Nike and Wieden+Kennedy, Sony and Fallon, BBH and Vodafone; there are currently some beautiful relationships between brand and agency, but there is one such relationship that is not as obvious as the three big hitters mentioned above. In the still murky world of viral advertising a beautiful couple have recently been churning out sprogs quicker than Fanny and Little John in 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'; with a pedigree to match Posh and Becks or Brangelina. In the past month alone two great Samsung virals from The Viral Factory have landed on our doorstep. We thought it was about time to sit up and take notice.
The Viral Factory's work for Samsung launched in November 2006 with an incredibly authentic clip featuring the electronics giant's new 'flicky' X830 mobile phone. The already three-year old company utilised the old skool party banger 'Tricky' from Run DMC to full effect and achieved around 3 million views, which followed with a host of parodies appearing on Youtube - you know what they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery.
The impressive reaction to 'Flicky' was slowly but surely built upon with 'Millimetres Matter', 'Untangled Life' and 'Jonglers'. The latter two maintained an authenticity that has eluded so many other viral campaigns, whilst 'Millimetres' went for high-end VFX. However, all three were completely blown out of the water by 'How We met' - the success of which can be gauged by the fact that it was the first one to independently make its way into the inboxes of The Reel and our cohorts. The cleverly animated tale was the first Samsung viral to make it onto both the global and UK Youtube homepages and achieved 8.8million views on Youtube alone.
The magnificent result of 'How We Met' proved hard to follow for 'Illusions' and 'Drag and Drop World'. They received a credible 2 - 4million views and favourable responses but the bar had well and truly been raised by the animation-on-skin wonder of the previous campaign. Obviously realising that, The Viral Factory has come back with two exceptional executions.
'Lions' and 'Unboxed', which are marketing the NV24HD digital camera and Omnia mobile phone, respectively, demonstrate the varied approach of The Viral Factory to the Samsung work and also highlights the freedom which they are given to produce their campaigns, something which Matt Smith, co-founder and Strategic Director, identifies as key to their success, 'Over the past couple of years we’ve established a very productive working relationship with Samsung. They are great to work with, they know their brand and markets inside out and aren’t afraid to take risks and try new things to connect with their audiences.' Both campaigns are still being seeded, but their combined views stand at nearly 5 million, with the promise of more to follow. Whatever comes next, The Viral Factory has already demonstrated that they understand their audience and the medium they are working in better than most - the direct correlation between 'Lions' and 'Battle at Kruger' a prime example - combining authenticity with some touches of brilliance to ensure the often elusive 'forward-ability' that means so much.
The Viral Factory's work for Samsung launched in November 2006 with an incredibly authentic clip featuring the electronics giant's new 'flicky' X830 mobile phone. The already three-year old company utilised the old skool party banger 'Tricky' from Run DMC to full effect and achieved around 3 million views, which followed with a host of parodies appearing on Youtube - you know what they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery.
The impressive reaction to 'Flicky' was slowly but surely built upon with 'Millimetres Matter', 'Untangled Life' and 'Jonglers'. The latter two maintained an authenticity that has eluded so many other viral campaigns, whilst 'Millimetres' went for high-end VFX. However, all three were completely blown out of the water by 'How We met' - the success of which can be gauged by the fact that it was the first one to independently make its way into the inboxes of The Reel and our cohorts. The cleverly animated tale was the first Samsung viral to make it onto both the global and UK Youtube homepages and achieved 8.8million views on Youtube alone.
The magnificent result of 'How We Met' proved hard to follow for 'Illusions' and 'Drag and Drop World'. They received a credible 2 - 4million views and favourable responses but the bar had well and truly been raised by the animation-on-skin wonder of the previous campaign. Obviously realising that, The Viral Factory has come back with two exceptional executions.
'Lions' and 'Unboxed', which are marketing the NV24HD digital camera and Omnia mobile phone, respectively, demonstrate the varied approach of The Viral Factory to the Samsung work and also highlights the freedom which they are given to produce their campaigns, something which Matt Smith, co-founder and Strategic Director, identifies as key to their success, 'Over the past couple of years we’ve established a very productive working relationship with Samsung. They are great to work with, they know their brand and markets inside out and aren’t afraid to take risks and try new things to connect with their audiences.' Both campaigns are still being seeded, but their combined views stand at nearly 5 million, with the promise of more to follow. Whatever comes next, The Viral Factory has already demonstrated that they understand their audience and the medium they are working in better than most - the direct correlation between 'Lions' and 'Battle at Kruger' a prime example - combining authenticity with some touches of brilliance to ensure the often elusive 'forward-ability' that means so much.
