LG's newest phone, the G5, becomes available today, and along with it, the South Korean company is launching a new brand push starting with an ad that stars Jason Statham.
LG has been running some product-specific online ads recently, and while the ads launching today promote the G5, the new campaign, created by Omnicom's EnergyBBDO, focuses on making a larger brand platform for LG's mobile unit.
The marketing includes a new tagline that plays off of LG's well known "Life's Good" slogan: "Life's Good When You Play More."
When LG was first looking for an agency for its newest phone, the brief was that the electronics company wanted to make some bold moves in its marketing. Marketing for previous phone launches like the G4 and G3 "was all focused on the technology or touch points that made the phones different from other products out there," said Sam Bergen, executive creative director at EnergyBBDO.
The LG G5 aims to move away from the idea "that consumers have to choose between design and usability. With the G5, we aimed to offer more playful mobile experiences and to prove that there are endless possibilities for smartphones," said Chris Yie, VP and head of marketing communications at LG, in an email. "This is why we thought that the G5's marketing should be 'different and playful,' showcasing the improved hands-on experiences of the G5 and Friends in our key markets."
"We wanted to come up with a brand defining idea," said Mr. Bergen, noting that the agency saw a "white space for them to own in this idea of play. It became the strategy behind all the work."
Mr. Bergen said the idea of play came about because when the agency was visiting the clients in South Korea, engineers and other employees said that many of the "friends" that LG created -- the add-on objects like a roller ball that can power your TV on and off -- were created because they were "fun."
"We prefer to say this marketing campaign is simply different, rather than 'bigger' compared to previous campaigns," said Mr. Yie. "We have introduced a ground-breaking smartphone, the G5, and this is definitely outstanding among any other smartphones on the market. As it was created to offer more playful and joyful mobile experiences, its marketing campaigns will focus on that aspect as well."
The campaign will run in the U.S. and other markets overseas. LG had 9.6% U.S. market share in January, according to comscore. Apple had the biggest smartphone share with 43.6% and Samsung was second, with 28.5%.
