Going beyond the traditional pop-up retail experience, Samsung Galaxy Studios seek to immerse consumers in brand discovery. Galaxy Studios showcase Samsung’s ecosystem of products and services through a unique lens of innovation and enable guests to share and discover how technology can help them propel their passions and do more. The Studios atmosphere allowed consumers to touch, feel and test-drive throughout the technology-focused activations and see first-hand how Samsung technology fits into their everyday life. The technology-focused activations and live entertainment encouraged guests to create, share and discover what they can do with specific Samsung devices including: creating and sharing 360 sensory videos, transforming selfies into artwork using the GS8, traveling to space in a 4D VR spaceship and playing sports using kinetic sensors and the Gear S3.

Each Galaxy Studio, approximately 139 square meters, is custom retro-fit for its location to represent the Samsung brand. Designed to look industrial and modern to connect with tech-savvy consumers, a team of production individuals were brought in to construct and operate each location. Throughout the five-city pop-up installations, load-in required approximately ten to fourteen days with 40 team members covering labor, production and the interactive installations. To run each pop-up, Samsung employed twelve brand ambassadors and products experts to connect with consumers and street teams to market the space to nearby areas. Each location was open 7 days a week during optimal shopping hours. To drive awareness, Samsung conducted targeted outreach to Galaxy owners and brand loyalists via Samsung’s website, email newsletters and social channels, and leveraged Beacons proximity marketing to drive foot-traffic via target messages to visitors’ mobile devices as they approached the predefined areas.

Since launch, the Studios have seen:

• Over 231K guests have walked through its doors accounting for nearly 1.3M engagements, over 643K device interactions and over 1,200 devices on-boarded.

• Samsung Galaxy Studios successfully improved brand opinion trust and overall advocacy by receiving an NPS score of 55+ where 86% of guests said Samsung is brand they can trust.

• 91% of visitors said visiting the Studio improved their overall opinion of the brand.

• Guests are not just visiting the pop-up locations, they are engaging with product, creating and sharing moments using technology and tapping customer care specialists to explore the full capabilities of Samsung’s products and services.

In 2017, as part of a global initiative, Samsung Electronics America launched Samsung Galaxy Studios to host culturally relevant experiences across the country that uses technology to power edutainment events. The Samsung Galaxy Studios pop-up installations were in Dallas, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, and Las Vegas and immersed guests in the Samsung brand, allowing them to get a hands-on, try-before-you-buy experience exploring the latest Galaxy products in-situ, through real-life use cases. Galaxy Studios showcased various interactive activations including 4D VR Theatre, hands-on art experiences and customer care specialists, highlighting the many features of the Samsung Galaxy ecosystem.

To reach new consumers and expand their loyalist community, Samsung reinvented the retail experience and took the untraditional approach to Galaxy Studios pop-ups. Across the country, Samsung sought to tap into the customer’s local pride by staying authentic to the city’s origin. The Studios highlight interconnectivity between the Galaxy ecosystem through dynamic activations, with GS8 at the center – highlighting the screen, camera, and water resistance feature. For each Studio launch, Samsung utilized its network of creators and collaborators to drive attendance. The launch events offered guests live in-concert VR experience with Coldplay, unforgettable live concerts including Jhene Aiko, Cold War Kids, Martina McBride, strategic talent appearances to do meet-and-greets among the interactive stations where consumers could leverage technology to create and share their stories. Samsung created impactful charitable partnerships with The Boys and Girls Club and F*ck Cancer, enabling local doers to give back via a technology-powered fundraising element.

In the U.S. Samsung has very little direct-to-consumer touchpoints. The Galaxy Studio pop-ups were designed to go beyond the device by humanizing the brand and create opportunities for authentic device interactions. The Studios provided visitors unprecedented access to their product ecosystem via experiences, interactive activities, customer care and immersive programming. Similar to their digital hub in New York, Samsung 837, Samsung scaled the experiential retail model through direct-to-consumer touchpoints and reinventing the shopping experience to focus on interaction rather than transaction and reaches beyond foot traffic and direct sales. The Studios’ seek to connect with consumers through engaging experiences, premium care with Samsung Care specialists so guests can imagine the Samsung suite of products in various aspects of their life. Samsung developed Galaxy Studios to build brand equity, engagement, pride to own and purchase intent; drive switching/upgrading and premium customer care during all phases of the sale.