Samsung got the famous former manager of English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur to deliver the team talk to New Mills AFC, a team in the 'Evo-Stik League Northern Premier'. Through virtual reality, of course.
The activity was conceptualised by DDB Stockholm. The intent was to showcase its gear, while helping the ‘worst football team’ in England.
The team, which was last in the league, walked into the dressing room prior to a game to find Samsung Gear VR along with the jerseys. Each member was equipped to receive a pep talk from through VR from Harry Redknapp. He is seen in the video speaking to the players to fire them up to head out on the pitch. According to the case, ‘the result didn't change, but the team felt like champions as they walked on to the pitch'.
Adam Fors, Nordic marketing director, Samsung, said, “There is tremendous power in VR technology. We are constantly exploring the possibilities of the tech with the aim of finding new ways to help people develop in a number of skillsets and areas. Our football experiment, with help from legendary coach, Harry Redknapp, is a good example of where we have been able to test the effectiveness of ‘virtual motivation’ and make a team feel like winners before kick-off.”
Joel Ekstrand, art director, DDB Stockholm, said, "This is the first project in a series for Samsung where we test how by connecting things, in this case the Galaxy S7 and Gear VR, we can create better experiences for people.”
The VR experience happened in end-May with the film going live shortly thereafter, on 31 May.
There has to be a first step to everything. Have a wonderful working week.
