When they first laid eyes on the Samsung Electronics T7 Shield Portable SSD back in April of last year, a lot of people thought it looked like a bar of soap. And, to be fair, it kinda does.
Samsung wisely used that criticism to create a funny follow-up campaign with a self-deprecating ad asking the question: “Samsung makes soap?”
According to Cheil, the agency behind the campaign, the original release campaign successfully showcased the product’s features but comments on how the product resembles a bar of soap soon started to appear. Then, images of T7 Shield’s doppelganger, a real bar of soap from an Indian brand, began spreading, drawing even more attention to the product’s appearance rather than its features.
The marketing team at Samsung Electronics recognized the opportunity and worked to create a funny secondary marketing campaign film that directly draws a comparison between the T7 Shield and a bar of soap. The video opens with a bar of soap shaped like the T7 Shield.
Then abruptly, the background music stops, and the question “Samsung soap?” appears, followed by a range of consumer comments asking why it looks like soap.
Then the words “not soap” appear, followed by a demonstration of the device’s IPX5 grade waterproof feature by placing it under a shower in the bathroom.
The viral video has amassed 1.3M views and 20,353 likes with over 1,000 comments saying that the video is funny, praising Samsung for turning a crisis into an opportunity, and expressing the brand’s likeability.
It’s a good lesson in a brand actively listening to consumers and positively reflecting their opinions of the product into ongoing marketing communications while gathering even more attention and boosting brand favorability.
