Fold Street at Old Street: Samsung’s Multi Format OOH Campaign

There are moments in out of home advertising when a campaign does more than appear in the environment. It physically reshapes it. Samsung’s Fold Street activation at Old Street did exactly that, turning one of East London’s busiest commuter hubs into a temporary landmark and proving how powerful multi format domination can be when creativity and location work together.

Why Old Street Was the Perfect Stage

Old Street sits at the heart of London’s tech and creative community. It is a station surrounded by startups, agencies, designers and early adopters, making it a natural home for a campaign celebrating innovation and design. Rather than relying on traditional poster placements alone, Samsung used the area itself as a canvas.

Through a Transport for London partnership, Old Street station was temporarily renamed Fold Street, with station name signage dominated throughout the space. This simple yet bold gesture immediately reframed the environment, ensuring every commuter understood that something different was happening before they even reached the platforms.

The Folded Bus That Stopped London

The centrepiece of the campaign was impossible to ignore. A full-size single decker bus appeared to have been folded upwards at a right angle, with its rear end lifted almost six metres into the air. Built to the accurate scale of a real London bus and measuring over six metres in height and width, the installation transformed a familiar object into something surreal.

This was not a replica for show. The structure incorporated recycled materials from real London buses and took around two months to design and build. Positioned in East London during peak commuter hours, the folded bus became a piece of public art that forced people to slow down, look up, and take notice.

Extending the Idea Beyond One Format

What made Fold Street especially effective was how the idea extended consistently across multiple formats. Alongside the folded bus, Samsung introduced a folded telephone box, lamppost and park bench, all echoing the core product message around flexibility and transformation.

Each installation reinforced the same creative thought while appearing organically within the urban landscape. Rather than feeling like separate executions, the pieces worked together to create a coherent world that commuters could physically move through.

Timing, Scarcity and Social Impact

The installations were live for a limited four-day window in July 2024, remaining in place until 27 July. This short duration added urgency and encouraged sharing. Commuters who stumbled across Fold Street did not just observe it, they documented it, photographed it and posted it.

The campaign generated attention far beyond the immediate footfall at Old Street, showing how physical out of home executions can trigger digital amplification when the idea is strong enough.

What Fold Street Shows About Modern OOH

Samsung’s Fold Street takeover demonstrates the evolution of out of home advertising from static media into experiential storytelling. By combining station domination, public art, environmental transformation and precise audience targeting, the campaign delivered memorability that traditional formats alone struggle to achieve.