Samsung Launches Biggest U.S. Campaign to Date for Galaxy S III

If any Americans haven’t yet heard about the new Galaxy S III phone, chances are that will change this week.

That’s because Samsung is unleashing the biggest-ever marketing campaign in Samsung Mobile USA’s history for the phone’s launch, beginning this week. Although Samsung declined to provide specifics on spending on the phone, it’s believed that the marketing budget for the next few months will more than double what the company spent on all Galaxy-branded products in the U.S. in 2011.

Samsung spent $142 million in measured media on Galaxy products in 2011, according to Kantar Media, up from $79 million in 2010. The company spent $64 million just on the Galaxy S II, the new phone’s predecessor, in 2011. Samsung spent $263 million on measured media in 2011, down 3.1% from 2010.

Additional marketing spend will likely come from the carriers — AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and U.S. Cellular — as they run their own promotional efforts around the phone. (www.adage.com)

Bridgestone Surrenders Super Bowl Halftime Show

A veteran sponsor of the Super Bowl halftime show is giving up its valuable roost.

Bridgestone Americas, the tiremaker that has sponsored the Super Bowl halftime program since 2008, lending its ad backing to everything from Tom Petty singing “American Girl” to rapper M.I.A. flashing a middle finger during a performance by Madonna earlier this year, said Tuesday it had opted to change the terms of a long-running sponsorship pact it has with the National Football League.

While Bridgestone will continue to be known as the “Official Tire of the National Football League,” it intends to “shift its focus” from backing the halftime program to reinforcing promotional messages about the performance of its tires throughout the NFL season, the company said. It is likely to continue as an advertiser during the Super Bowl.

“Plans are being finalized for a high level of consumer activation that will provide the opportunity to better connect with consumers by providing them with exclusive access to major NFL events from the offseason to the Super Bowl,” Bridgestone said in a statement. (www.adage.com)

At Auto Shows, Nissan Lets You Explore the 2013 Pathfinder Using Microsoft Kinect

How do you show off a car that doesn’t even exist?

Nissan and Calgary, Canada agency Critical Mass unveiled the 2013 Pathfinder at auto shows, letting people walk around the car, hop in and look at the interior using Microsoft Kinect technology.

The technology was deployed on a big screen, where the Kinect for Windows SDK technology tracked camera paths and recognized human gestures to let users really explore the car, including crouching down to check out the tires or opening the door.

The project is now being demonstrated at Cannes, and Nissan has plans to place the Pathfinder Experience into dealerships in the fall, and potentially into consumers’ living rooms as “the future of the virtual showroom.” (www.adage.com)

GE: Olympics Will Be ‘Most Digital’ in History

Like in recent Olympics, General Electric promises an extensive advertising playbook for next month’s London Games. What makes this year different, suggested Linda Boff, digital and advertising director at GE, is a heightened focus on utilizing digital and social channels to augment traditional ad buys. In fact, Boff said she “cannot see” a scenario unfolding where brands across the spectrum ignore spending resources on platforms that have come of age since the 2010 Winter Games.

“Twitter was not what it is now,” she said of the 2012 media landspace versus the Winter Games in 2010. “Facebook was certainly not at 900 million users. There was no such thing as Pinterest or Viddy. Instagram was a twinkle in people’s eye…This will be the most digital and the most social Games in history.”

Due to scale, Facebook unsurprisingly lies at the center of GE’s Olympics social media plans. The companies announced a marketing deal on Tuesday (June 19) that includes Sponsored Stories ad buys and a “HealthyShare” app. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The HealthyShare app is designed to leverage GE’s partnerships with U.S. Olympic hopefuls Kevin Durant (men’s basketball) and Alex Morgan (women’s soccer), as well as former Olympians Michael Johnson and Summer Sanders. It encourages consumers to mimic the athletes’ exercise routines, such as push-ups, sprints, lunges and yoga.

“We are going to promote this quite broadly,” Boff said. In addition to pushing the app via Sponsored Stories, “we are using all kinds of social and earned media to get the word out across various platforms.” (www.adweek.com)

YesStyle And YesAsia Sponsor K-Pop Festival – Music Bank Hong Kong 2012

Leading online retailers YesStyle and YesAsia are proud local sponsors of K-Pop Festival – Music Bank Hong Kong 2012, which will be held on June 23, 2012. Presented by Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), the concert gathers eight of the biggest names in Korean pop music – TVXQ, Wonder Girls, Beast, CNBlue, f(x), MBLAQ, Infinite and IU – for a special show at the AsiaWorld-Arena, Hong Kong’s largest performance venue.

A popular weekly Korean music program that is aired worldwide, Music Bank has been reaching out to global fans of K-pop through a world tour, which has already staged successful shows in Tokyo and Paris. Hong Kong is the third stop of the KBS Music Bank World Tour, and audiences are in for an exciting concert with such a star-studded lineup. As part of the sponsorship, YesStyle and YesAsia held contests to give away free pairs of concert tickets to six lucky winners.

The largest online retailers of Asian fashion and entertainment products, YesStyle and YesAsia not only deliver Korean apparel and music to customers around the world, but also actively promote Asian culture and talent through supporting Asian artists and cultural events, ranging from small campus shows to major K-pop concerts. Just in the past year, YesStyle has sponsored the 2011 Billboard K-Pop Masters in Las Vegas, the 2011 K-Pop Music Fest in Sydney and the 2012 Korean Music Festival in Los Angeles. (www.sponsorship.com)

Russell Athletic New Title Sponsor For Orlando Bowl

Russell Athletic, a division of Russell Brands, LLC, and Florida Citrus Sports (FCSports) have entered into a partnership to present the Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando, Fla. through 2015. The 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl, most-recently known as the Champs Sports Bowl, will be played on December 28th at 5:30 p.m. (EST) at Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium and air live on ESPN. The game will once again pit top teams from the Atlantic Coast and Big East Conferences.

As part of the multi-year deal, Bowling Green, Ky.–based Russell Athletic will receive national exposure through television, radio and online media, and will be recognized in broadcast, outdoor and print advertising throughout Central Florida. Russell Athletic will also enjoy a presence on in-stadium signage and at the entire week’s schedule of Russell Athletic Bowl-related events, as well as a significant hospitality program for clients and customers.

“As a brand whose heritage is so deeply rooted in college football, it is a natural fit for Russell Athletic to partner with FCSports for the Russell Athletic Bowl,” said Gary Barfield, executive vice president, Russell Brands, LLC. “We are also excited to extend our “Together We R” brand campaign in new ways and reach even more consumers through all the channels that FCSports provides as part of this relationship.”

Under terms of the agreement, consulted upon by Denver-based Impression Sports & Entertainment president Chris Foy, Russell Athletic will also be the exclusive apparel partner of Florida Citrus Sports, providing apparel and merchandise to all of FCSports’ properties including the Russell Athletic Bowl, Capital One Bowl and Fresh From Florida Parade. Additionally, Russell Athletic has committed to working with FCSports in the coming year to help negotiate the new conference agreements that will bring Orlando a premier bowl matchup after the current conference affiliations expire following the 2013 edition of the game. (www.sponsorship.com)

Facebook Gains Two Big Advertisers’ Support

Facebook Inc. is getting support from two big-name advertisers after tough questions over the effectiveness of its ads.

On Tuesday, Ford Motor Co. and Coca-Cola Co. separately said they found value in Facebook advertising and Ford plans to expand its use of the social network in advertising. The remarks amounted to major-player endorsements for Facebook’s advertising business in the wake of the social network’s disappointing initial public offering last month.

Ford’s global sales and marketing vice president, Jim Farley, said the auto maker is deepening its use of social media, particularly on Facebook, to improve its image among potential buyers. (www.wsj.com)

An Emphasis on Fun for Language Learners

ROSETTA STONE, the 20-year-old language instruction company, has taken a fairly straightforward approach to advertising with commercials that promote a software-based method as an effective alternative to classroom learning.

In a 2008 commercial, for example, the Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps says he used Rosetta Stone before the Summer Olympics in Beijing because he likes going quickly outside the pool, too. The commercial closes with a slogan about expeditiousness akin to those coined for tax preparers and antacids: “The fastest way to learn a language. Guaranteed.”

Now the brand is, appropriately enough, expanding its marketing vocabulary with a new campaign that stresses the delight language learners can feel more than the mechanics of the method.

A new television commercial opens with up-tempo symphonic music as a stunning Japanese woman strolls down a Tokyo street on the arm of a disheveled American man, who sings operatically: “I picked up a hot supermodel in Japanese. What a tease.”

Next, a businessman who drove his car onto a Rio de Janeiro sidewalk and knocked over a trash can stands beside a policeman, both of them beaming, and belts, “I begged my way out of this police thing on my knees — in Portuguese.” Later, a young woman in a cluttered electronics shop in Beijing sings, as a Chinese man stands behind a counter, “I lost my cellphone, talked to this guy, and got a new one on the fly.” (www.nytimes.com)

Huggies Enlists Mexican TV Star For Campaign

Huggies is targeting Hispanic parents with a campaign featuring Mexican TV personality and father of two, Poncho de Anda.

The effort includes a webisode series on Huggies Latino Facebook page featuring behind-the-scenes look at the family’s busy life. The series will feature the experiences of de Anda, his wife Lina Amashta, and their two children (ages 2 and 10 months) as they deal with the challenges that come with being a parent.

De Anda is the host of Univision’s “Dale con Ganas” and the co-host of Univision’s highest-rated Spanish language morning show, “Despierta America.”

The Facebook page also will feature additional videos that will be gradually released and feature “parenting moments.”

Also on the Facebook page, parents can become fans and share tips and stories with other Huggies parents and also give feedback on how they’ve put new and improved Huggies diapers and wipes to the test for a chance to win a fully stocked Huggies diaper bag. (www.mediapost.com)

AT&T Brings Interactivity To Sustainability

Finding and digesting information about corporate sustainability can be a difficult and trying task. Often consumers have wade through the deep recesses of a Web site or sift through dry reports. This year, for its annual sustainability report, AT&T is adding interactivity to make the going a little easier.

“It is for consumers, but it’s not just for our customers. It’s also for employees and potential employees. We wanted to have an engaging way of talking about what we do,” Beth Shiroishi, VP of sustainability and philanthropy at AT&T, tells Marketing Daily. “We wanted to offer a compelling way to put forth the data and story of what we do. And we wanted to show how it connects to the communities in which we work.”

The key element of the effort is an interactive Web site that enables visitors to explore a “city” that is populated with narratives showcasing the ways people are using the company’s products and services to work more sustainably, as well as inspiring the philanthropic and volunteer work the company is doing.

While the company’s previous sustainability reports had followed a traditional print narrative structure, looking more like an annual report, the growing prevalence of people searching for and receiving information online prompted AT&T to revamp the way it presented its philanthropic and sustainability programs. (www.mediapost.com)