
Africa’s economic reset requires moving from ambition to execution
The Africa Commerce Convergence Summit keynote address identified four elements that must converge if the continent is to achieve a meaningful economic reset.
BRAND ACTIVATIONS
By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2024
Brand campaign promotes new flip-and-fold mobile phone ranges by, among other things, flipping and folding a London Bus and red phone box.
Mobile phone manufacturer Samsung stopped London commuters in their tracks yesterday (Wednesday, 23 July) when they saw one of the city’s red single-decker buses folded at a 90-degree angle on a busy thoroughfare.
The folded bus forms part of Samsung’s brand activation in London
People travelling along Old Street in East London became even more perplexed when they also stumbled across a folded bench, a folded red telephone box and a folded lamppost.
To top it all off, the Old Street underground railway station had, overnight, suddenly become Fold Street Station. Indeed, the entire Old Street has been transformed into Fold Street and will remain that way until 27 July.
It’s all part of a clever brand activation – some would even call it a ‘guerilla marketing’ tactic – to promote the new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 handsets.
A realistic-looking art piece
On closer inspection, it turns out that the bus isn’t a real Transport for London bus that came to an untimely end, but a realistic-looking art piece measuring 6m by 6.2m.
The piece, created by artist Caspar Philips, was constructed to scale and took two months to design and build. It includes a host of recycled materials taken from real London buses.
The folded bench and other items that form part of the brand activation are also artworks, created by designer Jem Hughes.
Says Samsung’s Annika Bizon, Director of Marketing, Omnichannel & Head of Ireland: “Welcome to Fold Town! To celebrate the arrival of the new Galaxy Z series we wanted to flip East London upside down with a series of unexpected activations, including the renaming of Old Street to Fold Street.
“Samsung has a heritage of innovation, from folding glass in our Galaxy Z Series, to folding buses and iconic landmarks. We are so excited for consumers to experience our unique Fold Street activation across East London.”

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