Motorola is flipping expectations with its 2025 lineup of Razr foldable phones, placing artificial intelligence at the center of its latest marketing campaign.
Collaborating with creative agency Los York, Motorola recruited singer-songwriter Coco Jones, who starred in a launch film that debuted at a New York City event, complete with a live musical performance. The campaign highlights how AI integration enhances the user experience across all three devices.
The campaign strategy includes connected TV, social media, retail, and search ads.
Here’s what iSpot’s Creative Assessment platform revealed on actual viewer response to the campaign.
The Details:
- Across the full gen pop audience, the :30 “Say hello to #razr60ultra” far surpassed the :15 “Get the More Intelligence Mobile” on every creative performance aspect, with the :30 trouncing mobile phone advertising norms (past 90 days):
- A healthy 56% of all viewers reported positive consideration for the brand after seeing “Say hello” to outpace category benchmarks by +8 pts.
- Although the :15 “Get the more Intelligence Mobile” highlighting Google Gemini did not spark the same level of intent, it did resonate better with younger viewers as well as the earliest tech adopters:
- The :30’s stronger intent was built upon very broad appeal.
- The audio track in the :30 “Say hello” was more forward vs other mobile phone ads, but the product itself still managed to stand out successfully:
- Viewer comments on the “Say hello” reflected positive nostalgia for flip phones in general as well as an appreciation for the modernization of the presentation.
- Some distrust of the foldable screens and AI was also noted, but most did not pick up on the AI features.
- Overall, sentiment on the :30 was more positive vs the :15, which was a bit more direct in the presentation of AI features.
- Viewer comments on the “Say hello” reflected positive nostalgia for flip phones in general as well as an appreciation for the modernization of the presentation.
Sample comments on “Say hello to #razr60ultra” :30
“I like the modern feel of the product and ad and the youthfulness, although a little exotic at the same time. This ad, in short, really fits the product, given how different the product is.”
Male 21-35
“I personally don’t like flip phones just because I feel like they would crack too easily with frequent flipping so this ad didn’t really fit me.”
Female 16-20
“The ad grabs your attention when you see the screen fold. I have seen the phone before but what I learned now was the color options and what appears to be the look and texture of the case.”
Male 50+
“I’m really tired of AI. It’s killing our planet wasting energy for trivial junk people do not really care about. I refuse to use products with AI. It’s garbage.”
Female 36-49
“It was really informative and really showcased the phone. It made it seem relevant and competitive as a cell phone.”
Female 36-49
“I currently have this phone and the music is so nostalgic to the old Timbaland beats from back in the 2000s, as well as the flip phone making a comeback! This is exciting!”
Male 21-35
“I really liked the visuals, it was rather eye-catching. I didn’t know the Razr was coming back and making it look so cutting edge was surprising.”
Female 50+
“I do like the Motorola brand. I’ve owned one in the past. However, these foldable screens are trash. They DON’T last. So it ends up being a 900 dollar Motorola Razr paperweight.”
Male 36-49
“I didn’t know Motorola phones still existed. I like how they are like flip phones back in a modern way!”
Female 16-20
- The AI features were referenced at least generally in about 18% of the positive sentiment on “Get the More Intelligence Mobile”:
- Samsung’s :30 “Drop the Noise” outpaced “Say hello” in driving consumer intent, but the #Razr60Ultra spot compared favorably to another Samsung spot that was more forward about AI features, as well as Apple’s latest “Workout”:
- Some viewer sentiment on the Samsung “A True AI Companion” was less positive due to the concept of highly scheduled lives and/or ongoing attachment to phones, but the AI presence was communicated with more clarity:
- Some of the AI commentary might simply be related to the feature presented while other applications of the technology might land with more emphasis.
- Some of the AI commentary might simply be related to the feature presented while other applications of the technology might land with more emphasis.
“Underwhelming because it doesn’t stand out amid mobile tech advertisements. I probably wouldn’t buy this brand, but I was somewhat interested in seeing the product’s features.”
Male 36-49
“It was very well made, though I would like to know what else the phone could do besides using AI to keep track of the owner’s health.”
Female 16-20
“I like the idea of tracking sleep and your day but don’t like the idea of jumping on a phone first thing every morning.”
Female 36-49
“This commercial was stressful and evoked something in me that wants to run from the product. The confines of being hyper scheduled and tied to your phone is not healthy.”
Female 36-49
“I’m an Apple user so probably not something I’m going to buy but the commercial was cool. It looks like there are some cool features in the product. Especially with AI.”
Male 36-49
“I don’t think we should be leaning into AI the way so many companies are. Have you all learned nothing from the multitude of theories and movies in which society does?!”
Female 36-49
“I don’t need AI running my day. I am tired of companies just sticking the AI label on something and expecting me to buy it.”
Male 36-49
“I love how the ad shows the AI capabilities available for this device as this is something I have been interested in.”
Female 21-35
“Everybody is using AI now and I feel like you as a company could be doing something different. And also I feel like the interface was really cluttered.”
Female 21-35
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Creative Agency: Los York