How does Samsung ensure its omnichannel teams are fully equipped to drive the commercial success of two new flagship ranges? Moreover, how does Samsung achieve this in secret and then engage with 15,400 field sales consultants and 7,500 contact centre advisors?
It commissions experiential experts Blue Square to create and host a Samsung National Training Summit (NTS) in a secure pre-embargo setting two weeks ahead of the commercial launch.
The successful pre-launch NTS for the Samsung Galaxy S23 Series and Galaxy Book3 Series on 18 and 19 January 2023 required meticulous planning and outstanding execution.
The overall aim of the NTS was to fully immerse the Samsung sales team in the next generation of Galaxy devices so they could ‘share the epic’ with thousands of field sales consultants (FSCs) and contact centre (CC) advisors ahead of the official Samsung Unpacked launch on 1 February.
Blue Square was tasked with the specific objectives of bringing to life the best phone camera in the industry and experiencing ultimate gaming performance. This meant being responsible for everything from the initial creative thinking and logistics planning through to delivering a unique and memorable event.
The first challenge was to source the right venue. It would need to meet strict security protocols and provide enough space to host a plenary event with keynote speakers and build four experiential training zones.
Working under a code name to ensure maximum security, the team opted for The Eastside Rooms in Birmingham. It not only met the security and space brief, its Midland location made it convenient for the 218 delegates travelling from across the UK and Ireland, and for attendees from the Three Contact Centre in India.
Blue Square took over the venue, building seven main training areas – Main Stage, Photography Playground, Gaming With Galaxy, Better Together, New Computing and Accreditation Lab. Digital and physical signage throughout kept attendees on track.
The NTS kicked off with high-impact, high-energy keynote presentations delivered by nine experts in their fields.
These included strategic business updates from Annika Bizon (Omnichannel and Marketing Director for Samsung UK), David Thompson (Head of Training for Samsung UK) and Bora Yucel (Head of Retail & Contact Centre for Samsung UK), as well as market insights from Connor Triggs (Head of Strategy at Blue Square’s sister company Pulse).
Blue Square Samsung product experts Luke Norbury and Charlotte Kaleda then unveiled the new devices live on stage.
The keynote session ended with a Q&A with Lee Dinham and Kadesh Beckford from the Samsung UK MX Product Team, giving attendees the chance to learn more about how the devices will be brought to market.
During the day, attendees joined colour-coded groups for various experiences, including deep dive training workshops.
The aim of the training was to provide the sales teams with ‘reasons to believe’ then share these reasons with the total UK and Ireland sales channel.
Blue Square hosts seeded 450 Galaxy S23 devices securely, giving the attendees maximum hands-on time for the execution and personalisation of content. This would prepare them to deliver the training to the retail FSCs and CC online advisors.
The activation focused on giving the sales teams clear Customer Experience Point (CXP) breakdowns.
The new Galaxy S23 Series is the first Samsung smartphone to feature a massive 200 million-pixel image sensor. Add that to its adaptive pixel technology and 12MP dual-pixel AF front-facing camera and it’s clear to see why the focus (if you’ll excuse the pun) of the NTS was on bringing to life the epic camera and Nightography CXP.
To achieve this, Blue Square used its event experience to partner with specialist suppliers Event Trees and On Productions to create the Never Been Done Before (NBDB) Photography Playground and Gaming Zone.
The Photography Playground comprised three exploration areas:
Equipped with professional photography backdrops, lighting and props, the camera zones enabled attendees to experience the outstanding features of the S23 series for themselves.
The NBDB zones also allowed the delegates to build their own personal toolkit for comparing the new S23 series against legacy Samsung phones and competitor devices.
Two groups of trainers per zone were on hand to explain and demonstrate the S23’s adaptive pixel and Nightography features. Attendees created their own life moments by shooting selfies, portraits and videos in lowlight conditions.
The Nightography zone which featured a graffiti neon wall and light trace area was a particular favourite, allowing attendees to take photos and videos in low-light environments.
Also available were a section of 12 props presented on a lit wall plinth (such as an old school dial telephone, vibrant paint and a chrome and glass cafetière), capturing high-quality detailed images possible with the 200MP sensor and adaptive pixel technology.
While the Photography Playground provided the best method to discover the photographic qualities of the new series, the Gaming Zone gave attendees the opportunity to experience the gaming capabilities and extended battery life of the Galaxy S23 Series.
Samsung also released the Galaxy Book3 Series, including the Galaxy Book3 Ultra the most powerful Samsung computing solution. We created a dedicated experience, showcasing performance enhancements across the new portfolio and a better together message that highlights next-level connected experiences powered by the Galaxy Book3 and Galaxy S23 series.
Overall, the Blue Square teams provided delegates with the materials and confidence they needed to have meaningful conversations with customers about smart tech.
As a result of the January NTS, field teams across UK and Ireland were fully equipped to deliver the business strategy for the new Galaxy S23 Series and the Galaxy Book3 Series.
