When Samsung Ireland decided to use Dublin's Samuel Beckett Bridge as the key image of their Galaxy Note 8 launch, their aim was to show the iconic bridge in a completely new light.
Transforming the bridge into a playable harp
Inspired by Santiago Calatrava’s daring yet elegant design, the tech giant teamed up with the creative agency, Guns or Knives, to activate the bridge as a giant playable instrument.
Using the interface of the Galaxy Note 8, the team orchestrated a live performance, whereby each the bridge’s cables were vibrantly illuminated in red and blue hues as Irish harpist, Aisling Ennis, played an original piece of music on site.
A spectacular night-time show
To orchestrate the audio-visual display, Samsung worked with Dublin-based projection mapping company, Lightscape, who developed the visuals to animate the bridge along with the music.
Lightscape's Creative Director, Brian Kenny, took inspiration from the bridge design and worked in a movement that complimented the arc of the tubular spar in motion and the flow of Ennis's original composition.
The effect of the music, coupled with the strumming light motion, evoked both the beauty of the bridge and the quality of the instrumental.
A lesson for the engineering industry
For Roughan & O'Donovan's, Tony Dempsey, who worked as Calatrava's Irish partner in the design of the bridge, the advert delivers the kind of engaging experience he believes the engineering industry needs to reach and engage future innovators:
By showing engineering embedded in our daily lives - in beautiful musical scores, good-looking mobile devices and elegant yet functional structures - we can create an attractive lens through which to inspire the next generation of engineering trailblazers.
An award-winning advert
Judging from the success of Samsung's advert, Dempsey may very well be right.
- The night-time performance was live-streamed on Facebook and subsequently viewed on social media over one million times
- The video reached 2,316,813 people and was viewed 1,061,599 times
- The advert was picked up by key marketing and creative titles around the globe from Australia to Vietnam and from Germany to China
- The advert won the 'Grand Prix' at the 2018 APMC awards
