The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has named the 2016 Creative Marketer of the Year recipient as Samsung Electronics.
Terry Savage, chairman, Lions Festivals, said, “When you look at Samsung’s wins at Cannes Lions, even just last year, what strikes you is the diversity of Lions that they are taking home through their overarching commitment to creativity. They’re excelling across the board, including in areas such as healthcare communications, craft and branded content, as well as picking up a Titanium Lion.”
Last year, Samsung took home an awards haul of 27 Lions and over the history of the Festival has totalled 74 Lions for work that has come from 17 countries.
“This award exists to recognize brands that distinguish themselves through the quality of their communications, something that Samsung are doing continually,” continued Savage. “They inspire the innovative marketing of their products across multiple platforms, as well as embracing and encouraging its agencies to keep creativity at the heart of their brand communications.”
Samsung has recognized the impact its technology has on the lives of consumers and shifted its marketing approach to a more consumer-centric strategy, which focuses on how its products and technologies can create meaning in the lives of consumers. This philosophy of “Meaningful Progress to Enrich Consumers” Lives’ has been brought to life in many creative campaigns around the globe, with Lion-winning work including “Oscar Selfie,” “Every Day is Day One” for the World Surfing League partnership, and the “Safety Truck” campaign, which was awarded a coveted Titanium Lion.
Samsung’s “Look at Me’ campaign, planned and executed by Cheil Worldwide, took five Lions in 2015 and demonstrated its customer-centric strategy by creating a mobile app that helps autistic children better interact with other people. After eight weeks of testing, it showed that 60% of the tested children with autism had improvement in making eye contact and reading facial expressions.
“At Samsung, we know our products are about experiences–making life easier for consumers around the world. And we wanted our brand to reflect that vision and honour our heritage of meaningful innovation and defying barriers,” said Younghee Lee, executive VP of global marketing, mobile communications business at Samsung Electronics. “We believe our creative and bold approach to marketing captures that spirit in a unique and creative way.”
Younghee Lee will receive the award on behalf of Samsung Electronics during the final Cannes Lions Awards Ceremony on Saturday, June 25.
