The 'Thank You' campaign by Samsung aimed to spread the message of "Just say thankyou. It always brings a smile." on the Internet world, which has been wrought with negative attacks under anonymity. The campaign has been acclaimed for making the online world a better place, as well as contributing greatly in enhancing Samsung's corporate img. It is also an unprecedented example of incorporating animated characters as vehicles for marketing. The campaign made clever use on the variations of the Korean phrase 'Go-map-seup-ni-da'(meaning thankyou) as names for animated characters. 'Go-map-gun'('gun' also meaning 'boy'), 'Go-ma-un-geol ('geol' meaning 'girl'), 'Go-map-so'('so' meaning 'cow') are Korean phrases that have double meanings. These 9 animated characters were used in an integrated marketing campaign encompassing various channels such as viral, blogs, PR, and co-promotion with major portal websites. The campaign site has also become a key example of Web 2.0 marketing in Korea, establishing its role as a 'communication hub' where power bloggers, as well as ordinary users, could participate in creating a variety of online contents and engage in an interactive relationship with Samsung. The 9 Thank You Campaign Mascots The campaign created a friendly approach towards users using 9 variations on the phrase Go-map-seup-ni-da(meaning Thank you) for its animated character names. These phrases capture the double entendres of the Korean language which uses an extensive system of honorifics, or speech levels, depending on the speakers relationship with the audience. - Go-map-gun (Boy) : The main male character of the Samsung Thank You campaign. This variation of Thank you is generally used by older people when addressing younger people, friends, or relatives. Gun is a verb ending that can also be used in addressing a younger male. - Go-ma-un-geol (Girl) : The main female character of the Samsung Thank You campaign. Geol is a verb ending that represents exclamation, as well as sharing the same pronunciation with the English word Girl. - Go-map-so (Cow) : A character representing a cow in the Samsung Thank You campaign. Go-map-so itself is a formal spoken form of Thank you, generally used between older people. So is a verb ending that is also a homonym for Cow in Korean. - Go-map-su (Water) : A character representing a water bottle in the Samsung Thank You campaign. Go-map-su itself is an informal way of saying thanks. Su is a verb ending that is also a homonym for Water in Korean. - Go-ma-weo-yu (Milk) : A character representing a carton of milk in the Samsung Thank You campaign. Go-ma-weo-yu itself is a regional dialect of Thank you. Yu is a verb ending that also has the meaning of dairy, or milk. - Go-map-jui (Mouse) : A character representing a mouse in the Samsung Thank You campaign. Go-map-jui itself is a question that demands affirmation for a grateful deed. Jui is a verb ending that is popularly used by young people as an Internet dialect, to reflect cuteness. It also is a homonym for mouse in Korean. - Go-map-sam (Ginseng) : A character representing ginseng in the Samsung Thank You campaign. Sam is a new verb ending popularly used among young Internet users, as well as a word meaning ginseng in Korean. - Go-map-sae (Bird) : A character representing a bird in the Samsung Thank You campaign. Sae is a new verb ending popularly used among young Internet users, as well as a word meaning bird in Korean. - Go-ma-wom (Worm) : A character representing a worm in the Samsung Thank You campaign. wom is a new verb ending popularly used among young Internet users to evoke friendliness, as well as sharing the same pronunciation with the English word worm. ( For a detailed summary on the use of Korean honorifics, please refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_honorifics ) The 9 animated characters were recruited as members of a project singing band, to promote the 'Thank You Song' which was used as the campaign anthem. A flash animation showed the characters' comical dances along with the song in the format of banner ads. Users could easily identify with the public nature of the 'Thank you' campaign through the entertaining content. An indie band in support of the campaign volunteered to write the music for the song. Their addictive melodies reached over 3 million hits on the Internet. A flash animation game was also created, featuring 'Go-map-gun', the main character of the campaign, performing comical dance movements that were popular on the web at the time. With easy-to-use controls, users could make 'Go-map-gun' dance to the 'Thank You Song', and download it to their own blogs and homepages. The flash game gathered much attention on the web for conveying the campaign message in a fun, creative way. Instead of the traditional corporate website that communicated their information to consumers in a unilateral way, Samsung 'Thank You' campaign benchmarked blogs and adopted an open system where the main contents were created by the users themselves. Users could post their own 'thank-you' stories on the site, some of which were made into cartoons that were redistributed on the web. Users could also convey their heartfelt gratitude by sending 'Thank You e-mail', designed with the campaign characters, to their loved ones. The campaign also formed an alliance across the Internet with major portal sites and power bloggers, and established its status as a successful public online campaign that influenced users to voluntarily participate in spreading the message of "Thank you".