Can Samsung's Galaxy Sing and Dance Its Way Into Your Heart?

Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam pulls out all the stops in an epic two-minute mini-musical that celebrates the power of Samsung’s Galaxy phones to reveal life’s myriad possibilities:

Among the highlights: Some dude pops out of a bear suit and morphs into a zombie. Then he turns a woman who hangs with extraterrestrials, while penguins sport berets and dance their flippers off.

“The assignment was to come up with a film to launch the new brand philosophy ‘Life Opens Up With Galaxy,’ at the Unpacked event, so we figured a theatrical song and dance akin to the opening of the Oscars might work,” W+K Amsterdam executive creative director Mark Bernath tells Muse. “Our first thought was to open the film with something that would make the audience agree to be open to whatever happens—essentially to let them experience the concept in real time, as they watch it, and see how being open to things is the way to be.”

He adds: “For some reason, the notion of a person unzipping themselves from inside a realistic bear struck us as the perfect way to kick it off. From there, anything could happen—and did.”

Brazilian directing duo Alaska—aka, Gustavo Moraes and Marco Laver—deliver eye-popping visuals and non-stop motion to covey the brand message without going too far over the top.

O-kay … they do amp up the silliness at times. But that’s a plus. It yields a splashy musical mantra that takes viewers on a fun, inclusive ride—while not taking itself super seriously. The work offers an intriguing contrast with Apple’s vaunted, more intimate use of music and related themes for iPhone. Ultimately, each brand’s style succeeds on its own terms.

“Our music partners at Strings & Tins did a great job at interpreting what the track would be like, and it flew through approvals,” says W+K executive producer Endy Hedman. “We also had to figure out what could realistically be accomplished in two weeks of post to hit our delivery date.”

The directors, VFX team and editor Sam Bould “figured out clever ways to push the limits of what we could finish in time,” by combining in-camera footage with CGI and other techniques, Hedman says.

So, they stayed open to fresh ideas and creative exploration. Where have we heard that before?

CREDITS

Samsung – I’m Open To That 

SAMSUNG
Corporate SVP, Head of Marketing: Stephanie Choi
VP Global Brand Marketing: Matthew Leem
Brand Director: Jessie Song
Senior Brand Manager: Ahra Cho
Brand Manager: Saebin Park

WIEDEN+KENNEDY AMSTERDAM
Managing Director: Blake Harrop
Executive Creative Director: Eric Quennoy, Mark Bernath
Creative Director: Zeynep Orbay, Mohamed Diaa
Art Director: Zeynep Orbay, Sandra Nicolas
Copywriter: Mohamed Diaa
Head of Broadcast Production: Joe Togneri
Executive Producer: Endy Hedman
Group Account Director: David Newsome
Account Director: Yulia Prokhorova
Account Executive: Bliss Zhawi
Head of Planning: Martin Weigel
Planning Director: Thom Dinsdale
Head of Comms & Digital Strategy: Elsa Stahura
Project Manager: Caroline Kosse, Mirke Sipsma
Director of Business Affairs: Michael Graves

PRODUCTION COMPANY: ICONOCLAST
Director: Alaska
MD+EP: Jean Mougin
EP: Guy Rolfe
Producer: Molly Pope
DP: Todd Martin
PD: Carolina Emiliozzi
AD: Tony Fernandes
Choreographer: Edson Soares da Silva Junio
Stylist: Sergei Yordanov

EDITORIAL: FINAL CUT
Editor: Sam Bould
Producer: Frankie Elser

MUSIC AND SOUND: STRING AND TINS
Music Composition: Auburn Jam
Music Supervision: Laura-Leigh Smith, Mike Bamford
Sound Design and Mix: Joe Wilkinson
Additional Sound Design: Lawrence Kendrick
Audio Producer: Laura-Leigh Smith

POST PRODUCTION: NASH
VFX Supervisor/Creative Director: Cirilo Bonazzi

VFX Artists:
Alice Villela
Andre Neumann
Caique Veloso
Cirilo Bonazzi
Diego Ruiz
Diogo de Moura
Luiz Fernando Tavares Alves
Rafael Jimenez
Renata Prado
Thiago Cora

CG Lead: Fagmario Rodrigues

CG Artists:
Alex Ferreira Simões
Fagmario Rodrigues
François Puren
Jesiel Almeida

Coordinator: Gabriel Bittencourt

Producer: Flavia Gannam
Color Grade: Osmar Junior