Samsung: Microcodes - How a tiny idea generated massive results

Samsung, a tech brand, promoted its new S20 mobile phone in Australia by hiding microscopic codes in its creative.

Executive summary

Our challenge was to sell the S20, Samsung's most expensive ever S series phone, at a time when excitement around new phone launches was rapidly dwindling.

Like all major Samsung launches, price, product, placement and promotion were all directed by global HQ playbooks.

We created the ultimate immersive product demonstration by hiding Microcodes inside the global creative and challenging audiences to find them.

We've isolated the effects of Microcodes within the broader media mix and demonstrated that a tiny idea generated gigantic results.

Challenge, objectives and strategy

What was the strategic communications challenge?

Category fatigue: People don't believe...

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands