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The Big Impression
Samsung’s Allison Stransky on the future of AI in the home — and beyond
00:28:31
Samsung Electronics America’s CMO discusses how its AI-powered SmartThings home-automation features will benefit consumers.
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- [00:00]
A
I'm Damian Fowler.
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B
And I'm Ilise Lifring.
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A
And welcome to this edition of the Big Impression.
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B
Today we're joined by Allison Stransky, Chief marketing officer at Samsung Electronics America. She's led brand strategy at global companies like Google and l' Oreal and now drives Samsung's vision for the connected home.
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A
Alison's here to talk about Samsung's new campaign your Home speaks you. Launched in June, the campaign highlights the joy of a home that feels more personal. Showing how Samsung's connected products and Galaxy AI come together in everyday moments. Think a washer dryer that finishes a load in 68 minutes or a fridge that tells you to order some more cheese.
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B
You know, I love that idea. It's an omnichannel campaign built on real consumer insights about what homeowners actually need and how connected tech can save time, reduce stress and make life a little easier.
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A
So let's get into it.
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B
So Alison, the campaign you home speaks to you. It really redefines the home not just as a space but as a feeling. And for the first time, it actually connects all of Samsung's various products into one overall story where anybody can pair these devices throughout the home together. Can you discuss the campaign and then how you translated that vision into the creative?
- [01:32]
C
Absolutely. So the initial insight behind you'd home speaks you is that we are all unique individuals and so are our homes, but also our homes are unique reflection of ourselves. And this actually went back to a campaign that we launched in 2024. But in 25 we took a really exciting evolution which as you said was the first time we made a wide reaching video, digital video campaign featuring multiple Samsung products working together because we wanted to really convey to consumers who know, consumers who don't know how much more you can get out of the Samsung ecosystem when you connect it all through SmartThings. And what is also net new how Galaxy AI takes those benefits really to the next level. So we are firm believers in how incredible our products are and how amazing they can all be when they work together. But we needed to translate that into something really tangible and relatable. So that's where it came to life in this campaign. We featured four different hero products. The two TVs, a combo washer dryer and the bespoke fridge in sequence with a number of mobile products because that is where a lot of the real benefits of the interoperability can start to happen. And then looked for real emotional insights to drive the storyline. So to turn that idea into a campaign, it all starts with the data. So we wanted to start by understanding the features and the benefits that our consumers like the most about our products and how our products work together. And then we took that data and turned them into insights. So to give you an example of kind of how that worked, I'll start with the bespoke combo washer dryer. This is a new product that we launched in 2025. It does a wash and a dry all in one cycle in 68 minutes. So this is the fastest combo washer dryer on the market, which is great. Fast speed is a great benefit. But when you connect to SmartThings and you start working with all of your devices, you can really take your efficiency to the next level through things like notifications. But the human insight that comes into play is imagine that you are coming home and have to get ready for a date and you find that your dog is sitting on the clothes that you laid out for your date and your now brief tells you you have to be out the door in 75 minutes. Well, Samsung saves the day or the date night with the combo washer dryer and the sequence of notifications so you can get ready to go. And that's how really we thought about the whole campaign of bringing it together is it started with a product, it's made better by SmartThings and AI, but it's really a data driven human insight that takes the whole thing and brings it to life.
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B
Oh yeah, that's really cool. I know. It took me two and a half hours to do laundry the other night.
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A
That's way too long.
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B
And your own research has found that 76% of households already own at least one Samsung product and then 27% have three or more. So how did those data insights actually help you shape the campaign?
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C
Well, it is, those are, that is data that we're really proud of. We are so proud to be in 76% of households. But then when you look at the drop off between 76% have at least one Samsung product and 27% have three or more. We really believe in the benefits that are unlocked when all of our products are working together. So in theory, only 27% of households are realizing this state that we know can be possible. So it is one of the things that has driven this is like it is important for you to unlock all of the features and all of the capabilities of whether it's your appliance, your TV or your phone, they really are better together. So that was one of the drivers behind this campaign. Another one of the drivers Is, you know, we launched Galaxy AI in 2024 and now we've been over this hurdle of there is strong awareness of Galaxy AI and AI in general, of what it is and what it can do. But we need to help consumers along on this journey of seeing all the benefits that AI can unlock. So we talk about Galaxy AI as being your true AI companion. And what we mean by that is we've moved beyond automation and it's personalized, predictive, anticipating your needs and offering you meaningful personal insights. And that's something else that we want to start telling the story of because that's the thing that's going to get you to say, oh my gosh, my phone can do so much more. And now enter SmartThings. My phone and my fridge or my phone and my TV can help me start building this really amazing connected lifestyle that's going to help me insert the benefit that is relevant to you. Is it save time? Is it have a better movie watching experience? There's so many things that this can enable that that was it was those things that added up to really inspiring us to create this campaign.
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A
I'm really interested to hear a little bit more about the style and the tone of the aesthetic of this campaign. How it aligns this futuristic vision with very human insights.
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C
We always think not just about the tech itself, but the design. So it really goes back to the product and how we our products because it is not just about having this functional high tech tv, refrigerator, et cetera, but we want them to be designed forward and fit them beautifully into your house. So that's, you know, our baseline philosophy as it came to this campaign. We want to represent how beautiful and design forward the products are, but also Samsung the brand as a whole. So we are joyful, colorful, open, inclusive as a brand. And so to get that feeling and to bring that to life, we worked with an amazing team. Crispin was our creative partner and Mathery was our director duo partner who really brought that vision to life. So Crispin was not new for us. We have been working with them since 2024 and so they really get and feel our brand. But Mathery is a creative team that we and the Crispin team have really admired and wanted to have an opportunity to work with because we felt like they really get it. They get Samsung, they get what they're trying to do and then they bring their own incredible spin to it. So two of the things that I loved about them and I will say they all this team really surpassed expectations. One was their approach to color Like I said, we are a design forward, colorful brand and they really captured a very modern look and feel. But then secondly, they have an incredible attention to detail that I hope our viewers pick up on when they watch the spots and see all these tiny little things that came together. One of my favorite examples of that was in our Neo QLED 8K TV spot. The the storyline was that this couple is obsessed with westerns and they want to have the most immersive TV western viewing experience, but their whole house is designed like western fans and there's all this little attention to detail in tiny hats and cowboy boots that they strategically placed everywhere in the spot. And when we saw it come to life, we just, like I said, it surpassed our expectations and we know we picked the right team.
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A
Alison, I'd really love to ask you a little bit more about the actual media buying strategy behind the campaign. Can you elaborate?
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C
Absolutely. So, you know, it's really special to work at this brand. A lot of CMOs have a lot of love for their brand. I've had love for Samsung before I worked here, so I feel fortunate to have this seat. And everything that we create is so it's thought out from the product perspective, from the communication perspective, from the media buying perspective, because we want to make sure one, you understand what we are trying to do. Two, we reach the right people. Something else that is unique about working in a brand that has touched this many households is one of the reasons we've done that is we have so many products and part of that is getting the right message to the right person at the right time. Because if you're going back to school and you're in college shopping mode, I have really relevant phones and laptops and tablets that are going to monitors that will enhance your back to school experience. I don't want to serve you a refrigerator ad at that time. And so that's where end to end. Every detail needs to be thought out because even the targeting needs to get the right spot to the right people. As I talked a little bit about, you know, this is year two of the campaign. In the first year, we created stories and vignettes around are you a workout from home maven? Are you a home chef? And when I saw the corporate the boss lady served to me, I was like, this is all working. The media is working out is the one that I've also been served.
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B
Yeah. It seems to me like it's a truly omnichannel kind of strategy as well. And that kind of fits in with the overall smartthings. Theme.
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C
In a sense it does. I appreciate that connection because SmartThings is one of the things that's really special about the SmartThings app is that it is an open ecosystem. It works with everything that is built on the matter platform. So it's not just for Samsung products. And not only is that in line with our value system of openness and inclusion, but that helps our consumers and SmartThings app users reach another level of benefits and impact. And what I mean by that is health is a big area, for example, that we focus on and sleep within. Health is critical. But part of your sleeping environment is are your shades open or closed? How well lit or not well lit is your bedroom. And we want smart things to be part of making that perfect sleeping environment. But we don't make lights that we don't make curtains. But we are very happy that you can connect smart lights and smart curtains to your SmartThings app and with Samsung products create this holistic environment where you can sleep better or wake up better. And it's all a part of our vision of look, we want to add value to your life. We want to be a very useful, helpful brand.
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B
And on that note, let's dive into some of the insights a little bit because you mentioned you wanted to make a SmartThings ecosystem feel more intuitive and easy to access. So what were some of those signals or behavior changes that you're watching for to see if this message lands?
- [12:55]
C
It starts with the KPIs. So we are looking to understand is registration SmartThings registration increasing because the very first step is hook up a product, begin to use the app, start to see what you can get out of that. But from there we want to see that multi device accounts are also growing because if you have multiple devices connected now I'm starting to get an indication that you are seeing more benefits than look, you can use your phone as a remote control to turn your TV on and off. That's great. I actually do that a lot in my house. But the sleep benefits, the health benefits, the full ecosystem really gets better when there are multiple products. So the first indication is sign up and start using it. The second is how many products are on there because now I know that you're starting to get a little bit more engaged and we're looking at signals outside of SmartThings usage as well. So for example, only a few weeks into this campaign running we saw a 55% increase in SmartThings searches versus year ago. And that was really exciting to us because that means there's a lot of curiosity around the app and what the app can do. And concurrently, we had created a set of assets that we're calling SmartThings101. And they are a series of literally 101 videos that were designed to be very SEO forward and answer questions that we either know people are asking or we believe people are asking about the app. So we've created this process whereby you see the campaign. If you're not familiar with SmartThings, you might go, oh, what is this? Let me learn some more. And now when you go out there, there's a ton more video to take you on your own personal journey that starts with what is SmartThings? All the way down to. Okay, I get it. I'm hooked up. How can I create this? My refrigerator helps me meal plan experience. Those are a number of signals and behavior changes that we're looking at along the way.
- [14:59]
A
It makes sense that there's an educational component to this campaign that runs alongside it. Because I'm curious, when people hear your home speaks to you, they, they may say, well, what does that mean? What does it mean to me? I mean, maybe this tech is even intimidating to some people.
- [15:13]
C
Yeah, I think it is fair that this is not second nature to us. Yet we are fascinated by, you know, each generation of new people who are born are going to be much more tech native than the, than the generation before them. But right now our consumers are really, you're kind of in the millennial and exes are buying a lot of the houses that the appliances are speaking to. Zs are buying phones and certainly TVs, but not as many of them are homeowners. So we, we do think it's really important that we make that journey as seamless and easy as possible. Because once you, a lot of the benefits are literally set it and forget it and you can go and continue on your life. But we want to make sure end to end, you are, are supported in your journey. So even outside of this campaign, we are piloting a lot of things whereby our service line people, you can call in and get tech support to set up SmartThings or we foresee a future state where you can set it up. You can have somebody come in and set it up in your home so that it is all that much easier and ready to go.
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A
Now you talk about it. I do think maybe this is a generational thing as well. I suppose if people aren't homeowners serving them an ad for a fridge may not be that relevant. So you must see an interesting breakdown across generational demographics.
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C
We do it is, you know, there's a wide range of to be in 76% of households. We have a lot of wide range of consumers too. We also have, you know, ranges within our products. We have, not all of our refrigerators have screens, but we sure do love the ones that do. But what we found is through a wide portfolio mix, so many people can see the benefits that they're looking for out of our products. And then, you know, it's really our responsibility to make our marketing work harder to make our media dollars more impactful to and our agency partners as well to get the right content to the right people at the right time on the right phone.
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B
Yeah, that is very interesting because people are using even search and AI chatbots for their questions and how to get those answers. So I think it's a great strategy. But looking at the big picture now, how do you see AI continuing to evolve the role that Samsung plays in people's homes?
- [17:43]
C
We really believe that AI is going to continue to be more prevalent, more ubiquitous, more important in all of our lives. So AI is not new and we've been innovating in AI for more than 10 years. But what has changed is a lot of the LLMs and the media and a lot of this, honestly just talking about it have put these benefits and the power of it on consumers minds. So now we're in the early stages of, okay, the benefits are here. Let's start with helping you understand what Galaxy AI is and then how AI can make a difference on your refrigerator and your tv. And we are seeing this journey and to be honest, AI is moving so fast that we could be there in a year, we could be there in three. We don't really know how, how ready consumers are going to be to jump in with us on all of these things. But the innovation roadmap is there and the communication roadmap is there to say, all right, we know it's going to be here and we know it's here to stay. Let's just take you on this journey. Let's start with the features and the benefits that you have seen the most value in. So for example, a lot of people are using things like circle to search and photo editing capabilities because that is really valuable. But also on the fun side of adoption. So we've worked those into our campaigns. Another one that as an example from this particular SmartThings campaign, in the Frame Pro spot we showcase for the first time, the frame has always been our art tv. Normally we're showing how you can put Van Gogh on your wall because the insight behind the frame is that your TV shouldn't be a black box when you're not using it. Well, now it can display family art, meaning photos that you've taken and edited to take, you know, that guy in the background out that you wished wasn't in there. And you can see all of this come to life. But this is still like the early stages of what the AI journey is about. It's going to become even more automated and assistive as we get into this stage of multimodality. All of your devices and apps connecting and doing more things for you. But we feel it's our responsibility to help you understand what that looks like, not just how it works, but what's the end benefit to you. And then you'll be excited to come along with us on that journey.
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B
Now, what about outside of the home? Do you envision a future where the SmartThings ecosystem even extends, maybe in the cars, travel or public spaces, Maybe even as part of a new innovation roadmap?
- [20:16]
C
Yes, we would. It does exist a little bit today and we'd be so excited to see even more. So we did just recently launch SmartThings Pro, which is an enterprise solution for SmartThings. So right now, business owners can see a lot of benefits, like controlling whole hotels. One of our favorite examples that we shared at CES this year was that SmartThings Pro can control your cruise ship. Not a lot of us are in market to buy cruise ships, but showing the power of what it can do and how it exists is really exciting. And I think we envision a world where SmartThings Pro from a business outside of the home perspective, can connect to SmartThings on your device and on your app. And, you know, we foresee a roadmap of when you show up at a hotel, you can have your room set to the temperature you like, which not just makes it for a more comfortable experience for you, but could help a whole hotel be more sustainable by not blasting the air conditioning for everybody who doesn't want it to be 62 degrees or whatever it feels like it's set at. Through SmartThings and Hyundai, your EV can be your whole house generator. So it is. There's cool stuff in the works that we, we're working on getting the news out there to our consumers because they're just so, so many benefits. We also kind of have to start by thinking about the bigger ones, which back to this campaign, the things that people want every day are make my life easier, help me save time, help me make my home more enjoyable with my family.
- [21:52]
A
Do you think that there's any way that this campaign could help move the needle in the direction of broader acceptance of, say, AI and automation?
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C
I think it's going to play a part in that. We have some so much within Samsung that we are talking about in the AI space that I think Samsung as a whole is a massive contributor to shifting the AI conversation. So fortunately there are some partners out there like ChatGPT and Meta are also continuing the narrative and bringing up total awareness. So we're very excited for the more AI conversation that happens, the more interesting and curiosity there is in AI benefits. And then we're here with on device AI on our smartphones and televisions and appliances. Our responsibility when you come now, you know what AI is now. Our responsibility is to help you see the benefit that you can get from not just individual Samsung products, but how they all work together. And I think we're at this really exciting tipping point for not just tech companies, but consumer companies everywhere to help all consumers say, look, we're moving into the AI generation. It's here to stay. We're going to do it together. You find the AI solutions that are right for you and that's how I think we'll all come along on this journey.
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A
I just want to know, can I ask my fridge to tell me when I need to order some new cheese?
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C
Cheese. I would prioritize cheese too.
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A
Okay, we've got some quick fire questions now that Ilise is going to kick off.
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B
Okay. Yes. So, Alison, what's your favorite scene or moment from the new campaign that you believe best captures the heart of your home's bxu.
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C
So in each of our four spots, there's a moment where our hero just makes this look like, I've got this. So my dog is sitting on my day clothes. I've got this. My kids can't agree on dinner. I've got this. And that's the part that I think that captures because whether it comes from the surprise of doggone clothes or the like I got, I gotta tackle dinner every single night. I think that's a very real moment that people go through every single day and you get that own personal little rush of like, you got, you got this covered. But on a personal level it is. I do really love our the fridge spot where dad is cooking dinner for two kids because we laugh about this at home because every single night my husband is cooking dinner for our kids. And so that One for me is like a little slice of life, but there's a moment of confidence where you know you're in control. And that's what I think really encapsulates the spirit of this campaign.
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A
What's one feature of the Samsung SmartThings ecosystem that you personally can't live without?
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C
So I am personally obsessed with all the innovation we have in this health space and sleep in particular, because we know most Americans report they don't get enough sleep. But I am definitely part of that set, as aforementioned to kids. So what I'm really excited about is the capabilities of your wearables to track how you are sleeping. Connect that to your personal temperature in the middle of the night and auto adjust your thermostat accordingly to bring the temperature up or down, depending upon what you need. So I will be completely honest, my house is not fully smart thermostat enabled yet. But this is the one on my wish list that I'm like, I need this because I am a wearable and health tracker enthusiast.
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B
Okay, here's the next one. Which consumer insight helped you the most in developing this campaign?
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C
So when it comes to this campaign, we were looking for insights that I guess I'll say weren't so surprising as they were relatable. So I'm not sure that I can say from this campaign. But on the whole, the consumer insight that surprises me the most is that I'm not kidding and I'm not being facetious. People report saying they would rather live without their left hand than their mobile phone. I know that our phones are important, but I will say that is surprising because that is a to report that that is a level of. I don't know if it's dependency or love, but either way, that reminds me that we make a really special product that people really, really value in their. I think that is just wild when they say it like that.
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A
Well, we did live without them a long time ago, so. Well, I did. I'm Gen X. Is there a brand campaign inside or outside tech that you think is nailing emotional storytelling right now?
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C
So it's not exactly a new spot. They've been doing it for a little while, but I'm loving Volvo. And they released a spot, I believe it was last year, middle towards the end of the year for the new EX90, where it is a beautiful story of a couple has just found out that they are pregnant and they flash forward and they see their whole lives unfold. And then there's a moment where Volvo is critical in their safety features of making sure that this all happens. And I'm going to give you just enough tease because I think people should go look up this spot. This is a piece of art in, in video advertising and I still get chills when I think about it. So that's one in particular that's really good. But then they've taken a lot of other moments with like dad and daughter teach, learning to drive together and so many of these other things that I think cars can be emotional because they're related to safety. They also are so integral to your life, they enable you to get places to do things. So I think there's a lot of deep emotion in the auto category. But when you say emotion, that is the first one that comes to mind is I still get chills thinking about how beautiful that spot is.
- [28:02]
A
And that's it for this edition of the Big Impression.
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B
This show is produced by Molten Heart. Our theme is by Love and Caliber and our associate producer is Sydney Cairns.
- [28:12]
C
And remember, the consumer insight that surprises me the most is that I'm not kidding and I'm not being facetious. People report saying they would rather live without their left hand than their mobile phone.
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A
I'm Damien. And I'm Elise and we'll see you next time.