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In a continuation of the "retailtainment" trend we reviewed last year (1), Samsung recently opened a retail location whose sole purpose is to showcase its products, including those that aren't yet released to American consumers, and offer patrons an "experience" with their brands in the hopes that they'll become enthusiastic advocates of Samsung brands. As incredible as it is to believe, this 10,000 sq. ft., multi-million dollar "experience" as Samsung likes to call it, is situated right in the heart of the new Time Warner Center's Shops and there's not a single cash register in sight.
More than simply a showcase for its product, Samsung Experience is crystallizing what traditional media has been petrified of since the birth of the internet: an alternative way to communicate to consumers without them. In fact, Samsung believes that this channel is so powerful, they're hoping to leverage it on behalf of their content partners to launch their new television pilots, films, music, etc. Imagine what would happen if Hollywood, the #1 profit generator for broadcast television, discovers that they can actually launch new films without the huge budget outlays required for television, using retail-outlets-cum-media?
This Experience is also indicative of the innovative ways in which consumer product companies are fighting off competition from their retail partners' private labels (2); how they're cutting through the clutter of traditional media advertising; all the while tapping into the hottest marketing initiative today, experiential (3).
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Footnotes
1 "Shoppintainment, Multi-Branding, Packaging as Media"
3 "The Future of Media Planning and Media Marketing"
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