Flick the card away, tap the watch to pay: Samsung pushes for behavioural change with a new Galaxy Watch 6 spot

Vikas Chemjong, Cheil India’s chief creative officer, answers whether this ad does so, and how his agency went about it.

Little did Indian folks wrap their head around contactless payment à la tap and pay, there is a new method in town. 

Nothing too drastic, a user, instead of their card, can now pay the bills using their smartwatches on the Point-of-Sale (POS) machines. In this case, it is the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 that is doing all the tapping, no, talking. 

The payments are made possible with the aid of NFC or near-field communication which is a wireless technology that lets one send information from one device to another. 

A minute-long ad, made by Cheil India, pitches this not-so-new form of contactless payment with vivid examples and a rap song that, if you listen closely, reveals the set of viewers whose psyche this ad wishes to tap into – the GenZ and Gen Alpha. 

So, what happens to the other generations? How do you bring about behavioural change through an ad? Why a rap song? Why show a credit card tap-and-pay as tedious? 

These are the questions Vikas Chemjong, chief creative officer, Cheil India answered for us (afaqs!). 

Edited Excerpts: 

1. Was this ad campaign an awareness-building one or to fuel consideration for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6?

A mixture of both actually. Awareness of the fact that there is a cool way to pay – with a flick of a wrist. And make them consider the possibility of oodles of brag-value with Watch 6 on their wrist. 

2. What are the challenges when it comes to crafting communication that pushes behavioural change? We are used to tap and pay but not using our wrists.

No one likes paying unless I guess you are a millionaire. But now and then, the novelty of a payment method makes you want to pay. Like the way credit cards did. Or digital wallets and then UPI did. Even though watch payment has been around not many know about it. And every time you see the watch being used to pay is a really a ‘woah’ moment.

So, while changing behaviour is never easy, in our case the behavioural change was cool, it was easy and it had the potential to be trendy. Plus, we had the backup of a great product.

3. “No time to hush. Fast-moving things. We skip the rush…” Is this a campaign aimed towards the Gen Z and Gen Alpha cohorts? If yes, what happens to the millennials and the audience cohorts before them?

At some level, I feel that this GenZ, Alpha and Millennial thing has more to do with the mind than the age of the body holding that mind. Most early adopters are millennials . But it is great to have the stamp of approval of the new gen. They are not only our soon-to-be customers but their ability to influence is priceless.

4. Tell us about the rap lyrics. How did you come up with them? Were there any alternative ideas for the rap?

It came about as a part of the creative evolution process. We actually started with ‘tap’ dance music for obvious reasons. But, as we mulled over it, we wanted a slightly contemporary angle to it. So, the rap. Minor variations on the rap happened but more or less it was what you hear. 

5. How many treatments to the ad did you consider before zeroing in on this rap music video?

Three of them. But you keep on wondering if the other treatment would have been even better. But, having said that, we are pretty cool with what we have on our hands. Or shall we say our wrists? 

6. The pain points of looking for cash/change are evident, but the ad also shows cards that have ‘Tap and Pay’ options, isn’t that stretching it a bit?

More than a stretch, I feel it is a solutionsolve. The whole thing is made possible because of the backend tech of something called the Samsung Wallet. It stores all your documents as well as your credit cards. So once activated, it’s time to stop carrying bulky wallets in your pockets but rather wear a wallet on your wrist. 

7. The ad is a minute long. Will you cut snippets of the feature being used and run it on social or have you planned separate short-form clips?

Absolutely! It is not just economical but practical as well. Plus, the multiple platform requirements are all shorties. Or as I like to call them - shortifive seconders.  

8. How did you choose the activities (coffee runs, movies, fast fashion shopping) shown in the ad?

They are the used-case scenarios for most payments.

9. Are you working on more functional ads that focus on the workings of the ‘Tap and Pay’?

Yes, we are, they are part of our surround campaign.

10. Did you consider using a celebrity for this campaign? Is their effectiveness under question these days?

We did not. But yes, the right celeb could have given us an extra nitro boost to launch the campaign.