Leo Burnett scores for Samsung with Hong Kong-flavoured video

The approach stands in stark contrast to the mainstream advertising Samsung is running for the runaway-hit smartphone. The evocative mainstream work features attractive, multicultural models doing cool things with their phones in warm, inviting envrionments. The Hong Kong online video uses Yuen Siu-Cheung (阮兆祥), a popular local TV actor, host and comedian known for his skill at mimicry, to impersonate Meiling, one of the matchmaker hosts of a local reality show called Bride Wannabes.

Lilian Leong, managing director of Leo Burnett Hong Kong, told Campaign Asia-Pacific that local relevance is very important if brands want their marketing messages to become the talk of the town.

The Samsung Galaxy’s marketing platform is ‘Designed for humans’, she said. The agency needed to remain true to that premise while also spinning it with local flavour to engage local consumers. This is espcially true as the advertising market is cluttered during this pre-Olympic period.

In the video, 'Meiling' talks about the ideal lover, drawing humorous comparisons to the phone and its human-centric features. The YouTube video was posted yesterday (4 July).

In February 2011, Leo Burnett Hong Kong created another successful online video for Samsung, this one featuring a young couple having a dramatic quarrel in a busy street.