldwide Olympic Partner continues through to Rio 2016, PyeongChang 2018, and Tokyo 2020.

Links

Samsung Mobile Olympic Web:

http://www.samsungmobilepress.com/Olympics/

Samsung Mobile YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/user/SamsungMobile

Samsung Mobile Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/SamsungMobile

Samsung Mobile

https://www.facebook.com/SamsungMobile

Samsung Mobile Tumblr:

http://samsungmobile.tumblr.com/

Samsung Mobile Google+: