Samsung Invites Mobile Users to Take Some Video Swings

Electronics maker Samsung is promoting the video capabilities of its new Instinct mobile phone with a set of ballpark Webisodes designed specifically to be seen over the handset.

Launched yesterday, the three programs will give behind-the-scenes glimpses of three famous Major League Baseball stadiums: Boston’s Fenway Park, Chicago’s Wrigley Field and San Francisco’s AT&T Park. The first Webisode features the San Francisco park.

The “Ballpark Invasion” Webisodes run about three minutes each and were created in partnership with Break Media, owner of Break.com, which will host the clips. While the clips don’t offer any explicit advertising for the Samsung handset, they will occasionally show the video guides using the phones to record their own videos with the cell phone.

The campaign is an attempt to appeal to 18-to-34 year old males who tend to be extensive users of their phones’ advanced functions. The Webisode campaign, which will run for at least the next three weeks and could include more content, is meant to work by delivering content in a way that illustrates the capabilities of the delivery mechanism—that is, the Instinct phone.

The Samsung Instinct is a high-end phone available right now exclusively for the Sprint mobile network and is a market-share competitor to the new Apple iPhone 3G, which launched last Friday. With high-speed 3G networking, GPS capability, Sprint TV, a Web browser and e-mail, the Instinct costs around $129, after a rebate and with a wireless contract. By comparison, the iPhone 3G, available exclusively from AT&T, can run $199 to $299 with a contract.

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