How Facebook Helped Samsung Cement Its Place Across Three APAC Markets

Founded by Lee Byung-Chul in 1938 as a trading company, Samsung has evolved into a global tech behemoth. Such has been its growth that the company has diversified into areas including food processing, textiles, insurance, securities, and retail.

However, a crucial element of that success has been Samsung’s marketing, which has made it a household name today. With the advent of Facebook, the tech giant also acquired a healthy online presence, which provided it with a much deeper reach among the millennials and GenZ too.

So, let’s try to see and understand how Facebook helped Samsung establish and strengthen its footprint in different markets.

1. Samsung Thailand

Samsung ran a campaign of interactive ads in Facebook Stories, which gave it a massive boost in ad recall among 18- to 24-year-olds in Thailand.

Their Objective

Samsung hoped to generate awareness for two new smartphones—the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3—while experimenting with how best to connect with a Gen Z audience and encourage interactivity.

Solution & Approach

As part of the pre-launch campaign for its newest Z-series smartphones, Samsung partnered with Adapter Digital Agency Thailand. Together, they developed interactive creative specifically for the Stories placement that would appeal to an audience of young adults.

The mobile-first assets included stickers and polls and ran on Facebook and Instagram Stories. The brightly colored 15-second video ads highlighted the unique features of two different Z series phones, including color options, do-it-yourself personalization opportunities, and an under-display camera.

To prompt engagement, each ad included stickers with specific functions, such as asking the viewer a question, providing a poll to vote in, and promoting a campaign hashtag. In addition, the ads in Stories urged people to “swipe up,” and when they did, they arrived at a pre-order registration form on the Samsung website.

The Result

Samsung Thailand’s Facebook campaign was highly successful and led to a 14.1-point lift in ad recall and a 4.7-point lift in message association (among 18- to 24-year-olds). Also, there was a 6.7-point lift in purchase intent among all age groups.

2. Samsung Philippines

Samsung tested whether adding Facebook in-stream video ads to its business-as-usual campaign could boost awareness for a new product.

Their Objective

Samsung Philippines wanted to broaden awareness of and purchase consideration for, The Frame. So, it aimed to determine whether adding in-stream video ads to its business-as-usual campaign of video ads would help achieve those objectives.

Solution & Approach

To cater to Filipino audiences who loved viewing long-form content on Facebook, Samsung Philippines partnered with Starcom Mediavest Group to add in-stream video ads to its regular campaign of video ads. The creative featured The Frame’s design and included the slogan, “TV when it’s on. Art when it’s off.”

To learn how effective the in-stream video ads were during the launch campaign, Samsung ran a split test comparing its business-as-usual video ads in one cell with a second cell of the same campaign plus the in-stream video ads.

To reach people more likely to make high-end purchases, Samsung served both campaigns to those interested in film, interior décor, and technology brands. It also broadly targeted people in the Philippines aged 28–55. Samsung used reach and frequency buying to ensure that the target consumers saw the ads a minimum number of times during the campaign period.

The Result

Samsung Philippines’ executed its Facebook campaign quite emphatically, which resulted in a 9.7-point lift in ad recall and a 4.1-point lift in campaign awareness. Also, its video completion rate stood at an impressive 78%.

3. Samsung Taiwan

Samsung Taiwan ran a “full-funnel” campaign with Facebook video ads and influencers to position itself as a 5G leader in the Taiwanese market, which lifted “view content” conversions by 10.5X.

Their Objective

Samsung sought to establish itself as a leading brand within Taiwan’s newly launched 5G market by running a wide-reaching campaign that would reach and engage audiences across the entire consumer journey.

Solution & Approach

When Taiwan rolled out its commercial 5G network, Samsung knew it had to act strategically to stand out in a competitive marketplace. The brand found a good starting point when Facebook provided it with insights derived from a deep analysis of Samsung’s campaigns in other markets where 5G had already been launched. Then, it collaborated with Facebook Creative Shop and media agency Starcom to identify a way to boost brand awareness and promote its new product, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G. They created #UnfoldtheUntold – an inspiring, multi-phase campaign that invited consumers to discover the exciting possibilities of 5G together with Samsung.

The campaign comprised a series of mobile-first video ads that had a futuristic tone and an air of intrigue and mystery. The ads showcased influencers using the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G as they talked about the benefits of 5G. Samsung then re-cut these ads into 15-second videos, anchoring each ad with a defined message to highlight product features or drive traffic to the brand website.

The brand wanted to reach a broad spectrum of people – from average consumers to avid technology fans who were most likely to be the earliest adopters of 5G. By using a multi-phase strategy, Samsung could precisely serve ads that would resonate with different audiences best based on where they were in the consumer journey. Samsung also used reach and frequency buying to ensure that it connected with people often enough to have an impact.

The Result

Samsung Taiwan’s Facebook campaign was incredibly successful and saw it attain a 10.5X lift in “view content” conversions, a 15-point lift in ad recall, and a 4.2-point lift in message agreement. Also, there was a 4.2-point lift in purchase consideration.

Wrapping Up

As the world’s biggest marketing platform, Facebook can help brands gain exposure to millions of people. Moreover, it owns multiple platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram, thereby giving marketers more options to get their brand out in front of people through a range of marketing channels. However, benefiting from Facebook’s massive marketing potential requires a solid marketing strategy backed by awesome content.