New dimension in television

A big city comes to life, its people begin a new day. But this will be no ordinary day. On this day, magical things happen.

A giant cat perched menacingly atop a large building eyes a giant goldfish in a giant goldfish bowl that’s blocking an entire street. A man watches mesmerised as giant popcorn pops about in a shop-front window. In a park, a young boy sees a giant blue whale plunge into a shallow man-made pond. And traffic is held up, as a gigantic waterfall seems to have opened up in the middle of a busy intersection.

As we cut to the inevitable product reveal, I think I already know the brand. It has four letters. It starts with S. It’s a…Samsung?!?

Yup, Samsung. The first company in the world to launch 3D LED televisions.

And just like that, in the 60 seconds it takes you to watch the commercial, a challenger brand ceases to be one, and takes its place at the top end of the food chain. For years Samsung, and LG, have tried to tell us their TVs and washing machines and refrigerators were every bit as good as their international counterparts. You’ve heard the clichés – brighter, lighter, slimmer, sleeker, even cheaper (at least in the early days).

But playing catch-up isn’t how you build credibility. You don’t say more. You don’t shout louder. You don’t argue harder.

You do what Samsung has done. You change the argument. 3D home entertainment is a game-changer, possibly the biggest shift in television since the world went colour. By launching before anyone else, Samsung haven’t leapfrogged their more pedigreed competitors. They have, however, taken a big step in the right direction.

And they followed up their actions with words. A statement of intent, if you will. A world-class piece of communication; big scale, big budget, yet crafted down to the smallest detail.

If anything, it’s a manual for every challenger brand aiming for the category biggie. A few weeks ago, in the Zimbabwe cricket tri-series, the new captain voiced a similar sentiment. He didn’t want his players to try to compete. He wanted them to try to win. Radical thinking, you might say. Particularly from a team at the bottom of the rankings. But it changed the argument and sent Team India home early .

Too many companies, too many brands, and too many marketers want to aim for the stars, but are scared of jumping too high. Or think they don’t need to.

Fear and complacency. One holds you back as you reach for the top, the other eventually brings you down.

In advertising, we get to work with both. Every once in a while though – not often enough that we start taking it for granted - we get to work with brands and clients who are ready to step out of the shade.

3D has been Samsung’s coming out party. The question is, who’s next?

(The author is Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Creative Impact)