Samsung’s Olga Suvorova on how marketers can quickly tap into cultural trends

Summary

The Current Podcast – Episode Summary

Title: Samsung’s Olga Suvorova on how marketers can quickly tap into cultural trends
Host: Damian Fowler and Ilyse Loefring
Guest: Olga Suvorova, VP of Mobile Experience Marketing at Samsung
Release Date: January 8, 2025

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1. Introduction to Olga Suvorova and Samsung’s Latest Innovations

The episode opens with hosts Ilyse Loefring and Damian Fowler welcoming Olga Suvorova, the Vice President of Mobile Experience Marketing at Samsung. Olga discusses her recent role in overseeing the launch of Samsung’s latest Galaxy foldable phones and a new suite of wearables powered by Galaxy AI, including smart watches, buds, and the innovative Galaxy Ring.

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2. The Intersection of Culture and Technology

Olga emphasizes the profound connection between technology and culture, stating, “[Phones, smartphones, wearables, tablets] are such an important part of people's lives, more so than it has ever been” (01:00). She elaborates on how Samsung not only aims to drive sales but also seeks to deeply understand cultural trends and consumer interests to build relevant and engaging experiences. This approach includes enhancing creativity through Galaxy AI and reimagining productivity and wellness experiences.

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3. Leveraging Fashion and Pop Culture in Marketing

Discussing the overlap between technology and fashion, Olga highlights Samsung’s strategic partnerships as a key marketing tool. She shares, “At the core of both is this relentless drive of inspiration and creativity and self-expression” (02:20). A notable example is Samsung’s collaboration with designer LaQuan Smith during New York Fashion Week. Together, they launched the “Lucid Dreams by LaQuan Smith” collection, integrating Samsung’s foldable phones and Galaxy Ring into the creative process. Olga notes the use of Galaxy AI features like Live Translate, which facilitated global collaborations (02:20).

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4. Targeting Gen Z: Building Relationships Over Transactions

Addressing the challenge of engaging Gen Z, a demographic known for its lower brand loyalty, Olga explains Samsung’s tailored approach. “[We] have always been big on driving partnerships and collaboration with like minded change makers and incredible players within different cultural spaces” (04:23). Instead of traditional advertising, Samsung leverages the Team Galaxy creator ecosystem to build authentic relationships and meaningful conversations with Gen Z consumers, positioning brand advocates as connectors to their interests (04:23).

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5. Omnichannel Marketing: Balancing Brand Awareness and Performance

Olga discusses Samsung’s omnichannel marketing strategy, emphasizing that brand awareness and performance marketing are not mutually exclusive. “Brand drive performance. And it's about building that puzzle together” (05:31). Samsung utilizes a mix of social media, experiential activations, partnerships, influencer collaborations, and media-worthy moments to create a cohesive and impactful marketing presence. Examples include partnerships with Red Bull for events like Magnitude and cliff diving competitions (05:31).

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6. Quick Response Marketing: The ‘Uncrushed’ Campaign

A pivotal moment discussed is Samsung’s rapid response to a competing ad campaign. When an ad titled "Crushed" emerged, Samsung swiftly countered with "Uncrushed," aligning the response with their brand values of open innovation and creativity. Olga explains, “It was a very thoughtful, even though very, very quick articulation and expression of what we hold near and dear to our heart” (07:11). This authentic and timely response garnered significant attention without additional advertising spend, showcasing the effectiveness of agile marketing strategies (07:11).

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7. Navigating Competition: Beyond Operating Systems

When addressing competition, particularly between dominant operating systems like iOS and Android, Olga reframes the narrative. She states, “I like to think about it not as a competition per se, but what is our enemy” (09:13). For Samsung, the focus is on breaking down barriers and promoting open innovation rather than direct competition. Collaborations with companies like Google, Qualcomm, and Microsoft exemplify this approach, aiming to create a more accessible and innovative ecosystem (10:10).

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8. Technology as a Tool for Enhancing User Creativity

Olga underscores that Samsung’s marketing philosophy prioritizes user creativity over showcasing technology alone. “It's never about technology. It’s all about what you can do with it” (11:58). Whether it’s AI-powered photo editing, seamless communication with Live Translate, or integrating earbuds with other devices, Samsung focuses on how these technologies can enhance daily experiences and creativity for users (11:58).

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9. The Role of AI in Samsung’s Product Strategy

AI integration stands at the forefront of Samsung’s latest products. Olga highlights the introduction of Galaxy AI in January and its widespread adoption: “There are over 100 million devices all around the world that have been using Galaxy AI” (13:08). Features like Galaxy Eye have seen immense consumer engagement, with 78 million instances of use in the U.S. alone within a week, indicating strong market acceptance and informing future innovations (13:08).

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10. Building Brand Love: Emotional Connection with Consumers

Emphasizing the importance of brand love, Olga explains that fostering an emotional connection is crucial for maintaining relevance and meaning. “It's important for people to feel something about your brand” (14:26). Samsung achieves this by staying true to its core values of openness and innovation while continuously evolving based on consumer feedback and market trends (14:26).

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11. Multi-Channel Strategy: Personalized and Targeted Outreach

Samsung’s marketing strategy employs a diverse range of channels to reach varied audiences effectively. Olga details the use of online video advertising, programmatic ads, and tailored approaches for different social media platforms like Meta, Snap, Spotify, and Twitch. This multi-faceted approach ensures consistent yet relevant messaging across platforms, supported by partnerships and influencer collaborations (15:27).

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12. Personal Endorsement: The Galaxy AI Ring

Towards the end of the conversation, Olga shares her personal experience with Samsung’s Galaxy AI Ring. She describes it as “an incredible piece of technology” that tracks sleep patterns, health metrics, and provides wellness tips, seamlessly integrating with other Samsung devices. Her authentic endorsement reinforces Samsung’s commitment to user-centric, health-focused wearable technology (16:40).

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Conclusion

Olga Suvorova’s insights reveal Samsung’s strategic emphasis on blending cultural relevance with technological innovation. By fostering authentic partnerships, embracing omnichannel marketing, and prioritizing user creativity and brand love, Samsung continues to position itself as a leader in the competitive smartphone and wearable market. The episode offers valuable lessons on agile marketing, the importance of emotional connections with consumers, and the critical role of AI in modern technology.

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Notable Quotes:

• “Phones, smartphones, wearables, tablets are such an important part of people's lives, more so than it has ever been.” – Olga Suvorova (01:00)
• “At the core of both is this relentless drive of inspiration and creativity and self-expression.” – Olga Suvorova (02:20)
• “It was a very thoughtful, even though very, very quick articulation and expression of what we hold near and dear to our heart.” – Olga Suvorova (07:11)
• “It's never about technology. It’s all about what you can do with it.” – Olga Suvorova (11:58)
• “It's important for people to feel something about your brand.” – Olga Suvorova (14:26)

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This comprehensive summary captures the essence of Olga Suvorova’s discussion on The Current Podcast, providing listeners and non-listeners alike with an in-depth understanding of Samsung’s marketing strategies and cultural engagement.

Transcript

[A]

I'm Ilyce Loefring.

[B]

And I'm Damian Fowler.

[A]

And welcome to this edition of the current podcast.

[B]

This week we're delighted to talk with Olga Suvarova, the VP of mobile Experience Marketing at Samsung.

[A]

Olga has recently overseen the launch of new Galaxy foldable phones and family of new wearables powered by Galaxy AI, a watch buds and a new smart Galaxy ring.

[B]

On a recent LinkedIn post, Olga wrote about reimagining how we create, interact, workout, communicate, stay healthy, multitask, travel, capture ordinary and extraordinary. With Galaxy AI, that sort of almost sums up the human experience.

[A]

So much of film tech is tied up with culture and that's where we start.

[B]

So, Olga, we know culture plays a large role in smartphone sales. Do you think this is even more true today?

[C]

Absolutely. Phones, smartphones, wearables, tablets are such an important part of people's lives, more so than it has ever been. So we are thinking about not just driving sales and connecting to culture, but understanding what are the cultural spaces, what are the nuggets of interest that are resonating with our consumers and how can we build experiences specifically for that, whether it's the new ways to create things thanks to Galaxy Eye, whether it's the new ways to track your health and sleep and overall wellness, or a completely reimagined experience of productivity and work.

[B]

And as you said in that LinkedIn post, the phone is connected to all these different aspects of our lives. That's kind of mind blowing when you think about it. So you know, you talk about culture and it's very interesting to me that culture and pop culture in particular is so connected to the idea of smartphone sales. I mean, it's a fashion item as much as, you know, a utility item. How do you tap into sort of current trends and fashions and how do you tie that to marketing the phones and the wearables? Indeed.

[C]

Absolutely. And because smartphones are at the center of what we do every single day, whether it's more of a utility or truly fun and delightful experiences, we have always been big on driving partnerships and collaboration with like minded change makers and incredible players within different cultural spaces. And fashion is one of the greatest examples because when we think about technology and fashion, at the core of both is this relentless drive of inspiration and creativity and self expression. So just recently we've built an entire partnership around New York Fashion Week, partnering with an incredible designer, Laquan Smith, and working with him to put the smartphone and the smart ring, so foldable phone, Fold 6 and the Galaxy Ring at the core of his creative experiences and redesigning and reimagining what it could be and launching an entire new collection that we called Lucid Dreams by Laquan Smith. But what was very exciting about it is not only finding a way to build something incredible together like this new collection, but also watching and getting inspired by Laquan using our incredible Samsung Galaxy technology, including Galaxy Eye throughout the process. So for example, Live Translate and calls being automatically translated in over 15 languages that he used to drive a lot of conversations with partners and vendors around the world.

[A]

Now I want to get into how you think about your audiences. As you said, everybody uses a smartphone these days. Obviously there's a lot of focus on reaching Gen Z audiences who are, to put it lightly, less than brand loyal sometimes. How do you appeal to these potential customers through your exploration of culture?

[C]

It's definitely not one size fits all approach. And the ways they behave and where they spend their time could be different than other audiences. And we think about all those elements as we design different experiences. We're not just trying to target them with the same ads, no matter how amazing they are, as we would do with slightly other demographics. And that's why when it comes to Gen Z and engaging them, deploying other strategies comes into play. For example, we've built an entire ecosystem of Team Galaxy creators that are fantastic at building relationships versus trying to transact with that audience. And they are the champions of our brand, but they also the incredible connector to what those audiences care about and help us build that meaningful conversation with them.

[A]

What about outside of say social media? Because we're really living in like an omnichannel world now. How do you layer in different channels when it comes to your strategy? And how do you balance brand awareness and then performance?

[C]

I know there is a lot being talked about brand awareness versus performance, but I really like to think about it as not one versus the other. Brand drive performance. And it's about building that puzzle together and finding how different pieces come into play. And for us it's really building this omnichannel approach. And it's not just the social media, it's building that reach ecosystem of experiential activations, partnerships, tapping into influencers, thinking about how can we create media worthy moments. So for example, Team Galaxy Creator Collective is one of the ways we drive that relationship and engagement. Building a lot of conversation and community engagement in our social channels plays a huge role. Experiential and partner activations, whether it's New York Fashion Week or our partnership with Red Bull and reimagining how we show up at incredible first female competitions like Magnitude or a cliff diving or something else. Incredible.

[B]

I mean, one of the challenges of your job is to stay on top of the fast moving nature of culture. You have to be responsive. And I think one of the most brilliant illustrations of that was earlier this year when there was a certain ad that rolled out called Crushed where creative tools were being smashed into a tablet and Samsung had a quick response with an ad called Uncrushed. Could you talk a little bit about that, that moment and what happened there and how you responded and generally about how you need to be sort of quick on your feet when it comes to being a marketer in this?

[C]

Yeah, absolutely. And I think it comes down to a combination of being very clear about what you stand for as a brand and what your reason for being is, and being quick and nimble and constantly evolving to be at the center of that conversation. And for us, when that competitive ad came out, that was pretty much against everything we stand for, which is open innovation and fueling the creativity and self expression on people's terms. And that's why for us, it wasn't just a rebuttal, but it was a very thoughtful, even though very, very quick articulation and expression of what we hold near and dear to our heart and championing that incredible community of creative people. And that's why we call that response Uncrush. It wasn't a campaign plan for months. It was a very quick response. It went on social. Because it was so true and authentic and because it was executed in a very quick manner, we were able to garner a lot of response and a lot of coverage without actually spending any money on it.

[B]

That's amazing. Do you think sometimes those quick response campaigns, if you like, or ads in some ways are kind of more unexpected? Ads are more, what's the word, effective in some ways than ones that may have taken a long time to plan.

[C]

It's probably a combination of both because I don't want to say don't plan. Go with the flow and try to do everything within 48 hours. I wouldn't recommend that. But as you said, the brand's ability to stay current and to stay top of mind for consumers is being constantly in tune with what consumers are doing and what they care about and what's happening in the competitive environments and what is top of mind for people. So it's probably combination of both and that what defines the brands that are able to champion what they stand for in a way that never loses authenticity and relevance.

[A]

Originally I saw a lot of backlash when it first saw. Did you look at that backlash at all or was it something that you weren't even paying attention to and you just wanted to jump on it?

[C]

Regardless, we wanted to be very much focused not only on what we're against, but what we're for. And that's what drove that response. We are about creativity, we are about open innovation, we are about celebrating the expression and we're about pushing boundaries rather than crushing everything underneath that. So that was probably as important, if not more important, than trying to think what people are pulling apart around that original ad.

[A]

In a world where there's two operating systems, okay, you have iOS and Android, how do you view the competition in the is it one system versus another or is it all about the product?

[C]

Well, at the core of the Samsung mobile brand has been this idea and ethos of openness and open innovation and collaboration and building the products and experiences and the ecosystem of products that pushes away the boundaries that might be forced on those products and ultimately deliver subpar experience. So for us, it's relentless focus on delivering that open innovation. And that comes through how we build products, how we design those experiences, how we partner with like minded change makers in the industry to really reimagine what those products could be. Whether it's partnering with Google to build Circle to Search incredible functionality or Qualcomm or Microsoft. For us, the fewer barriers there are in the world, the farther we can all go, the more we can drive towards that truly accessible, equitable, representative world and human innovation. So I would say I like to think about it not as a competition per se, but what is our enemy and oftentimes the enemy, is the barriers and complacency and the inertia that exists within the industry or within the consumer behavior. And how do we builds not only the product experiences but also incredible marketing messages and campaigns to really shake that up and drive towards progress.

[A]

Now, when you're marketing, especially when it comes to like new products and new pieces of technology, what would you say is a sell for a new piece of tech? So is it the technology itself or is it looking at the tech and how it can enhance creativity for that user?

[C]

100%, the latter one, it's all about. It's never about technology. And the conversation we started with is smartphones and tablets and the mobile experiences being at the core of what we do every single day. So our focus, even with the latest launch earlier this year of Galaxy AI, has been how do we showcase what it could do for people Whether it's sketching something incredible with AI photo editing, whether it's communicating across boundaries because you have this wonderful live translate capability, or reimagining how your earbuds connect to your phone and your tablet in a very, very seamless way. So it's all about what you can do with it, whether it is something to help you save time or it's truly for fun.

[B]

Now, that brings us to the question of AI and the integration of AI into new phones. And that for sure is a hot topic right now. And it's not just phones, of course. Could we talk a little bit about your thoughts on AI and the marketing of the products that are on your watch?

[C]

AI and Galaxy Eye that we introduced in January and since then rolled out across the portfolio of our mobile products is not just a fancy and flashy new feature. It's truly at the core of where technology is going and how we can make it more exciting, more delightful, more useful to our consumers. And we see that in how they have been using that technology. Right now, There are over 100 million devices all around the world that have been using Galaxy AI. We know that just in the US alone, within a week, there are 78 million of instances when people are using those Galaxy Eye features. And that's an incredible consumer response that tells us we're on the right track and we're building something that people love, that people find value in, and that helps us get more ideas for how we can innovate further.

[A]

You know, on that note, you are a big proponent of brand love and really diving into what, I guess makes consumers keep coming back to a brand. Why would you say it's important to generate that kind of buzz around a brand?

[C]

It's really important to keep being relevant and being meaningful to consumers. It's important for people to feel something about your brand. And in order to build and nurture that brand love, we need to be very, very clear about what is that reason for being, what do we want to be remembered for, known for, how do we want to make people feel? And on the other hand, continue to constantly evolve based on what people are telling us. Being open to it, having the desire, having the drive to really keep reinventing ourselves without ever losing that core and that ethos of our brand. And for us, it's always been that idea of openness and open innovation and relentless pursuit, of breaking barriers and pushing boundaries.

[A]

So, Olga, how do you layer in different channels when it comes to your overall strategy?

[C]

It's a combination of different channels that help us in a very personalized way reach diverse communities and audiences from the demographic from the psychographic perspective. So we think about our universe, including online video advertising, because that creates the opportunity to be extremely targeted and very measurable. We also deploy a lot of our advertising through programmatic ads Buy similarly, it allows a lot of precision and a lot of scale. But we also layer in different approaches to social media platforms. So for example, how we build for platforms with meta is different for what we do with Snap and Spotify and Twitch, which again allows us to show up in a consistent way but in a more relevant and tailored approach. Obviously that all is connected to the work that we do through our partnerships, through our influencer work and a lot of our experiential and out of home media.

[B]

I have to ask you though, we mentioned at the top the Galaxy AI ring. You're wearing it. Could you tell us a little bit about it?

[C]

I'm a huge fan. I can't get enough of it. It's an incredible piece of technology. Again, it's powered by Galaxy AI and it's an incredible device that allows you to track your sleep patterns, your health, your energy score. So it tells you basically how you are doing what you could be doing differently to feel better. Gives you what we call wellness tips. And it's perfectly connected to your other devices, whether it's Watch or the Samsung Galaxy Phone. So you can actually get obsessed about those metrics. I have to say, I haven't been the healthiest person according to this ring, but I have tons of wellness tips to get me to a better place.

[B]

That's great to hear. Well, thank you so much for speaking with us.

[C]

Thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure.

[B]

And that's it for this edition of the Current Podcast. We'll be back next week, so stay tuned.

[A]

The current Podcast theme is by Love and Caliber. The current team includes Kat Fessy and Sydney Cairns.

[C]

And remember, we are about creativity. We are about open innovation. We are about celebrating the expression and we're about pushing boundaries rather than crushing everything underneath that.

[B]

I'm Damien. And I'm Eilese and we'll see you next time. And if you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, tune into our other podcast, the Current Report.