When Samsung asked us to help unveil its new GALAXY Camera, it was clear this was not a typical product launch. Samsung had more strategic ambitions.

The GALAXY Camera unveiling would mark the launch of an entirely new category – the first device in the world to combine premium-quality photography capabilities with smartphone connectivity.

This got our attention. Our assignment was to make Samsung synonymous with a new concept, labelled ‘the connected camera.’ We were to target young, urban ‘social-graphers’ in the UK and US – trendsetters with a passion for photography and sharing images with friends.

We teamed up with Time Out – the only media outlet that could reach our highly targeted audience internationally – in a genuine partnership that saw a commercial company take over the magazine’s iconic front covers in March 2013 for the first time ever.

And the core of our idea was a story the Time Out team could get passionate about. We harnessed the transatlantic rivalry between New York and London, inviting residents to prove whose city was the best by sharing photos of the hidden, the beautiful and the gritty.

By sharing their ‘now’ in real-time, online – just as Samsung’s new category of device allows.

We smashed the quantitative KPIs Samsung set for the campaign. Most importantly, from being a little-used phrase, Google Trends analysis shows a huge spike in use of the term “Connected Camera” when the project was launched.

Other camera makers are now developing their own connected cameras.

The project was promoted via Time Out’s editorial column, homepage banners and social channels, as well as consumer and trade press releases.

Five winners of a GALAXY camera were selected each week in London and New York. In February Samsung and Time Out chose three images from each city that they felt best captured the spirit of New York and London, and these six winners won a day with Time Out’s art director to shoot their own cover image for the magazine using the GALAXY, plus a trip to the opposing city. This was the first time Time Out had ever allowed a third party to create its covers; out of the final six a public vote decided the ultimate winner, announced end-March.

Every photograph submitted was compiled into mosaics of London and New York released via social networks and used as cover wraps on respective editions of Time Out.

Share your Now successfully launched the GALAXY, and created a whole new Connected Camera category: from being a little-used phrase, Google Trends analysis shows a huge spike in use of the term when the project was launched. Other manufacturers are now developing their own connected cameras.

Samsung wanted 2,000 photos to be submitted. By the end of the 12-week project, more than 15,000 photographs had been entered.

Share your Now achieved the highest level of consumer engagement Time Out had ever seen from a commercial partnership. The excellent relationship meant all coverage was positive and communicated messages to a combined New York/London circulation of 455,690.

The microsite had more than 127,000 page views and 56,000 visitors, and Facebook had close to 10,000 likes.

Samsung was so impressed, it asked the agency to create a toolkit for local teams so the project can be rolled out globally.