The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2023–2024
Samsung resells Black Friday as ThrowBack Deals — new phones at old prices
Samsung revives previous years' Black Friday prices for new models, turning abandoned carts into sales.
Samsung · Samsung Brasil
What it had to solve
After a disappointing Black Friday, Samsung needed a simple, cheap and effective way to sell products quickly, using the data and customer behavior already in its e-commerce.
How it works
In 2023 Samsung Brasil had not achieved its Black Friday goals and needed to compensate fast. The brief to MRM Brazil was simple: find a cheap, effective way to sell products in the short term — no big media budget, just the data already sitting in the e-commerce.
The insight was behavioral: 80% of online shoppers abandon their carts, and many do it on purpose, waiting to see if a better discount appears. MRM turned that habit into the offer. 'ThrowBack Deals' served shoppers the promotional prices of previous Black Fridays — but for the latest models. The customer gets the discount they were waiting for; Samsung gets the sale at a price history had already validated.
The work was recognized across the industry: a Gold Lion at Cannes Lions 2024 in Creative Commerce, the Creative Use of Data Grand LIA at London International Awards 2024, and the Gran Ojo in Creative Commerce at El Ojo de Iberoamérica 2024. A pricing move built on data became one of the most awarded commerce ideas of the year.
Why it lands
- It reads the customer's real behavior — strategic cart abandonment — instead of fighting it.
- The offer is self-explanatory: same product, lower historical price, no explanation needed.
- It needed no media spend, just the data and pricing the company already owned.
- The idea travels across markets: anyone who has ever waited for a discount understands it.
What it did
The idea won a Cannes Lions 2024 Gold in Creative Commerce, the Creative Use of Data Grand LIA at London International Awards 2024, and the Gran Ojo in Creative Commerce at El Ojo 2024 — a campaign built from an abandoned cart, not a media buy.
What you can take
Treat the customer's haggling instinct as data, not friction: if shoppers wait for discounts, give them last year's discount — on a better product.
Since then
Samsung's own direct-to-consumer team embraced the campaign internally, and MRM Brazil carried the case to Grand LIAs and a Cannes Gold in 2024. The 'revive last year's price' mechanic became a repeatable e-commerce tactic rather than a one-off stunt.
Sources
- Silver — Creative Strategy / Creative Use of Data (Samsung ThrowBack Deals)
- Samsung Brasil conquista Leão de Ouro em Cannes com campanha "ThrowBack Deals"
- MRM Brasil y Samsung se alzan con el Gran Ojo Creative Commerce
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