Samsung is promoting the extension of its tech-based Olympic sponsorship into the consumer realm with a new social media contest launched this week.
Targeting the tech-savvy 18- to 34-year-old demographic, the social media-based competition offers consumers the chance to win a 22-day trip to Vancouver to cover the Olympic Games. Winners – in teams of two – will get the opportunity to write about the Games on the Samsung Olympic website and post to their own social media accounts using Samsung’s signature Olympic mobile communications app. To enter, contestants must submit a video demonstrating their social media talent and buzz-building abilities for the 2010 Games. Videos will be voted on by the public and the final 10 judged by a panel of Samsung judges. The winning team will be announced Dec. 7.
The ‘Mobile Explorers’ contest is being promoted with a media buy, handled by Starcom, aimed at reaching the post-secondary crowd, especially those interested in a career in the media, Starcom’s digital director Robin Hassan told MiC.
‘We have included a mix of mass awareness and niche placements that will speak to the target,’ she said. The online buy includes placements on portals MSN.ca, TSN.ca, RDS.ca, a one-day takeover of YouTube Canada, as well a vertical sponsorship of niche-targeted sites such as the student-focused Talentegg.ca.
The contest is also being promoted via a series of funny YouTube clips (see below), produced by US-based The Viral Factory, with the tagline: ‘Experience the unexpected. Become a Samsung Mobile Explorer.’
The contest is part of Samsung’s Olympic sponsorship, which will include a series of marketing and social media tactics focused on building its brand in the eyes of the consumer. The foundation of Samsung’s sponsorship, Wireless Olympic Works (WOW), is a mobile communications platform specifically developed to keep Olympic officials, athletes and media connected and informed during the Olympic Games. The brand is extending the use of the platform to the public by way of a new app, giving Olympics fans all the info they could possibly use to stay up to date on results and events.
‘Samsung Mobile Explorer provides us an opportunity to highlight our phone technology and how the phones can be used to share experiences during the Olympic Games, while giving 10 lucky winners a chance to experience the Games in a unique way,’ Rosalyn Morris, interactive marketing manager, Samsung Electronics Canada, told MiC. ‘The goal of this campaign is to promote and drive awareness of Samsung’s Worldwide Olympic sponsorship, while increasing brand preference for Samsung Mobile phones and their technology.’
