At this year’s micebook V Awards, which took place earlier this month, Smyle picked up not one, but two awards for Best Product Launch for its work with Samsung (for the second year running), and Best Audience Engagement for Wella, WE Create.

We take a closer look at the agency’s two award-winning entries…

Samsung, Life Unstoppable: House of Surprises

‘House of Surprises’ was a follow-on from the previous year’s award-winning ‘Life Unstoppable’ experience, where Smyle had taken a game-based approach using Unreal Engine to showcase Samsung’s latest products. Smyle wanted to add more IRL through video and storytelling, but keep the gaming mechanics and interaction, and embarked on a journey to create a video and game mechanic in one.

The result was ‘The House of Surprises’ – an interactive, virtual experience, rooted in branded entertainment and launched in 17 European countries to press, partners and consumers. ‘House of Surprises’ follows an eclectic family through the rooms in their vibrant home, with Samsung devices unearthing the family’s inner creativity and passion. Everything was measurable and trackable, with data fed into Samsung’s CRM system, giving a clear correlation between objectives and solution.

Gen Z Samsung product experts highlighted tech benefits and audiences interacted by clicking icons, creating a gamified mechanic. Click to buy buttons led to Samsung stores to purchase. The experience attracted 3,740 press and partners, and over 5,000 consumers, with 60% of press and partners watching the 45-minute show. There were over 4,000 consumer interactions and over 1,000 clicks to buy.

Tina Burton, Head of Events Samsung described the event as remarkable, standout and unique, while judges said the creative was superb and praised the innovative interactive elements, high engagement and conversion to purchase.”

Wella, WE Create

Smyle created a head-turning virtual event for hair brand Wella, for stylists online worldwide. Aimed at beauty and hair professionals, the free-to-join, ‘WE Create’ event took place in April 2021, enabling the brand to reach a wider audience than ever before using a mix of entertainment, inspiration and education.

Smyle designed an interactive TV-style event, featuring curated topical themes and trends, with snappy bite-sized pieces alongside longer, in-depth content, giving attendees compelling content without compromising on their attention or time constraints. 20 of the world’s most accomplished hair artists took part, sharing styling transformations, trend insights, hair hacks, business advice and sustainability tips. WE Create also featured two all-new hair collections, designed during the pandemic by 13 guest artists around the world.

To cater to an 86% mobile-first audience, Smyle custom-built a dedicated hosting platform, with content in 11 languages. The event smashed its target of 10,000 participants, with over 77,000 registering and 25,000 joining on the day, while a further 10,000 watched on demand.

The event generated high levels of engagement with 65,000 comments and interactions, while total earned coverage (from headlines and attendees combined) smashed targets by more than 500%. Judges praised the “incredible” content and engagement.