LG: LG THIEF [Video], 1

Credits & Description:

Type of entry: Use of Promo & Activation
Category: Best use of Social Media Marketing in a Promotional Campaign
Advertiser: LG ELECTRONICS BENELUX
Product/Service: OLED TELEVISION
Agency: Y&R NOT JUST FILM Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Title: LG THIEF
DM/Advertising Agency: Y&R NOT JUST FILM Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Creative Director: Lionell Schuring (Y & R Amsterdam)
Creative Director: Sheldon Bont (Y & R Amsterdam)
Copywriter: Andrew Maaldrink (Y & R Amsterdam)
Copywriter: Lionell Schuring (Y & R Amsterdam)
Art Director: Nick Plomp (Y & R Amsterdam)
Art Director: Theo Korf (Y & R Amsterdam)
Art Director: Sheldon Bont (Y & R Amsterdam)
Director: Hans Knaapen (Electric Zoo)
Producer: Sandra Verbaas (Electric Zoo)
Producer: Maarten Van Hemmen (Electric Zoo)
Editor: Daniël Pipito (Electric Zoo)
Sound Design: Marco Baay (Postoffice Amsterdam)
RTV Producer: Chantal Gulpers (Y & R Amsterdam)
Assistant RTV Producer: Denise Willigers (Y & R Amsterdam)
Client Service Director: Monique Nijenhof (Y & R Amsterdam)
Account Executive: Yoeri Kastelein (Y & R Amsterdam)
Head Of Strategy: Bas Velthuis (Y & R Amsterdam)
Describe the brief from the client
In January of 2012 LG introduced the world’s slimmest television, the 4mm OLED. The objective was to claim OLED and its thinness for LG before the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada.


Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

We leveraged the current popularity of ‘Dumb thief’, ‘Smart thief’ virals and created our own thief storyline. Our smart thief used the incredible thinness of the TV to his advantage, exiting the store with the TV unseen by security cameras. We chose not to hide that it was an ad, instead placing the brand moment as a subtle wink at the end of the film. Working with a small budget meant there were no funds for seeding the film. We instead chose to place the film on a handful of sites that would be most interested in the work.


Describe the results in as much detail as possible.

At the unveiling of the LG OLED at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2,000,000 people had watched the video. YouTube awarded it a Trending Gold Medal and for 1 week it was the No.1 in many viral charts. After 4 weeks the combined view count was 7,000,000. It generated €1,280,000 in earned media, without spending a single euro on media. Viewers endlessly discussed it, hundreds of blogs posted it, spreading and linking the video with the introduction at CES. And LG is now inextricably linked with ‘slim’, ‘OLED’ and ‘television’ in the minds of consumers all over the world.


The insight for this promotion was that the orientation and decision making of a television purchase is still a predominantly male affair. These consumers get their information mostly from the Internet, tastemakers and friends. In addition, men like a certain type of funny videos and enjoy sharing them online. This lead to the strategic choice of activating the world’s slimmest television through an Internet viral.