By early 2026, the smartphone market had fallen into a trap of sameness: megapixels, performance, AI features - brands were speaking virtually the same language, while new product launches were increasingly disappearing into the noise. For young consumers in Uzbekistan, however, a smartphone had long become more than a device. It was the primary tool for self-expression and for capturing meaningful moments. This led to a clear consumer insight: people want professional-looking photos without having to become professional photographers. The camera should keep up with real life - without complicated settings or post-processing. The answer was the TECNO CAMON 50 series - the only smartphone in its price segment to combine Zoom Snapshot, intelligent AI photography, and IP68/IP69/IP69K protection. But TECNO chose to go beyond demonstrating product features and turn the technology into an emotional experience. In March, the brand became the first in the market to launch a smartphone through a football-themed event - TECNO CUP 2026. Football became the perfect territory for CAMON 50: speed, movement, emotion, and moments that cannot be recreated. In this way, the product launch became a live demonstration of the brand’s core idea: CAMON 50 helps capture the moment before it is gone.
Problem
To launch a new TECNO smartphone, CAMON 50, and compete with dominant brands - TECNO’s share of the market is barely 2% - we had to make a strong appeal to emotions. We chose football - Uzbekistan is very passionate about football, people of all ages play it, and they became even more obsessed in 2026, when the national team qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in history. It was the story everyone was following, especially our TA - young men with family values. Football also fits our main Key Selling Points(KSP): the “Snapshot” function allows to clearly capture fast-moving objects and 60X Al Zoom records even from the furthest stadium seats. Furthermore, the traditional smartphone launch model - product presentations, press releases, and technical reviews-has become ineffective with young digital audiences. Modern users trust not advertising promises but their own experiences, influencer recommendations, and content that is as relevant to their everyday lives as possible.
Solution
We launched a multichannel campaign lasting over 6 weeks. We had to create strong emotional connection and still deliver our KSPs with multiple points of contact, employing a wide range of formats – native integrations, UGC, daily quiz, giveaways. Those were divided into three stages: preheat (to introduce KSPs), event (to win over bloggers) and sustain (to strengthen the link between KSPs and scenarios). During preheat we announced product launch in top UZ media and produced more technical reviews of smartphone features to ensure wide coverage and rouse interest for the KSPs. For the event, we gathered the most notable Uzbek bloggers and journalists for our TA and organized a friendly football match between them. It had to have a long term impact on opinion leaders, not just be a colourful one time event. We needed to produce something, which would become a significant part of their 2026 football experience, a unique moment, building trustworthy personal relationship with the brand, creating warm memories. To do that we invited legendary commentator Xayrulla Hamidov, the voice of these people’s childhood, to comment on the match. Our custom-made winners cup was filled with water, with waterproof CAMON 50 inside. In the experience zone smartphones were set up on radio-controlled cars, navigating the sandy terrain without any dust getting in. Spectators could capture the best moments on CAMON 50 set-up along the seats, contributing to the many simple but entertaining activities. These allowed us to create vibrant emotions and helped us gain bloggers’ loyalty and their bonus publications. During the sustain stage, 3 week long daily quizzes circled back to smartphone features in creative ways. Giveaway posts focused on telling a compelling story about connections we build with people – for example, gifting a CAMON 50 to a bread vendor went viral, gathering a lot of positive attention and over a million views.
Results
The campaign significantly exceeded targets, generating 190 publications (+78% vs. plan) and 13M+ views (+69%). Bloggers also created 55 bonus publications and 16 additional battery-related posts, boosting organic reach. The online contest attracted ~2.000 regular participants, propping the channel to a +56.93% total ER raise. All key CAMON 50 selling points, including Flash-Snap, Zoom, and AI features, were effectively covered.
