How the Mexican government leveraged a relationship with a technology company to deliver an incredible advertising experience.
I’ll go ahead and get this out of the way: the idea that I, a west-coast American, would be sitting in Tokyo listening to someone from a Korean-based electronics company talk about a collaborative campaign with the country of Mexico, is borderline absurd. That said, if ever there were an informative case study in the importance of the global marketplace, this panel at Advertising Week Asia is it. Full stop.
After opening remarks, the AWAsia audience was treated to two sides of the same campaign – a cross-promotional work of creative genius from smartphone giant Samsung and the Mexico Country Brand.
First up was Claudia Contreras, MD of Samsung Mexico who walked us through the many-layered approach the phone-maker took to marketing their 2017 phone lineup. Not content to simply extol the virtues of a better camera or a faster processor or any of the usual vague nonsense normally associated with mobile device marketing, Contreras explained how Samsung directly with Brand Mexico to feature the many amazing things that country has to offer. From stunning vistas captured with Samsung phones, to 360-degree VR-ready explorations, and even Mexico-branded phone cases, Samsung went all in with what Contreras calls “Mexico Unconfined” – a highly successful brand campaign that met its goals within its first month of execution.
But what brand was the campaign actually selling?
The beauty of “Mexico Unconfined” is that it not only introduces the brilliance of Samsung’s smartphone screen technology to the masses, it’s that it does so by putting a spotlight on the best of Mexico. On hand to deliver the rest of the story, Carla Alejandra SanchezArmas Garcia, Coordinator of Country Brand Presidency of Mexico, walked the crowd through one of the deepest dives into cultural marketing I’ve yet seen at Advertising Week. Rather than simply scratch the surface of typical tourist attractions, Brand Mexico and Samsung delivered visual messaging on everything from Mexico’s growing aerospace industry to its very respectable eco-responsibility ambitions – ambitions Mexico’s northern neighbor (and my home) would be wise to emulate.
It turns out that Samsung’s Unbox Your Phone message wasn’t just about a phone screen after all, it was about using that device to explore a place many of us only know as a vacation destination. Sure, it’s beautiful on the outside, but thanks to Samsung and Brand Mexico, a deeper, proud Mexico emerges to take center stage, eager to express all its strengths, not just its extremely attractive exterior.
By leveraging Samsung technology, the campaign empowered Mexico to create a community of proud people sharing their stories, their surroundings, and their accomplishments – all to amazing success.
Thanks for this information!