Aditya Babbar, VP and Head of Product Marketing & E-commerce Business at Samsung Mobile India, told e4m that the company is doubling down on experience-led retail and creator-driven storytelling
Samsung is shifting its foldable marketing strategy from a high-gloss digital campaign model to a more on-ground, retail centric push, with plans to host over 10 gaming events across India in the coming year—an effort aimed at converting Gen Z interest into actual product adoption.
While the foldable category remains under 2% of the Indian smartphone market, Aditya Babbar, VP and Head of Product Marketing & E-commerce Business at Samsung Mobile India, told e4m that the company is doubling down on experience-led retail and creator-driven storytelling to close the gap.
This will be our biggest campaign around foldables in India. We’ll be across consumer touchpoints—offline stores, digital platforms, and community events—to show how foldables can fit into real life. The category may be small, but it’s growing at 20% CAGR, and we believe now is the time to scale visibility,” said Babbar.
The company is focusing not just on advertising reach but on activation-led reach. In July, Samsung hosted a gaming meetup at its BKC store in Mumbai, drawing nearly 1,000 attendees. Now, it plans to scale this format across key cities.
Foldables still need explaining—so creators are doing the heavy lifting
Samsung is leaning on long-form and short-form video to drive foldable adoption. According to Babbar, “A creator reviewing the product and breaking it down has more value than a traditional ad. We’ve built long-tail creator programs to support this. Even micro-creators under 50K followers are bringing in 170 million+ impressions annually,” he said.
As per Kantar’s latest report, influencer-led content holds attention 2.2 times longer than branded ads, with an average skip time of 17.8 seconds compared to 7.9 seconds for traditional creatives. It also delivers 1.4x higher visibility duration, making it more effective in driving engagement.
As nearly 70% of young Indian consumers make purchase decisions after watching videos online—primarily on platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Shorts, campaigns are being structured to prioritise short-form video, and Samsung is running attention-metric testing to validate whether the message lands within the first 3 seconds.
Leading these campaigns are some of the biggest names in the creator space—Rohan Joshi, Nischay Malhan, Mythpat, among others—each bringing their signature style to the table.
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Ravi Gupta turned the product experience into a full-blown stand-up sketch, giving the audience a taste of tech with a side of sarcasm. Meanwhile, Purav Jha captured the behind-the-scenes madness, blending creator collabs with chaotic energy to deliver quickfire content that quickly exploded across Instagram and YouTube Shorts.
6 seconds, or nothing
With attention spans shrinking, Samsung has retooled its ad storytelling structure entirely. The company now builds narratives for 6-second spots, especially on digital platforms.
“We used to build for 60 seconds, then 30, then 15. Now the ask is 6. We run surveys to measure what consumers recall within those first 3 seconds. Product visibility and message clarity in that window are non-negotiable,” said Babbar.
Gaming: from campaign vertical to full-blown ecosystem strategy
Gaming is no longer treated as a category but as a marketing and product use case. Under its ‘Play’ initiative, Samsung has built a full funnel—from creator-led tournaments like PlayGalaxy Cup to enabling device integration for gamers across phones, watches and tablets.
The brand is already running the fourth edition of PlayGalaxy Cup and aims to cross 350 million reach this season.
“Gaming is not a promo vertical—it’s a user case. Our Galaxy devices are built for it, and we’re scaling physical events to turn retail into discovery platforms. Mall-based activations and meetups are a key part of our rollout,” Babbar said.
Snapchat AR, AI-powered ads, and newer ad tech experiments
In addition to retail and creator outreach, Samsung is experimenting with new formats—like AI-powered talking ads and platform-led integrations. The brand recently ran an AR-based foldables campaign on Snapchat and launched what it claims is India’s first AI-led interactive print ad.
link: https://www.exchange4media.com/marketing-initiative-news/samsung-lets-your-voice-take-the-lead-witha-first-of-its-kind-print-ad-145082.html
“When we did the AI-powered talking ad, users could just hover their phones over it and it came alive. These are tech-led formats where offline meets online. Gen Z expects interactivity—we’re building for that,” Babbar explained.
What’s next? Post-purchase marketing and review-led content
Samsung’s next focus is converting reviews and post-purchase experiences into marketing content. The brand has built internal teams that track user feedback, ORM (online reputation management) and build new campaigns around what users are actually saying.
“We have internal systems for review management. What users are saying post-purchase has to feed back into marketing. That’s why we’re investing in post-sale storytelling, not just awareness ads,” Babbar said.
With over 800 retail stores being reimagined as interactive community hubs, the brand is betting on a 350 million+ reach through esports and youth engagement. At the heart of it all are creators, turning product demos into content moments—designed not for 30 seconds, but for the 6-second scroll.
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