Samsung built four giant 3D flip phones into UK billboards for the Z Fold5 and Flip5

Demonstrate the capabilities of foldables at huge scale — the Flip5 stands up by itself for selfies and socials, the Fold5 unfolds into a massive gaming device — engaging consumers rather than telling them.

Take 'go big' literally: four mammoth special-build 3D billboards, each featuring a huge flip phone, in the UK's biggest out-of-home spots.

Four special-build 3D OOH billboards — two in London, one each in Manchester and Liverpool — featuring brand ambassadors Fearne Cotton and Raheem Sterling; media planning and buying by Starcom, production by Clear Channel; ran until 10 August 2023.

No performance figures reported; Annika Bizon, Samsung's marketing and omnichannel director, said 'the innovation and joy of the special build 3D billboards reflect what we stand for as a brand'.

Flip phones were back, and Samsung was leading the way. To mark the release of the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galaxy Z Flip5 in August 2023, the brand tasked creative agency Iris with 'a larger-than-life moment'. The result was four mammoth out-of-home special-build billboards across the UK — two in London, one in Manchester and one in Liverpool — each featuring a huge 3D mobile phone, fronted by Samsung ambassadors Fearne Cotton and Raheem Sterling.

The brief was engagement, not explanation. 'It is about engaging, not telling consumers what they can expect from our latest foldable devices,' said Annika Bizon, Samsung's marketing and omnichannel director, adding that 'the innovation and joy of the special build 3D billboards reflect what we stand for as a brand'. Iris group creative director Richard Hayter was blunt about the stakes: 'folding handsets are still a tiny slice of the mobile market. So when our clients said "go big" we took them at their word. We wanted to demonstrate the capabilities of foldables, on a huge scale.'

The demonstration logic ran through the product claims: unfold the Z Fold5 and 'you've got a massive gaming device', while the Flip5 'literally stands up by itself' — his game-changing examples for watching socials, group selfies 'and yoga classes apparently'. The campaign ran until 10 August 2023, with media planning and buying by Starcom and production handled by Clear Channel.

Foldables needed a mass-audience demo, and a 3D special build shows the defining gesture — the fold — at city scale.

Ambassadors Fearne Cotton and Raheem Sterling connected a tech launch to mainstream UK culture.

'Go big' was the client's own brief, so the medium itself became the message about device scale.

Four cities, limited window (until 10 August) concentrated launch-week attention rather than spreading it thin.

When your category is a tiny slice, out-of-home spectacle is the demo: make the product's defining gesture unmissable at city scale.

The billboards ran until 10 August 2023; The Drum's signed report (7 August 2023, by senior reporter Amy Houston) carried no campaign performance figures. Samsung's other 2023 Flip5 activation — the Shoreditch Z-line skatepark — is covered as its own entry.