The Samsung World Platform

The Challenge

Samsung asked a selective group of agencies to propose a solution for a new, dynamic newsletter, combined with social media monitoring. Emakina decided to take the exercise several steps further. In its reply, the team proposed to bridge the gap between CRM and Social Media, combining them in one playing field. Samsung saw the benefit: its strong above the line actions would find the necessary pendent once the target became a client.

So Emakina was selected, with the challenge to create the smartest strategy and tools for the management and growth of the post-sales experience:

• Map and profile all new customers
• Create loyalty and cross products interests and engage in online conversation
• Turn enthusiasts into Samsung ambassadors and social media brand aficionados

Our solution

The Emakina team invented the Samsung World platform. On this new online meeting point all opinions and discussions, but also promotions, goodies and news items meet in a true melting pot of ideas. Samsung listens, talks and make things happen for each Samsung owner. And the experience is fully personalised.
The basic functions seem ‘standard’: you can register your products, ask questions and get honest and fast replies.

One step further, there are the personalised ads and content that is pushed based on the information on the client’s detailed (and real time) profile. What you tell about yourself, combined with what you search, where you register and what promotions you follow, defines the banners you see and the messages you encounter.
The next step is that you can earn ‘badges’ when you buy another Samsung product, when you help other Samsung users with their issues, participate in polls, games, etc.
And you receive extra advantages, linked to your ‘Samsung Lover’ status. The plan is to propose the Samsung fan to ‘use’ his or her badges to benefit from Samsung product previews, exclusive events, gifts or price reductions.

Samsung recognises that the customers are product innovators. They join in the communication on many levels, participate and see their profit. By media-stimulation the effect is further increased. This way, participants become real Samsung Lovers, who find and share content they like with their network, strengthening their status as tech savvy experts.

The Samsung team now has the tools to follow the social conversation and guide the actors in the continuous social debate towards the Samsung World platform. If you have an issue, a question, or want to share your pride on your latest Samsung buy, your message is picked up and the conversation continues in the controlled and rewarding brand owned environment. Personalised services and ‘permission marketing’ are now part of the marketing game (as Seth Godin and an army of followers confirm). Samsung World makes the theory become reality, while promotions and special ‘goodies’ for clients further provide valuable opt-in database fine-tuning. The ‘create your own mobile phone skin action is a typical example.

Samsung Star II owners can connect online and order a ‘cool design’ skin for their phone, or design one themselves. In exchange, they give some extra information that improves the knowledge in their profile.

The genius part… (let’s not be shy)
Emakina created the CRM tools to truly manage the client and the social media presence to manage an ongoing online interaction. The genius part is that these are intertwined.

This gives Samsung a stronger position on three counts:

• Building links: the active and linked response on social media, from twitter and facebook to blogs and varied fora, improves Samsung’s SEO value
• Certificate the conversation: now people can talk freely and share all their hearts and minds can imagine, buit the platform makes it a certified conversation
• Internalise: the conversation becomes the beginning of the client centred contact, where not only Samsung shows it cares for its customers but where it moulds them into proud ambassadors and brand lovers.

Benefits and results

We’re on our way to generate valuable benefits, and the community grows rapidly, by over 150 news members per day (and speeding up). The Samsung World project is still in its early days, but the first results show promising bonuses for Samsung, both in the short and medium term.

Instead of ‘just’ monitoring social media and engaging in debate on varied social media (and undergoing the conversation), the solutions ‘steers’ the consumers to Samsung World. There the power of CRM and Social Media Strategy combine in one brand controlled platform. Once inside the ‘Love platform’, the conversation content spreads the message: ‘Get more out of your Samsung purchase’. At the same time, the effect is that Samsung … gets more Samsung purchases.

Another advantage is in call centre and customer care energy. Once the customers help each other out and share their opinions, the effort in monitoring and answering questions and reactions – good and bad- becomes a natural flow.