Videos: Samsung’s Smart, Entry-Level Marketing Play

November 24, 2014 by Dave Haynes

This is smart marketing, with several things in play.

Get some use cases happening in the marketplace via a simple, small business contest. Make the winners your product ambassadors. Then put them on an easily shared, familiar medium, instead of relying on trade publications to preach to the converted and jaded. And then time the release ahead of Small Business Saturday.

It’s so much easier to sell something when you can show it in context and in use by people who are peers. A small retailer can only vaguely identify with what a national chain does with digital signage, but they can quickly recognize their own business in what, say, a dessert shop does. It’s also hard for a machine the size of Sammy to find people using your product and understand whether there’s a marketing fit, but run a contest and give away (guessing) less than $10K of gear, and you can come up with people who are ready to go video and who know that was part of the deal.

The videos below are very nicely shot, and to Samsung’s credit, they do anything but jack-hammer the product. If anything, I’d say it’s almost a little too subtle. Nonetheless, nicely done and smart.

This is, by the way, the TV version of the Smart Signage program, not to be confused, but easily done, with the Smart Signage commercial panel program.

From the release:

Samsung has announced the winners of something called the Samsung Small Business ReDESIGN contest – effectively a mechanism to get the Samsung Smart Signage TV program into a series of small, diverse local businesses. Out of nearly 500 small businesses across the U.S. that entered, the five winners were:

• Heaven Sent Desserts, a veteran-owned dessert bakery and high-end cake shop in San Diego, California. Owner Lachlan Oliver was looking for a way to advertise Heaven Sent’s seasonal specials, custom cakes and catering services, as well as share video clips of their cake competition successes. As the bakery that created the extraordinary birthday cake for pop-superstar Beyonce, Oliver is thrilled to finally have a way to proudly show his creative work. 

http://youtu.be/SeodrkdxXSA

• The Boys and Girls Club of Harlem, New York. Interim Executive Director Edith Massiah knows the importance of sharing up-to-date event information and community volunteer opportunities to every person who walks through the door. “Winning this digital signage is a game changer for us,” said Massiah. “Many of the parents with children in our program do not have a computer at home to receive emails on Boys and Girls Club news, programs or schedule changes. The Samsung SSTV creates a seamless way to highlight these new programs, spread the word about volunteer opportunities and communicate club happenings with our members.”
• Paws on Main of Nyack, New York, a pet food and accessory retailer, and dog grooming salon. A new business owner, Jessica Walsh yearned for a creative way to display her unique dog grooming expertise, promote the local pet food items she sells and spread the word about community deals and events. The SSTV allows her to display shop specials and showcases her talents in the art of grooming to build her growing reputation as a local pet stylist.

http://youtu.be/tFDIiwQu9WQ

• The Empress Theatre, a 102-year-old Historic Vaudeville Theatre in heart of the arts and entertainment District of Vallejo, California.Tim MacDonald, president of the Vallejo Community Arts Foundation that manages the Empress Theatre, plans to leverage the Smart Signage TV to highlight upcoming shows, recognize sponsors and cross-promote with the other local businesses. “We’re excited to have a dynamic way to show our guests the role we play in the community and also raise awareness for some of the services we offer that they may not be aware of, like our show packages and private events. Smart Signage TV will also allow us to showcase what is happening inside the theatre while wrapping around information on our sponsors and other local businesses,” said MacDonald.
• Hosh Yoga, a non-profit wellness studio in Brooklyn, New York, committed to making people’s lives better through yoga. With over 12,000 visitors to the studio yearly, co-director Henry Cross wants his customers to know exactly what their donations help fund. The Smart Signage TV will provide a snapshot of all the programs throughout the NYC community, reaching over 2,800 adults, children, and seniors every month, as well as Hosh Yoga’s philosophy that health and wellness are a right, not a luxury. 

http://youtu.be/zwlh79Z1__4