Samsung Experience Imagines Innovation

2007 Year in Review I Samsung Experience

From celebrity-product launches to successful charity events, the Samsung Experience looks back with pride on this abundant year.

Samsung’s Hope for Education, the educational and philanthropic program designed to increase technology programs in our educational system, partnered with teen music sensations Aly & AJ for its 2007 program launch on April 11 at the Samsung Experience. Samsung, Microsoft and the Magic Johnson Foundation are the sponsors of the Hope for Education school essay contest, endowing the winning schools with up to $60,000 in technology products. Students and teachers from local award-winning schools also attended a performance by Aly & AJ, as well as a press conference, where they met the teen superstars. The Hope for Education program, in its fourth year, is a demonstration of Samsung’s unwavering commitment to making a positive difference in the lives of our youth by supporting education in schools nationwide.

Aly & AJ, Hope for Education Spokespeople

Aly & AJ perform at the Samsung Experience

The BlueSeat program, an unparalleled look inside the independent film industry, teamed up with the Samsung Experience to screen its Golden Globe-nominated film, “Atonement”. On December 13, the Samsung Experience staff transformed its showroom into the Experience’s first-ever movie screening room. One hundred and fifty guests attended, including key media, NYU film students, and BlueSeat.com members. Following the reception, the CEO of Focus Films, James Schamus, participated in a Q&A session with the eager crowd. We understand that it takes dedication and unwavering commitment to stay focused on one’s vision; so it was a pleasure to be a part of such an exciting event.

CEO of Focus Films, James Schamus, in a Q&A session with the crowd

The ongoing partnership with the renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center has also been a substantial highlight this year at the Samsung Experience. On the second Wednesday of every month, professional performers from Jazz at Lincoln Center entertain an average of 150 guests at the Samsung Experience. This opportunity to enjoy great music is yet another fantastic offering from the Samsung Experience. With ongoing programs like this one, the Samsung Experience reaches out to all walks of life in the very diverse New York City.

As we move into 2008, the Samsung Experience will continue to grow and thrive in this innovative industry.


By Nikki Stelma
Event Coordinator

Juke Spins Some Cool

2007 Year in Review I New Jersey

Juke. What a cool word.

The word juke originates from Gullah, the language of former West African slaves of the South Carolina and Georgia coastline. (If you have ever vacationed in Hilton Head or Sea Island, that’s Gullah country.)

The first definition of juke was, “wicked, bad, disorderly”. Over time, the word gave rise to juke joint, a roadside establishment where one could find booze, music, dancing, and maybe a prostitute out back.

In the 1930s, a newfangled record-playing device was introduced to the juke joint; the device was named the juke box − and juke has been synonymous with music ever since.

This fall, STA asked Cheil to launch a new music phone: Juke. It was the first phone in America to have a “switchblade” action when it opens.

In other words, Juke was wickedly cool. The challenge was that the communication had to juggle many balls. The brief contained multiple tasks that we needed to convey to our audience. First and foremost, we had to talk about the switchblade action. Then it was necessary to actually demonstrate this in an entertaining way. Of course, there was the obvious need to make it musical. Our final goal was to create a mnemonic device − something catchy.

Integrated teams from both interactive and traditional creative were formed to work on the project. Our focus was on the big idea; an idea that had to be translated across multiple platforms.

The integrated team of Johanna Rustia and Jeff Babson gave birth to that big idea. The inspiration came from the phone itself. We saw the phone as a marriage between the music and the movement; but the movement is what motivated us.

The result was the tagline, “A new spin on the music phone”. The core visual showed how the Juke handset mimicked a turntable arm. The phone opened and positioned itself over a traditional vinyl record, eliciting the music to play. What was great was that the creativity of the advertising focused entirely on the product.

Johanna and Jeff had conceived the idea of an Internet contest; with a working title of “Juke Box Hero”. Tommy Kane, Senior Art Director, was brought in to complete the team. Still, we had no song.

It was Kirk Heinlein, General Manager of Cheil’s Dallas office, who had the genius for the song. Kirk suggested the rock & roll standard, “Juke Box Hero” by Foreigner. It turned out to be phenomenal. None of us ever thought that such an iconic song could be Juke’s theme.

The production for the television spots was created by Framestore. The entire spot was composed digitally. Not one frame of film was shot. It was wild; we never left the office. All production was completed through the Internet and over the phone.

We created a 15-second teaser TV spot and a 30-second ad. The teaser spots mentioned Juke and Samsung 15 times in 15 seconds; and did it without being offensive. Not many spots can claim that success.

In the end, the result speaks for itself – it’s fabulous.

But I think that the best indication of the success of the Juke campaign is marked by the band Foreigner. Foreigner will proudly publicize that they were the creators of the song in the Juke commercials on their next album release. The word Juke continues to make music history.

Click here to check out Juke by Samsung website.


By Tom McManus
Creative Director of North America

Do All Canadians Live in Igloos?

2007 Year in Review I Canada

A common stereotype for those who have never visited our fine country is that it’s cold the year round, it snows all the time, and that many of us have dog sleds in the driveway. While many readers will realize that this is ridiculous, it pays to know what your consumers will pay attention to.

This kind of thinking turned out to be very successful for us in one of our most recent campaigns. When you understand your customers’ beliefs and preferences and speak to them in a way that resonates, the likelihood that they will be receptive to your message increases significantly. In an advertising world filled with clutter, it pays to get noticed. Our work, our clients’ business and the impact we have on consumers are all positively affected when we’re able to break through.

With the price of media consistently increasing and with new media opportunities popping up everywhere, ineffective media buying/planning and ambient clutter are obstacles that every campaign faces. For instance, in a subway terminal alongside hundreds of advertisers, retail stores and traffic, many key elements play a role in achieving a campaign that consumers actually interact with, as opposed to a campaign that they just “see”.

We approached this problem with many tactics in mind: the creative must stand out to be noticed, the message must be relevant, and advantageous placement of the media is pivotal. The true success of our campaign, however, was due to the target of the message being specific to the environment in which we were about to dominate. Maximizing the use of each and every medium is becoming more and more important in order to be recognized.

" Beer at the ACC - $10.
Beer at your
friend's place - free. "

In this case, we started with the standard that Canadians love hockey. In an attempt to build brand preference and brand attachment scores, Samsung Canada wanted to tap into the passion for the game. We decided to hit consumers with the message, “The game’s better at home on hockey’s HDTV” at the tunnel entrance to the Air Canada Center (ACC): The Toronto Maple Leafs arena. With the benefits of HDTV, the idea was that the best seats in the house are now at your house. Those walking into the ACC were hit with lines like, “LCD vs. ACC” and “Plasma vs. Platinum”. With the average price of Platinum tickets being in the $300 range, a family of four can buy an HDTV for the price of admission. The creative was full of other humorous analogies such as, “Beer at the ACC – $10. Beer at your friend’s place – free.”

We wanted to make certain that consumers knew that this was a lighthearted, innocent comparison to an arena that’s been sold out for decades. To ensure that our creative would stand out, we went with an integrated look and feel, using white ice as the visual cue to contrast the dark and drab subway station. The creative was hugely successful in emerging from its environment.


Stereotypes Pay Off

Two days after the campaign was posted, our broadcast partner received complaints from the ACC (owned by the Toronto Maple Leafs); they were not happy with consumers being hit with our message as they walked in and out of the ACC experience. Privately, they knew that there was nothing they could do about it; we had tapped into true, relevant fan experiences and we were having a bit of fun at the arena’s expense. The result is a campaign that people are spending time reading and chuckling about. And more importantly, our clients are very proud of the work and believe it’s effectively leveraging our hockey sponsorship.

So while we may not all live in igloos, some Canadian stereotypes turn out to be true: we love our hockey; and Cheil’s not afraid to leverage that.


By James Kawalecki
Senior Account Executive

New Year’s Messages Heard Around the World

2007 Year in Review I Dallas

Samsung Mobile, YouTube and Warner Music Group offers the YouTube community a way to share their New Year’s messages with the world.

At the turn of every New Year, each culture celebrates in a unique way. Some ring church bells or eat twelve grapes for luck, while others watch the ball drop over Times Square and toast with champagne.

For 2008, people from around the world participated in a new tradition. Samsung Mobile invited its global community to share their year-end thoughts and experiences with others through “A Samsung Mobile New Year’s 2008” powered by YouTube.

Samsung asked people across the globe to make a video answering one of four New Year’s themed questions and to post it to youtube.com/samsungnewyears. They addressed one of the following topics in their video:

1. In one word, reveal your personal mission for 2008.
2. Recount the best or worst thing that happened to you in 2007.
3. Tell us what cool things you’ve done with your mobile phone this year.
4. Share with us what features you’d like to see in Samsung Mobile phones for 2008.

Along with these user-generated videos, over 25 award-winning artists from the Warner Music Group submitted their own New Year’s videos, including original content from Matchbox Twenty, Lupe Fiasco and James Blunt. In addition, an exclusive full-length New Year’s concert with performances by Simple Plan and critically-acclaimed rapper Talib Kweli is available on the Samsung Mobile New Year’s page to further engage the online community in the program.


With the novel integration of Google Maps into the Samsung New Year’s homepage, viewers can navigate through a world map to pinpoint and view the videos submitted from Brazil, Thailand, Ireland or even their own hometown. This unprecedented fusion of Google Maps and YouTube helped bring the world together to ring in New Year’s like never before.

As the exclusive sponsor, Samsung Mobile received over 4 billion U.S. impressions through search and display advertising within Google and YouTube (including YouTube homepage takeovers and in-video overlays). With the program site being translated into 11 languages, the Samsung Mobile New Year’s celebration was truly a worldwide event that we celebrated together.


About YouTube

YouTube is the world’s most popular online video community, allowing millions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe, and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small. As of January 2008, YouTube surpassed 850 million global video views per day.


About Warner Music Group

With its broad roster of new stars and legendary artists, Warner Music Group is home to a collection of the best-known record labels in the music industry. The list includes Asylum, Atlantic, Bad Boy, Cordless, East West, Elektra, Lava, Nonesuch, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner, Rykodisc, Sire, Warner Bros., and Word.


By Adrian De La Garza
Account Supervisor

Samsung North America's Challenge to Trade Up and Treasure Hunt

2007 Year in Review I New Jersey

At this year’s North American Marketing Summit, Samsung was privileged to hear from a leading consumer-marketing expert, Michael J. Silverstein. Silverstein is a senior partner and managing director at The Boston Consulting Group; and for over 25 years he has worked with consumer goods, retail and service companies.

Silverstein is an authority on consumer behavior, spending and innovation. His books, Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods — and How Companies Create Them and Treasure Hunt, describe his findings about recent changes in consumer behavior.

Silverstein’s session challenged the summit’s participants to consider a new consumer paradigm. Over the last 15 years, women have created a revolution in consumer products and retailing. Women are entering the workforce in greater numbers, earning parity wages and, in most cases, are responsible for 100% of discretionary family income. These are the primary forces behind the new consumer economy. Furthermore, Silverstein predicts that by 2030 women will earn more than men on average, and will be using that spending power to trade down nearly twice as often as they trade up.

He shared with us, “Consumers today have more discretionary income, more cash, more product knowledge, more sophisticated tastes and far more product choice than ever before. We believe that consumers will only grow more discriminating in their purchases. It is clear that consumers around the world are willing to pay a premium for goods that they believe deliver better quality, higher performance and more emotional benefits than do conventional goods.”


Savvy Shoppers

In ongoing studies, consumers tell us that they are happy, financially secure and looking forward to the future. They also tell us that they believe in themselves, their families and their dreams. A big part of the consumer’s mission is acquiring goods at the best possible price. Success is a treasure hunt. Therefore, in this era of smart, strategic shopping our companies need to think differently about their offerings. Specifically, companies need to present their commodities as treasures, not just bargains. They have to create a regular cycle of innovation as well as relentlessly drive costs down.

Michael J. Silverstein at the North American Marketing Summit

To the savvy shopper, the new “cheap” has to be more than just cheap; it has to be good. Whenever a consumer makes a purchase of any kind, he or she makes a detailed analysis of many factors to determine how the value of the product compares with the price. These factors include the technical and functional features of the product, the price of the cheapest alternative, the intangibles of the brand, and the circumstances at the purchase moment. Sometimes, people make the value calculation instantly. At other times, it takes weeks of thought and comparison-shopping. Occasionally, consumers get the value calculus wrong; but most of the time, they get it very right. It fits their hopes, dreams and imagination. It is the salve for the ailments of modern life.

As a result, most consumers, especially those with standard incomes, are constantly making careful choices and complex tradeoffs when it comes to spending money. They often trade down; buying the quality they need at the lowest price they can find. Occasionally they trade up, splurging on certain things that hold meaning and value for them. Now and again, they’ll settle for something in the middle. These consumer behaviors have created whole new patterns of spending and saving. People save a little in one category so they can spend more in another. They make one important purchase and opt out of purchases in other categories to make up for it.

On his work, Silverstein says, “We focus on empathy, understanding and a directed, targeted response. We help our clients invent new products that deliver technical, functional and emotional brand advantages.” In the months that follow, Samsung will be launching marketing programs that will reflect the ideals of Silverstein’s work and wisdom.

By Joy Fournier
Customer Engagement Planner

Samsung's U-Beat: The Rhythm of Success

2007 Year in Review I Mexico

The Challenge: The Art of Fun

In our daily wave of work, we received a new brief about the launch of the MAX-DX75 (76 & 79) music system. This new mini component promised to be the next center of fun. It played music, showed great design, and was ready to connect with other devices like microphones (semi-karaoke), USB host, HDMI out for TV, and Virtual Surround Sound for movies and video games. The whole party was packaged in a state-of-the-art black box designed for multimedia seekers — the cool young people. It was the most advanced entertainment system to date.

The Campaign: Fun in Each Beat

The strategy and the media planning included ATL and BTL such as prints, outdoors, pop, cross promotions and activations at different points along the most important cities in Mexico. The first thing we did was look at the concept. We baptized the MAX with the name U-Beat: imagine fun in each beat. The art direction was based on the concept that the wire was the magic connection to a world of entertainment possibilities.

The Launch: Summertime Rock

The U-Beat was launched with a 360º campaign in midsummer 2007, the right time to attract young people looking for fun. The activities included a big launch on the stage of the Mexico City Hard Rock Cafe with a live band, to the U-Beat Man Tour, with shows at universities, dance clubs and shopping malls. We also advertised with press and magazine ads, POP materials, interactive CDs and banners.


The Results: Top Ten Success

According to the information given by the Audio & Video division, the U-Beat broke all previous sales records. Thanks to the U-Beat, the whole division had great sales growth: the number of sold units in sound systems went from 3,785 in 2006 to 12,206 in 2007, a 222% sales increase.


This is an example of how things can work if both halves of the team, the Samsung Marketing Staff and the Cheil Communications Mexico Team, come together with the same spirit of success.

Carlos Sandoval
Creative Director

CES 2008

Every year, CES serves as a showcase for Samsung’s products. For Samsung, this year was all about slim design TVs and the new up-and-coming OLED TVs. Here are a few photos from this year’s Samsung booth.