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Inside: Samsung 837
a customer experience brief
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Samsung 837 is billed as an experience where “where culture and technology collide,” and a place to
“discover concerts, screenings, immersive experiences and more.” Located in the Meatpacking
District in Manhattan and designed by WonderWall Inc., it’s more than a store. Check out these
images from inside. More info: https://www.samsung.com/us/837/ .
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Samsung 837 is like a digital playground, chock full of interactive stations and experiences in which you
can try out the products. The main floor was filled with various VR pods and stations.
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It wasn’t clear how you got to experience one of the VR demos, but there were a quite a few options to
choose from. Scroll over the image above to see a short video of one of them.
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The highlight of the store is the “GearVR Experience” in which you suit up like an astronaut and then
get to take a moonwalk, zero gravity and all. Thanks to a VR headset and a rig that registers your
weight and lifts you up, it delivers the experience of walking on the Moon “more accurately than any
other creation on earth,” according to Samsung.
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I was able to peek into the studio to get a sense of what the experience entailed.
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Also on the main floor is an AR Emoji Booth, in which you can turn an image of
yourself into an emoji.
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In a “digital cockpit,” you could experience the thrill of driving a sports car.
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There were a couple of active sports stations, including “The Anatomy of Surf with Ian Welsh,” in which
you could use a VR headset to experience being the barrel of a wave from the point of view of pro-
surfer Ian Walsh.
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One station invited people to make a drawing using the S Pen.
(Even with a model to trace [on the left], my drawing skills [on the right] were pathetic.)
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Customer support was available by appointment or on a walk-in basis. A digital screen displayed
the order in which customers would be served.
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The second floor featured a large area where it seemed you would receive customer
support or could just hang out.
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There were lots of interesting and informative product displays, including this one which
served up a head-to-head comparison of processing speed between the Galaxy S9 and the
iPhone X and Pixel 2. Smart!
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There were only a few standard product display areas and they were even more
streamlined than the Apple store displays.
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And speaking of Apple stores, since Steve Jobs made such a big deal about the glass staircases in
his stores, the illuminated marble-esque staircase here seemed worth noting.
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This DeX station showed how you could convert a Samsung smartphone into a
computer with a single cable. Very impressive.
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One wall showcased The FRAME, a TV that transforms into a piece of art – or
rather hundreds of different pieces of art.
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Also on the second floor was the Connected Living exhibit, which housed the full range of Samsung
products including its home appliances, smart home control system, and its voice-controlled system
Bixby in a mock house layout.
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An exercise room set-up with a Flywheel bike was one part of the Connected Living exhibit.
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The Connected Living exhibit wasn’t open when I visited, or perhaps an escort was
required? Either way, it seemed a waste of space if people weren’t free to explore and try
the products.
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Huge digital touchscreens could be found throughout the store. This one featured
Samsung appliances.
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These days it seems every flagship store has to have its own cafe. Samsung’s was dubbed the “837
Café x maman” and served coffee, snacks, and breakfast and lunch options.
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From the main floor, you enter down into the viewing area for a three-story screen.
The venue is used for events and concerts, content screenings, live streams, and
product demos.
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Summary: Samsung 837 is the most fun and exciting digital “store” that I have seen. It presented a
very compelling experience of the Samsung brand and its products. It suggests that Samsung is
putting quite a few eggs into the VR basket -- and while I have yet to personally catch the VR bug, it
showcased the possibilities of VR in a very convincing way.
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Access more Customer Experience
Briefs &
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by Denise Lee Yohn at
http://deniseleeyohn.com.
DENISE LEE YOHNbrand leadership expert | speaker | author
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