Samsung brainBAND
Samsung
Issue 39 | June 2016
Agency
Leo Burnett Sydney
Creative Team
Executive Creative Directors Vince Lagana Grant McAloon Creative Director Scott Huebscher Creative Team Nils Eberhardt Dave Govier Executive Producer Laurent Marcus Integrated Producer Cassie Collin Client Service Director Amanda Quested Planning Director Emily Taylor Senior Account Directors Natalie Tay-Uceda Brendan Swansborough Editor Willy Bernardoff Industrial Designer Braden Wilson Neuroscientist Dr. Alan J Pearce
Production Team
Production Company The Pool Collective Director Christopher Ireland Producer Petrea Lambert Cameron Gray Editor Chris Baron Sound studio We Love Jam
Other Credits
Samsung, Head of Digital & Corporate Brand Communications Brett Turnbull
Date
March 2016
Background
Australian sports fans and administrators had become increasingly concerned about concussion in contact sports like rugby union, rugby league and rules football.
As players bulked up and the games got more physical, so the threat of brain damage from concussion had grown.
Over time, players involved in 'hits' ran the risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition where they were more prone to dementia as well as to loss of co-ordination and memory.
Idea
Samsung had a long history of sports sponsorship in Australia, including rugby. It wanted to see if it could apply its technology to a medical purpose.
It created the BrainBAND, a piece of wearable technology that measured the force of an impact and relayed the data to officials, staff and medics on and off the pitch. The head band features LED warning lights – yellow, orange and red, meaning a player should be taken off immediately.
All data was logged so that over time, players had a complete picture of the forces their brain had been put under.
Samsung worked with neuroscientists, engineers and Australian rugby star Israel Folau to develop the BrainBAND.
An eight-part video series was made, documenting the project, with the final instalment showing its use in a real-life game.
Results
The video series was viewed 5.1m times, generating 71,000 engagements and a reach of 9.8m.
Our Thoughts
There's no doubt concussion injuries sustained in contact sports is a major global issue. In March, the New York Times reported how US football administrators had deliberately misreported concussion statistics in order to downplay the issue.
Samsung's initiative in this area is another example of major brands, particularly tech ones, finding a wider purpose by using their technology for good in areas only tangentially related to their core activities.
Some will take a sceptic's view of this. As more companies jump on the 'doing good' bandwagon, it has echoes of the rush 10-15 years ago by advertisers to 'greenwash' their activities. But that is to take a narrow view. In areas like this, Samsung has both the technology and the credentials to make a difference. And when it can, it should publicise its actions.
More than a few sportsmen, and their families, will have cause to be grateful.