Insight: The making of Samsung's India, Ready, Action

Samsung's Ranvijit Singh and Cheil India's Emmanuel Upputuru give us walk through the making of 'India, Ready, Action!' campaign.

It’s been a month since Samsung’s ‘India, Ready, Action’ campaign went live and has garnered 100 million views on YouTube. The one and a half minute film was targeted at the millennial population of India which believes in taking a stand and driving a change; Millennial who wish to lead from the front and are proud Indians and take pride in showcasing the vibrancy of the country, to the world. The month-long campaign urges them to break stereotypes around the country as India is set to be the youngest country in the world comprising of the maximum millennial population by 2020.

Campaign Insight

Samsung claimed to listen to its consumers, a large number of whom are Gen Z and millennials and gets a lot of insights from them. One of the insights is around video content. Millennials are digital natives and video is fast becoming their medium of choice. The explosion in the growth of video consumption over the last few years is here to stay. Ranjivjit Singh, Chief Marketing Officer, Samsung India tells Social Samosa that Gen Z and millennials are not just consuming video content; they are today becoming content creators themselves.

While the amount of time Gen Z and millennials spend on video consumption has grown by over 50%, content creation has seen an even bigger jump.

Samsung has seen Rear Camera Video Recording grow by 900% in the last quarter and Front Camera Video Recording grow by 700% in this period.

Samsung did a recent survey where it found several stereotypes about India exist in the minds of foreigners. To them, the Taj Mahal or river Ganga is the only major tourist attractions in the country, food means spice and curries and entertainment is only Bollywood and Cricket. There is little awareness of the other possibilities in Real India.

Gen Z and millennials want to correct them. They want
people everywhere to see the real India, today’s India through their lens.

These insights helped the company to conceptualise the
campaign.

Objective behind ‘India,
Ready, Action!’

This is a campaign that seeks to break stereotypes about India and today’s Gen Z and millennials are best placed to bring a shift in the mindsets. On this, Ranjivjit Singh, commented, “So we have launched a digital-only campaign that seeks to change perceptions about the country. The campaign provides a platform to Gen Z and millennials to express their views about Real India through 60 seconds videos and break stereotypes that exist globally about India”.

While the campaign is
targeted towards millennials and GenZ, it is open to all citizens across age
groups. Videos can be posted on Instagram using any smartphone.

The Brief

Emmanuel Upputuru, CCO, Cheil WW India asserts that the challenge was to position the Samsung A series phones as the phones built for an era that is live. “We had already created what you call, traditional television commercials, around the concept called Ready Action. The ambition was to replace “Cheese” with “ReadyAction” when you are in front of the camera,” he added.

The next ambition was to encourage the millennials to go on a video creating spree. But with a purpose. That purpose was to break stereotypes around India.

Also Read: Samsung carries forward the ‘Technology of loving’ legacy with recent campaign

Conceptualisation
and Exceution

The team at Samsung and Cheil India kicked off a month-long digital activation campaign with a high-energy call to action manifesto film. Upputuru shared, “We kept it very simple, with a very clear message that calls the viewers to make videos that break stereotypes. To provoke the millennials to break them and to get a foreign lens on the subject. That was just the start!”

Going beyond the boundaries of YouTube video

In addition, Samsung also partnered with Instagram to create a consumer workshop to aid audiences on how to make better videos for the desired social media engagement. This workshop was FB Live’d as well. A microsite was created simultaneously where these shortlisted videos are creating a map of real India.

The month-long campaign urges Gen Z and millennials in India to share up to 60-seconds videos of their vision of Real India that will break any stereotypes that may exist about the country in the world. These videos can be shot using any smartphone.

Participants can share their view of Real India through short videos on themes such as food, places, entertainment, and culture. Participants can shoot videos using any smartphone and post on their Instagram accounts tagging @SamsungIndia, using the hashtags #IndiaReadyAction, #City and #Theme.

“Apart from Instagram, platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are also being used to spread the word around about the campaign. We are also engaging with student communities, Samsung members and fans,” briefed Singh.

Every week, 7 lucky participants to get the Galaxy A70; 20 video
entries to get Galaxy A80 & Samsung Smart TVs.

The Consumer Response

According to Samsung, people across India have appreciated the campaign and the video already has 100 million views on YouTube.

The entries show football gaining traction in the country, fans enjoying music concerts, beautiful streets of India and the varied cuisines from different parts of the country.

How can one forget the ‘&t=7s">We’ll Take Care of You, Wherever You Are’ campaign by Samsung, launched showcasing its initiative of taking customer service to the doorsteps of consumers in the hinterlands which had crossed 100 million views on YouTube within just seven weeks of its launch and currently stands at 210 million. It also went onto become one of the highest-viewed advertising videos in the Consumer Electronics and Smartphones category worldwide and one of the highest-viewed advertising videos on YouTube across all categories in India, as on February 20, 2017.

Through the current initiative, Samsung aims to provide a platform to demolish the stereotypes with content showcasing the cultural richness, diversity, and vibrancy of the country, through their lens and help generate awareness on ‘Real India’.