1
00:00:04,210 –> 00:00:07,050
Speaker 1: We’re trying to really deliver on what’s in it for

2
00:00:07,070 –> 00:00:10,440
Speaker 1: the consumer so that it isn’t a guessing game for

3
00:00:10,460 –> 00:00:13,560
Speaker 1: them to try and figure out and understand. Instead, we’re

4
00:00:13,580 –> 00:00:16,860
Speaker 1: the experts on TV, so let us speak in a

5
00:00:16,960 –> 00:00:20,239
Speaker 1: language that a consumer is really going to understand. I

6
00:00:20,280 –> 00:00:23,840
Speaker 1: think that’s probably our biggest shift, and all of our

7
00:00:23,940 –> 00:00:27,840
Speaker 1: storytelling needs to ladder to that. We have to make

8
00:00:27,900 –> 00:00:31,260
Speaker 1: sure when we’re talking about why this TV is awesome

9
00:00:31,320 –> 00:00:33,540
Speaker 1: and why you need it in a way that’s an

10
00:00:33,600 –> 00:00:37,120
Speaker 1: emotional play that also shows how it’s going to solve

11
00:00:37,270 –> 00:00:39,410
Speaker 1: some needs that you have in your life.

12
00:00:41,970 –> 00:00:44,070
Speaker 2: Welcome to today’s episode of Brave Commerce.

13
00:00:44,390 –> 00:00:47,290
Speaker 3: I’m Rachel Tippegraph, the founder and CEO of Micmac.

14
00:00:47,550 –> 00:00:50,010
Speaker 2: I’m Sarah Hofstetter, president of Profitero.

15
00:00:50,229 –> 00:00:52,370
Speaker 3: And this is a show that talks about what’s relevant

16
00:00:52,409 –> 00:01:04,480
Speaker 3: in e-commerce for the world’s biggest brands. Sarah, I’m not sure.

17
00:01:04,500 –> 00:01:07,760
Speaker 3: I imagine Profitero has this environment because I do engage

18
00:01:07,800 –> 00:01:10,900
Speaker 3: with your employees. But how do you create a culture

19
00:01:10,980 –> 00:01:14,360
Speaker 3: where people are empowered to try things, even if they

20
00:01:14,380 –> 00:01:14,839
Speaker 3: don’t work out?

21
00:01:15,300 –> 00:01:20,370
Speaker 2: There’s this idea that we’ve taken from, actually, it’s from

22
00:01:20,390 –> 00:01:23,930
Speaker 2: a former Navy SEAL. His name is David Silverman. And

23
00:01:24,190 –> 00:01:30,770
Speaker 2: there are four components to really running highly successful interconnected teams.

24
00:01:31,330 –> 00:01:35,410
Speaker 2: And one is common purpose. The second is trust. The

25
00:01:35,750 –> 00:01:40,150
Speaker 2: third is shared consciousness. And the fourth is empowered execution.

26
00:01:40,730 –> 00:01:43,010
Speaker 2: And when you’ve got all four of those things working

27
00:01:43,250 –> 00:01:46,530
Speaker 2: in synchronicity with each other, then it’s a lot easier

28
00:01:46,610 –> 00:01:49,810
Speaker 2: to do empowered execution because people are going to operate

29
00:01:50,190 –> 00:01:54,290
Speaker 2: with the right intent if they’re empowered to execute so

30
00:01:54,330 –> 00:01:57,450
Speaker 2: long as they understand that the common purpose. They involve

31
00:01:57,470 –> 00:01:59,940
Speaker 2: shared consciousness and they’ve established the trust.

32
00:02:00,220 –> 00:02:03,820
Speaker 3: You know, I really try to have us embody the

33
00:02:03,860 –> 00:02:08,220
Speaker 3: principle that any decision is better than no decision. Inertia

34
00:02:08,260 –> 00:02:08,910
Speaker 3: kills companies.

35
00:02:09,060 –> 00:02:09,850
Speaker 2: Hells yeah.

36
00:02:10,190 –> 00:02:14,300
Speaker 3: And so we just push employees to do something. Like

37
00:02:14,400 –> 00:02:16,750
Speaker 3: do something. We’ll learn from it. If it’s not the

38
00:02:16,780 –> 00:02:19,470
Speaker 3: right thing, we’ll do a postmortem. We’ll figure out how

39
00:02:19,490 –> 00:02:21,630
Speaker 3: to improve. Let’s just keep moving forward.

40
00:02:21,830 –> 00:02:24,570
Speaker 2: There’s a lot to that as well as explaining why.

41
00:02:24,690 –> 00:02:27,970
Speaker 2: So sometimes at the top, we have to, we’re out

42
00:02:28,010 –> 00:02:30,460
Speaker 2: of crosswords and we don’t know the right decision to make,

43
00:02:30,520 –> 00:02:33,440
Speaker 2: but we do have to make those decisions because like

44
00:02:33,460 –> 00:02:36,480
Speaker 2: you said, like no decision is like the most annoying thing,

45
00:02:36,520 –> 00:02:38,680
Speaker 2: kicking the can down the road. Sometimes you just got

46
00:02:38,700 –> 00:02:41,450
Speaker 2: to make a choice, but let’s explain why we’re making

47
00:02:41,490 –> 00:02:43,620
Speaker 2: that choice. Might not be the right choice. But it’s

48
00:02:43,639 –> 00:02:45,220
Speaker 2: the right choice for right now, and we’re going to

49
00:02:45,240 –> 00:02:46,900
Speaker 2: learn from it if it doesn’t work out.

50
00:02:47,380 –> 00:02:51,850
Speaker 4: Well, to make a real connection here, we’re going to

51
00:02:51,930 –> 00:02:55,870
Speaker 4: bring Sarah Larson onto the show to talk about how

52
00:02:56,010 –> 00:03:02,690
Speaker 4: Samsung really has a culture of continued learning and no regrets. Today,

53
00:03:02,850 –> 00:03:06,740
Speaker 4: we are very excited to have a high-energy marketer onto

54
00:03:06,780 –> 00:03:10,299
Speaker 4: the show, Sarah Larson, who is the Chief Marketing Officer

55
00:03:10,440 –> 00:03:12,040
Speaker 4: of Samsung Home Entertainment.

56
00:03:12,660 –> 00:03:14,059
Speaker 3: Hello, the other Sarah.

57
00:03:14,340 –> 00:03:18,470
Speaker 1: Hello. I like being introduced as the other Sarah. I’m

58
00:03:18,830 –> 00:03:22,180
Speaker 1: so excited to be here and talk about bravery in

59
00:03:22,320 –> 00:03:23,720
Speaker 1: all its wonderful forms.

60
00:03:24,040 –> 00:03:28,490
Speaker 3: Wonderful. Well, we’ll save our famous last question for the end. Okay.

61
00:03:28,910 –> 00:03:32,450
Speaker 3: Looking back, you joined Samsung at probably a pretty interesting

62
00:03:32,490 –> 00:03:36,750
Speaker 3: moment for the company because it was 2021 when the

63
00:03:36,790 –> 00:03:40,140
Speaker 3: world was stocking up on a lot of things that

64
00:03:40,240 –> 00:03:43,860
Speaker 3: probably fall under the Samsung portfolio. You’ve worked across a

65
00:03:44,060 –> 00:03:48,420
Speaker 3: variety of industries before Samsung. What drives you as a marketer?

66
00:03:48,620 –> 00:03:52,740
Speaker 1: Well, I will say marketing is something that’s just… In

67
00:03:52,780 –> 00:03:55,380
Speaker 1: my blood, I was a marketer before I even knew

68
00:03:55,400 –> 00:03:57,800
Speaker 1: what a marketer was. When I was a little girl,

69
00:03:57,880 –> 00:03:59,740
Speaker 1: I played on a soccer team and I was the

70
00:03:59,900 –> 00:04:02,460
Speaker 1: one that was organizing a bus to get us all

71
00:04:02,520 –> 00:04:05,680
Speaker 1: to the neighboring hotel during a tournament because I heard

72
00:04:05,700 –> 00:04:08,780
Speaker 1: there was a good party there. And I was convinced

73
00:04:08,840 –> 00:04:11,120
Speaker 1: it would also help us get intel on the teams

74
00:04:11,190 –> 00:04:12,190
Speaker 1: we were playing against.

75
00:04:12,370 –> 00:04:13,930
Speaker 3: That’s Sarah.

76
00:04:14,090 –> 00:04:14,790
Speaker 2: Damn right.

77
00:04:15,910 –> 00:04:18,500
Speaker 1: And I think I was 10 at the time. I

78
00:04:18,640 –> 00:04:22,100
Speaker 1: always was an artistic creative type of person and I

79
00:04:22,140 –> 00:04:24,940
Speaker 1: love drawing and I wanted to do fashion and I

80
00:04:25,000 –> 00:04:28,159
Speaker 1: just like making everything look prettier than I found it.

81
00:04:28,760 –> 00:04:31,170
Speaker 1: And then my father, who was a big influence in

82
00:04:31,200 –> 00:04:34,989
Speaker 1: my life, he worked for procurement for a big company.

83
00:04:35,310 –> 00:04:39,330
Speaker 1: He said, but you’re so good at math and science

84
00:04:39,410 –> 00:04:42,190
Speaker 1: and the business side of things. I really think you

85
00:04:42,210 –> 00:04:45,289
Speaker 1: should look into marketing because it combines that creative brain

86
00:04:45,330 –> 00:04:48,740
Speaker 1: with that analytical brain. And, you know, I think it’s

87
00:04:48,779 –> 00:04:51,080
Speaker 1: so important you have people in your life that know

88
00:04:51,140 –> 00:04:54,320
Speaker 1: you so well that they can see your strengths that

89
00:04:54,360 –> 00:04:57,600
Speaker 1: you recognize and then also see opportunities that you might

90
00:04:57,660 –> 00:05:00,700
Speaker 1: not recognize and push you in that direction. So I

91
00:05:00,760 –> 00:05:03,790
Speaker 1: really have my dad to credit for my marketing career,

92
00:05:04,089 –> 00:05:05,490
Speaker 1: as he reminds me every day.

93
00:05:05,510 –> 00:05:08,200
Speaker 2: Look, you know, if you’re going to take credit. I

94
00:05:08,260 –> 00:05:10,599
Speaker 2: suppose repetition is part of the marketing.

95
00:05:10,260 –> 00:05:10,820
Speaker 3: Story, right?

96
00:05:11,010 –> 00:05:13,830
Speaker 1: Seven times. You need to hear something seven times before

97
00:05:13,890 –> 00:05:15,370
Speaker 1: it sinks in. So I agree.

98
00:05:15,650 –> 00:05:17,250
Speaker 2: The things that my dad said to me that were

99
00:05:17,290 –> 00:05:20,740
Speaker 2: seven times were definitely not the things you heard seven times.

100
00:05:20,839 –> 00:05:23,760
Speaker 1: But again, I… Oh, I heard the other stuff too.

101
00:05:23,839 –> 00:05:25,180
Speaker 1: That’s a whole other story.

102
00:05:25,279 –> 00:05:26,660
Speaker 3: I’ll pick that up in therapy.

103
00:05:26,680 –> 00:05:29,330
Speaker 2: Don’t mind me. But it’s very clear that your dad

104
00:05:29,370 –> 00:05:32,989
Speaker 2: instilled this culture in you and this mindset and ethos

105
00:05:33,029 –> 00:05:35,450
Speaker 2: in you and probably also came along with a lot

106
00:05:35,510 –> 00:05:38,630
Speaker 2: of fun stuff beyond just the marketing components. Obviously, a

107
00:05:38,650 –> 00:05:40,890
Speaker 2: tremendous amount of grit and willingness to do what it

108
00:05:40,930 –> 00:05:43,610
Speaker 2: takes to win. Already that story of you as a

109
00:05:43,610 –> 00:05:49,630
Speaker 2: 10-year-old makes that very clear. Samsung also has… a unique

110
00:05:49,810 –> 00:05:53,190
Speaker 2: culture in and of itself. And it has changed a

111
00:05:53,529 –> 00:05:57,080
Speaker 2: little bit over the years. How would you describe it,

112
00:05:57,390 –> 00:06:01,790
Speaker 2: the Samsung ethos and the way that you’re adapting that

113
00:06:02,130 –> 00:06:03,169
Speaker 2: to marketing leadership?

114
00:06:03,430 –> 00:06:06,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think Samsung is a fantastic company for a

115
00:06:06,680 –> 00:06:10,160
Speaker 1: couple of reasons. mainly because it’s such an iconic brand

116
00:06:10,240 –> 00:06:14,970
Speaker 1: and it’s such a behemoth. It’s this huge, well-known tech powerhouse.

117
00:06:15,089 –> 00:06:19,310
Speaker 1: You know, we’ve been number one in HE for 18 years.

118
00:06:19,410 –> 00:06:22,610
Speaker 1: Like we are known around the world for making just

119
00:06:22,730 –> 00:06:27,580
Speaker 1: incredibly great products and innovation before consumers even realize it’s

120
00:06:27,600 –> 00:06:31,640
Speaker 1: a need. But what I find so fascinating about Samsung

121
00:06:31,779 –> 00:06:36,000
Speaker 1: is we have very much a never satisfied market. mentality too.

122
00:06:36,339 –> 00:06:39,900
Speaker 1: There’s no resting on our laurels. Just because we’ve been

123
00:06:39,940 –> 00:06:42,339
Speaker 1: number one for 18 years, we don’t take it for

124
00:06:42,380 –> 00:06:46,719
Speaker 1: granted that we’ll always be number one. The Samsung ethos

125
00:06:46,800 –> 00:06:51,700
Speaker 1: is very much driven in fail fast, do no regrets,

126
00:06:52,220 –> 00:06:56,730
Speaker 1: speak in numbers, know your consumer inside and out. It’s

127
00:06:56,750 –> 00:07:00,700
Speaker 1: very inner focus. I think it really delves from a

128
00:07:00,900 –> 00:07:07,880
Speaker 1: Korean mentality too, where you are accountable, responsible, reliable contributor

129
00:07:08,000 –> 00:07:10,980
Speaker 1: to your world. And that’s what Samsung believes it is.

130
00:07:11,020 –> 00:07:13,640
Speaker 1: That’s what the people that work at Samsung believe in.

131
00:07:13,980 –> 00:07:16,550
Speaker 1: But then that’s also what we as a brand believe in.

132
00:07:16,580 –> 00:07:20,350
Speaker 1: Like we have a corporate responsibility and we take that

133
00:07:20,410 –> 00:07:23,890
Speaker 1: mantle very seriously. And one of my favorite things that

134
00:07:23,910 –> 00:07:27,040
Speaker 1: I’ve ever heard someone at Samsung say is, is that

135
00:07:27,400 –> 00:07:30,810
Speaker 1: we innovate before people even realize it’s a need or

136
00:07:30,820 –> 00:07:35,090
Speaker 1: a problem. So our R & D people are brilliant

137
00:07:35,190 –> 00:07:38,470
Speaker 1: and they’re thinking about how can we make this product

138
00:07:38,630 –> 00:07:42,070
Speaker 1: even better for consumers and make lives easier and more

139
00:07:42,130 –> 00:07:46,290
Speaker 1: convenient and more connected and more enjoyable in a way

140
00:07:46,350 –> 00:07:49,350
Speaker 1: that consumers haven’t even identified that that’s what they need.

141
00:07:49,890 –> 00:07:52,350
Speaker 1: I think that’s a pretty cool company to work for.

142
00:07:53,020 –> 00:07:55,420
Speaker 3: Part of your story of, I believe, why you came

143
00:07:55,460 –> 00:07:57,780
Speaker 3: to Samsung has to do with the fact that you’re

144
00:07:58,060 –> 00:08:01,260
Speaker 3: the person that you’re working with. You worked at another job.

145
00:08:01,500 –> 00:08:01,720
Speaker 1: Yes.

146
00:08:02,290 –> 00:08:04,820
Speaker 3: So there’s company culture, but then there’s also sort of

147
00:08:04,850 –> 00:08:08,350
Speaker 3: the culture that’s built by managers and leaders. And when

148
00:08:08,370 –> 00:08:10,550
Speaker 3: you and I connected, you shared, I thought, a great

149
00:08:10,630 –> 00:08:13,230
Speaker 3: story with me in terms of like how you lead,

150
00:08:13,290 –> 00:08:15,530
Speaker 3: how this person leads and how that really impacts the

151
00:08:15,570 –> 00:08:17,190
Speaker 3: work every day. Absolutely.

152
00:08:17,250 –> 00:08:19,810
Speaker 1: So that’s James Fischler, who is the head of all

153
00:08:19,830 –> 00:08:24,100
Speaker 1: of home entertainment in North America for us. He is

154
00:08:24,500 –> 00:08:28,670
Speaker 1: by far the most dynamic person I have ever met

155
00:08:28,710 –> 00:08:33,210
Speaker 1: in my career. And he leads with a no regret philosophy.

156
00:08:33,450 –> 00:08:37,429
Speaker 1: He embodies it. I love this job and the reason

157
00:08:37,510 –> 00:08:40,329
Speaker 1: I took the leap of moving my whole family from

158
00:08:40,390 –> 00:08:43,600
Speaker 1: the Midwest to the East Coast for a new job

159
00:08:43,650 –> 00:08:46,200
Speaker 1: that I wasn’t even sure exactly what I was getting

160
00:08:46,240 –> 00:08:49,880
Speaker 1: into was solely because of my faith in James and

161
00:08:49,940 –> 00:08:54,300
Speaker 1: his leadership and his integrity and his grit. So he

162
00:08:54,420 –> 00:08:58,400
Speaker 1: encouraged us all the time to take risks, try something new.

163
00:08:58,420 –> 00:09:00,910
Speaker 1: He’ll push us, make sure it’s backed up with the

164
00:09:00,970 –> 00:09:03,550
Speaker 1: research and the insights so you’re not just making mistakes.

165
00:09:03,980 –> 00:09:07,740
Speaker 1: a blind decision. But if you have that research and

166
00:09:08,040 –> 00:09:10,540
Speaker 1: insights and you combine it with that, this is what

167
00:09:10,559 –> 00:09:13,590
Speaker 1: you need to do and it works, great. Let’s figure

168
00:09:13,610 –> 00:09:16,350
Speaker 1: out how we scale it quickly. It doesn’t work, fine.

169
00:09:16,450 –> 00:09:19,250
Speaker 1: Let’s learn from what didn’t work and make sure that

170
00:09:19,290 –> 00:09:22,190
Speaker 1: we’re course correcting for next time. I think it’s that

171
00:09:22,270 –> 00:09:26,170
Speaker 1: type of philosophy of no regrets. Don’t ever regret any

172
00:09:26,250 –> 00:09:29,599
Speaker 1: decision you make. Just make sure you’re always learning from it.

173
00:09:29,960 –> 00:09:32,449
Speaker 3: Is there an example of the last few years where

174
00:09:32,470 –> 00:09:35,089
Speaker 3: you really feel like the team embodied no regrets?

175
00:09:35,670 –> 00:09:38,189
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I think we do it all the time. Like

176
00:09:38,230 –> 00:09:42,460
Speaker 1: we are constantly piloting things and A-B testing things. We

177
00:09:42,630 –> 00:09:46,760
Speaker 1: really shifted our focus on how we approach influencers last year.

178
00:09:47,320 –> 00:09:49,640
Speaker 1: And we had some great learnings from it that we

179
00:09:49,700 –> 00:09:52,300
Speaker 1: scaled into this year. And then we also had some

180
00:09:52,460 –> 00:09:55,250
Speaker 1: really good things that didn’t work. And we were able

181
00:09:55,330 –> 00:09:58,090
Speaker 1: to deduce why it didn’t work and make sure that

182
00:09:58,130 –> 00:09:59,960
Speaker 1: we’re correcting it for the next time we do.

183
00:10:00,150 –> 00:10:00,209
Speaker 3: It.

184
00:10:00,730 –> 00:10:04,689
Speaker 1: Our approach to influencers just in home entertainment within Samsung

185
00:10:05,130 –> 00:10:08,410
Speaker 1: is very different than the rest of Samsung. And then

186
00:10:08,550 –> 00:10:13,320
Speaker 1: how we approach influencers is incredibly different from an industry

187
00:10:13,460 –> 00:10:15,910
Speaker 1: as a whole. Rachel, when you and I were talking

188
00:10:15,950 –> 00:10:18,929
Speaker 1: about CAN, quite a few of the panels I was on,

189
00:10:19,010 –> 00:10:22,780
Speaker 1: influencer obviously is a hot topic. I can definitely say

190
00:10:22,820 –> 00:10:25,360
Speaker 1: it was a bit of an unpopular opinion with our

191
00:10:25,420 –> 00:10:29,300
Speaker 1: approach and what much of the industry is doing. But

192
00:10:29,360 –> 00:10:31,850
Speaker 1: I’m okay with that. I like daring to be different.

193
00:10:32,110 –> 00:10:34,930
Speaker 2: Just in the first 10 minutes of this conversation, there’s

194
00:10:34,970 –> 00:10:37,610
Speaker 2: no question you love daring to be different. So this

195
00:10:37,670 –> 00:10:38,950
Speaker 2: job suits you quite well.

196
00:10:38,970 –> 00:10:39,070
Speaker 3: Yeah.

197
00:10:40,360 –> 00:10:42,140
Speaker 2: Are you comfortable sharing a little bit more about what’s

198
00:10:42,160 –> 00:10:44,300
Speaker 2: so different about your approach to influencers?

199
00:10:44,660 –> 00:10:47,590
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I think the traditional approach for many people

200
00:10:47,630 –> 00:10:51,450
Speaker 1: with influencers is just a sea of micro influencers and

201
00:10:51,470 –> 00:10:55,110
Speaker 1: then maybe some macro thrown in there and that it’s

202
00:10:55,150 –> 00:11:01,059
Speaker 1: a very transactional relationship. We made the conscientious decision to

203
00:11:01,580 –> 00:11:05,479
Speaker 1: develop more of a relationship. and move away from so

204
00:11:05,540 –> 00:11:10,490
Speaker 1: many micro-influencers and instead have genuine symbiotic relationships with the

205
00:11:10,570 –> 00:11:13,270
Speaker 1: talent that we work in. Because at the end of

206
00:11:13,309 –> 00:11:18,690
Speaker 1: the day, we believe we partner with people to influence sales.

207
00:11:18,950 –> 00:11:22,630
Speaker 1: That’s what we want. And it really comes down to smart,

208
00:11:23,190 –> 00:11:27,210
Speaker 1: creative content. So I want to partner with people that

209
00:11:27,270 –> 00:11:30,030
Speaker 1: can help develop content for us that’s going to be

210
00:11:30,110 –> 00:11:33,559
Speaker 1: memorable and going to resonate I don’t necessarily have a

211
00:11:33,660 –> 00:11:37,840
Speaker 1: reach problem. I don’t necessarily have an awareness problem. And

212
00:11:37,880 –> 00:11:41,120
Speaker 1: that’s one of the benefits working for Samsung. The majority

213
00:11:41,179 –> 00:11:45,170
Speaker 1: of households have a Samsung TV. We’re not wondering if

214
00:11:45,230 –> 00:11:48,510
Speaker 1: people know who we are. It’s how do we rise

215
00:11:48,590 –> 00:11:51,130
Speaker 1: above in that sea of sameness when you look at

216
00:11:51,170 –> 00:11:52,850
Speaker 1: consumer electronics as a whole.

217
00:11:53,100 –> 00:11:54,980
Speaker 3: You talk about how you had this big learning from

218
00:11:55,000 –> 00:11:58,200
Speaker 3: last year that informed this year’s strategy. What data and

219
00:11:58,240 –> 00:12:00,700
Speaker 3: insights were your team surfacing to you that made you

220
00:12:00,740 –> 00:12:02,320
Speaker 3: realize this is the way forward?

221
00:12:02,840 –> 00:12:05,439
Speaker 1: We tend to look at data on two different subsets.

222
00:12:05,679 –> 00:12:08,440
Speaker 1: One is our brand health metrics, and then one is

223
00:12:08,520 –> 00:12:11,920
Speaker 1: more of our conversion and our sales data. So in

224
00:12:11,990 –> 00:12:15,810
Speaker 1: looking at both those numbers, when we leaned more heavily

225
00:12:15,970 –> 00:12:20,170
Speaker 1: into culturally relevant content, content that was different than what’s

226
00:12:20,250 –> 00:12:23,590
Speaker 1: out there, content that was really smart and tailored to

227
00:12:23,670 –> 00:12:28,020
Speaker 1: our demographic, we saw both an increase in brand health

228
00:12:28,059 –> 00:12:31,410
Speaker 1: metrics as well as increase in sales. So that’s what

229
00:12:31,450 –> 00:12:33,469
Speaker 1: we really use. We always make sure we’re looking at

230
00:12:33,530 –> 00:12:35,410
Speaker 1: both sides of the fence when we’re doing that.

231
00:12:35,630 –> 00:12:35,990
Speaker 2: Got it.

232
00:12:36,490 –> 00:12:41,030
Speaker 3: Culture is rapidly changing, especially as the face of America changes.

233
00:12:41,690 –> 00:12:45,580
Speaker 3: So in terms of where you’re placing big cultural bets,

234
00:12:46,400 –> 00:12:49,040
Speaker 3: looking forward, what are those arenas?

235
00:12:49,480 –> 00:12:51,820
Speaker 1: Well, I think it’s even taking a step back because

236
00:12:51,860 –> 00:12:55,500
Speaker 1: consumer electronics is a bit of a, I wouldn’t say

237
00:12:55,540 –> 00:12:59,620
Speaker 1: we’re a trend leading industry. So for us to just

238
00:12:59,720 –> 00:13:04,410
Speaker 1: even hook consumer electronics into culture is already like a

239
00:13:04,470 –> 00:13:07,550
Speaker 1: little bit scary for some people and pushes it out

240
00:13:07,570 –> 00:13:09,949
Speaker 1: of their comfort zone. When you look at most creative

241
00:13:09,990 –> 00:13:14,120
Speaker 1: that consumer electronics companies put out there, it looks very similar.

242
00:13:14,740 –> 00:13:18,970
Speaker 1: And it’s very hard to differentiate who’s doing what. Our

243
00:13:19,010 –> 00:13:21,670
Speaker 1: goal was to change that and change the face of

244
00:13:21,750 –> 00:13:24,810
Speaker 1: how we were showing up. So even as simple as

245
00:13:24,910 –> 00:13:28,270
Speaker 1: tying into like if a big musician’s doing an album

246
00:13:28,290 –> 00:13:30,209
Speaker 1: drop that we knew it was going to get a

247
00:13:30,480 –> 00:13:35,620
Speaker 1: lot of buzz, tying into that, we tied into the Drake,

248
00:13:35,679 –> 00:13:40,239
Speaker 1: Kendrick Lamar rap thing. disc tracks with a very fun

249
00:13:40,280 –> 00:13:43,210
Speaker 1: and creative way around one of our products that’s called

250
00:13:43,230 –> 00:13:46,370
Speaker 1: the music frame, where it plays music and you can

251
00:13:46,429 –> 00:13:50,080
Speaker 1: frame your favorite photos. So it’s just smart and clever

252
00:13:50,160 –> 00:13:52,200
Speaker 1: ties in the culture. But at the end of the day,

253
00:13:52,280 –> 00:13:56,000
Speaker 1: it always needs to be organic to our brand and

254
00:13:56,040 –> 00:13:59,170
Speaker 1: it needs to have a reason to be. I wouldn’t

255
00:13:59,210 –> 00:14:01,590
Speaker 1: want to tie in the culture just to throw out

256
00:14:01,630 –> 00:14:05,850
Speaker 1: Taylor Swift’s name without any grounding in actual product and

257
00:14:06,030 –> 00:14:08,320
Speaker 1: why Samsung would be talking about this.

258
00:14:08,880 –> 00:14:11,600
Speaker 2: Makes a lot of sense. It’s so clear to me

259
00:14:11,700 –> 00:14:16,580
Speaker 2: that your history and the root of your career started

260
00:14:16,600 –> 00:14:20,590
Speaker 2: in PR because you’re always trying to figure out like, A,

261
00:14:20,640 –> 00:14:25,800
Speaker 2: what’s the story? What’s the connectivity? What’s the relevance and

262
00:14:26,000 –> 00:14:28,160
Speaker 2: where is it cool to play? Where is it not

263
00:14:28,220 –> 00:14:30,960
Speaker 2: cool to play? And that’s why I really like the

264
00:14:30,980 –> 00:14:35,440
Speaker 2: way you’ve thought about your approach to influencers is like,

265
00:14:35,460 –> 00:14:37,960
Speaker 2: you know, the combination of just having this social currency,

266
00:14:38,480 –> 00:14:42,730
Speaker 2: but also the relationship development. You contrast that with what

267
00:14:42,760 –> 00:14:45,590
Speaker 2: you just said about consumer electronics and you say, okay, well,

268
00:14:45,610 –> 00:14:48,890
Speaker 2: this is like a machine that I’m trying to sell.

269
00:14:49,370 –> 00:14:53,150
Speaker 2: How do you think about the connectivity between Between that

270
00:14:53,190 –> 00:14:55,730
Speaker 2: of saying, look, I’m trying to develop relationships and make

271
00:14:55,750 –> 00:14:58,820
Speaker 2: sure that Samsung is relevant. But I also have got

272
00:14:58,860 –> 00:15:01,000
Speaker 2: this basic consumer journey of saying people are going to

273
00:15:01,100 –> 00:15:05,680
Speaker 2: upgrade their TV every X number of years or months

274
00:15:05,860 –> 00:15:08,760
Speaker 2: or whatever Moore’s law says at any given point. How

275
00:15:08,780 –> 00:15:15,170
Speaker 2: do you pivot from the relationship storytelling component to the

276
00:15:15,290 –> 00:15:16,650
Speaker 2: how do I get into the buying cycle?

277
00:15:17,070 –> 00:15:19,230
Speaker 1: I would turn that on its head a little bit, Sarah,

278
00:15:19,310 –> 00:15:22,000
Speaker 1: in that it’s not really a pivot. It’s more of

279
00:15:22,060 –> 00:15:26,780
Speaker 1: a marriage. And it’s making sure that how we’re telling

280
00:15:26,840 –> 00:15:32,380
Speaker 1: the story is true to the brand and also in

281
00:15:32,440 –> 00:15:37,340
Speaker 1: a way that really speaks to and with our demographic,

282
00:15:37,420 –> 00:15:39,960
Speaker 1: not at them, but with them. So what I mean

283
00:15:40,000 –> 00:15:44,340
Speaker 1: by that is I think it’s incredibly important that we

284
00:15:44,580 –> 00:15:48,890
Speaker 1: demonstrate and show, not just tell, why our products are

285
00:15:48,910 –> 00:15:51,190
Speaker 1: going to make their lives better and what’s in it

286
00:15:51,230 –> 00:15:55,250
Speaker 1: for the consumer. And that’s another big push that we’ve

287
00:15:55,320 –> 00:15:58,400
Speaker 1: changed a lot, just how we speak in general. We

288
00:15:58,440 –> 00:16:02,620
Speaker 1: are very benefit-led and we’ve gotten rid of as much

289
00:16:02,680 –> 00:16:06,220
Speaker 1: of the jargon as we possibly could. Right now, I

290
00:16:06,240 –> 00:16:08,540
Speaker 1: would say if you go into a Best Buy and

291
00:16:08,580 –> 00:16:10,940
Speaker 1: you try to buy a TV, if you look at

292
00:16:11,000 –> 00:16:15,840
Speaker 1: descriptions and you see things like quantum dots and OLED

293
00:16:15,860 –> 00:16:21,250
Speaker 1: and other very technical sounding terms. You’re not exactly sure

294
00:16:21,390 –> 00:16:24,590
Speaker 1: what that means and why you should care. We’ve changed

295
00:16:24,650 –> 00:16:28,690
Speaker 1: it to as simple as language that says three reasons

296
00:16:28,750 –> 00:16:32,690
Speaker 1: that make this TV awesome. Or here’s why you should

297
00:16:32,730 –> 00:16:36,510
Speaker 1: buy Samsung. We’re trying to really deliver on what’s in

298
00:16:36,550 –> 00:16:39,670
Speaker 1: it for the consumer so that it isn’t a guessing

299
00:16:39,740 –> 00:16:42,980
Speaker 1: game for them to try and figure out and understand. Instead,

300
00:16:43,060 –> 00:16:46,690
Speaker 1: we’re the experts on TV. So let us… speak in

301
00:16:46,730 –> 00:16:49,650
Speaker 1: a language that a consumer is really going to understand.

302
00:16:50,090 –> 00:16:53,510
Speaker 1: I think that’s probably our biggest shift. And all of

303
00:16:53,630 –> 00:16:57,480
Speaker 1: our storytelling needs to ladder to that. It’s not a

304
00:16:57,500 –> 00:17:00,000
Speaker 1: pivot and you can’t separate them because it needs to

305
00:17:00,060 –> 00:17:02,620
Speaker 1: be married together. We have to make sure when we’re

306
00:17:02,660 –> 00:17:06,080
Speaker 1: talking about why this TV is awesome and why you

307
00:17:06,119 –> 00:17:09,020
Speaker 1: need it in a way that’s an emotional play that

308
00:17:09,119 –> 00:17:12,590
Speaker 1: also shows how it’s going to solve some needs that

309
00:17:12,630 –> 00:17:13,630
Speaker 1: you have in your life.

310
00:17:14,290 –> 00:17:18,790
Speaker 3: Here we are. summer 2024 when we’re recording this. You’re

311
00:17:18,830 –> 00:17:22,980
Speaker 3: three years into your journey at Samsung. And a lot

312
00:17:23,040 –> 00:17:26,700
Speaker 3: of American consumers are probably three to four years into

313
00:17:26,880 –> 00:17:30,980
Speaker 3: owning their new TV. We’re not in the pandemic anymore.

314
00:17:31,000 –> 00:17:33,970
Speaker 3: Housing prices, though, seem to continue to rise. So people

315
00:17:33,990 –> 00:17:38,830
Speaker 3: are moving. What is your outlook on home entertainment over

316
00:17:39,170 –> 00:17:40,350
Speaker 3: the next six to 12 months?

317
00:17:40,820 –> 00:17:43,540
Speaker 1: Yeah, my outlook on home entertainment over the next six

318
00:17:43,600 –> 00:17:46,870
Speaker 1: to 12 months has really been shaped a lot by

319
00:17:46,930 –> 00:17:51,260
Speaker 1: what’s happened over the last four years. And that’s primarily because,

320
00:17:52,000 –> 00:17:55,520
Speaker 1: as we all know from COVID, we became masters of

321
00:17:55,980 –> 00:18:02,139
Speaker 1: of multitasking and multi-uses and multi-hyphenates, where what used to be,

322
00:18:02,460 –> 00:18:05,050
Speaker 1: you know, that table that was in the corner of

323
00:18:05,090 –> 00:18:08,270
Speaker 1: your kitchen that no one used suddenly became a workspace,

324
00:18:08,570 –> 00:18:14,320
Speaker 1: suddenly became your kid’s homework center, suddenly became your bread-making center.

325
00:18:14,600 –> 00:18:19,000
Speaker 1: We’ve gotten very good at shifting into multi-uses for one thing,

326
00:18:19,140 –> 00:18:22,280
Speaker 1: and TV is no different. What used to be people

327
00:18:22,300 –> 00:18:25,600
Speaker 1: would just sit and use TV as escapism to relax,

328
00:18:25,660 –> 00:18:29,030
Speaker 1: to watch a show, they still are. But TVs also

329
00:18:29,070 –> 00:18:32,810
Speaker 1: become a center for connectivity. It’s become how you do

330
00:18:32,850 –> 00:18:37,369
Speaker 1: your fitness routine. It’s become a great huge screen to

331
00:18:37,550 –> 00:18:39,990
Speaker 1: use when you’re trying to look at a PowerPoint that’s

332
00:18:40,050 –> 00:18:44,030
Speaker 1: super tiny on your phone. Like TVs have become so

333
00:18:44,070 –> 00:18:48,490
Speaker 1: much more than just entertainment or showing your favorite movie.

334
00:18:49,400 –> 00:18:53,139
Speaker 1: That’s how we’ve evolved. So we work on something called SmartThings,

335
00:18:53,200 –> 00:18:56,050
Speaker 1: which is the connectivity hub for all of the products.

336
00:18:56,430 –> 00:18:58,530
Speaker 1: And one thing that Samsung does that I think is

337
00:18:58,570 –> 00:19:03,550
Speaker 1: very smart is we connect all products brand agnostically as

338
00:19:03,630 –> 00:19:06,700
Speaker 1: long as they are matter powered. So though I’d love

339
00:19:06,720 –> 00:19:09,480
Speaker 1: for you to have only Samsung in your house, you

340
00:19:09,520 –> 00:19:12,199
Speaker 1: don’t need to only have Samsung in your house in

341
00:19:12,280 –> 00:19:16,780
Speaker 1: order to use SmartThings. And particularly in the age of AI,

342
00:19:16,840 –> 00:19:18,700
Speaker 1: which I mean, you have to be hiding under a

343
00:19:18,760 –> 00:19:22,140
Speaker 1: rock not to have heard people talking about it. In fact,

344
00:19:22,200 –> 00:19:24,320
Speaker 1: at Cannes, we even had on one of our panels,

345
00:19:24,680 –> 00:19:28,160
Speaker 1: a drinking game that anytime someone mentioned AI, they had

346
00:19:28,200 –> 00:19:30,970
Speaker 1: to drink their entire glass of rosé. And I am

347
00:19:31,090 –> 00:19:33,210
Speaker 1: totally on board with that because there’s a lot of

348
00:19:33,310 –> 00:19:38,090
Speaker 1: AI fatigue. But how we use AI is not to

349
00:19:38,530 –> 00:19:41,030
Speaker 1: do the writing and do the art and the things

350
00:19:41,130 –> 00:19:44,220
Speaker 1: that you want to do your own creative outlets. We

351
00:19:44,340 –> 00:19:47,910
Speaker 1: use AI to take care of the mundane, boring tasks

352
00:19:47,970 –> 00:19:50,640
Speaker 1: in your life to free up your time. so you

353
00:19:50,700 –> 00:19:54,200
Speaker 1: can do the stuff that thrills you and empowers you

354
00:19:54,260 –> 00:19:57,280
Speaker 1: and makes you feel better or helps you escape. So like,

355
00:19:57,300 –> 00:20:01,100
Speaker 1: for example, on our TVs for AI upscaling, it will

356
00:20:01,340 –> 00:20:05,470
Speaker 1: automatically change the settings on your TV based on what

357
00:20:05,510 –> 00:20:09,320
Speaker 1: you’re watching so you get the best picture quality. Think

358
00:20:09,380 –> 00:20:11,680
Speaker 1: about that. I don’t know about you, but I don’t

359
00:20:11,720 –> 00:20:13,810
Speaker 1: know many people in my life that could take the

360
00:20:13,869 –> 00:20:16,710
Speaker 1: remote and know how to change the settings so they

361
00:20:16,750 –> 00:20:19,619
Speaker 1: can see that dark scene in Game of Thrones. Our

362
00:20:19,650 –> 00:20:21,580
Speaker 1: TVs will automatically do that for you.

363
00:20:21,790 –> 00:20:23,470
Speaker 3: I’m waiting for it to know when my wife is

364
00:20:23,510 –> 00:20:25,629
Speaker 3: watching TV so it can just turn on the subtitles.

365
00:20:25,970 –> 00:20:27,369
Speaker 3: But when I’m watching, it turns it off.

366
00:20:27,590 –> 00:20:29,630
Speaker 1: We do have that. We have preferences.

367
00:20:29,770 –> 00:20:30,310
Speaker 5: Perfect.

368
00:20:30,410 –> 00:20:32,960
Speaker 1: So you need a new one. My TV, my favorite

369
00:20:32,980 –> 00:20:35,959
Speaker 1: thing that it does is my washer and dryer in

370
00:20:35,980 –> 00:20:38,720
Speaker 1: the basement. And my TV will tell me when the

371
00:20:38,760 –> 00:20:40,580
Speaker 1: wash is ready to move to the dryer.

372
00:20:40,660 –> 00:20:41,460
Speaker 3: I got to set that up.

373
00:20:41,619 –> 00:20:45,480
Speaker 1: And in fact, we just launched a new washer dryer

374
00:20:45,540 –> 00:20:49,630
Speaker 1: combo that automatically it’s one unit. So it goes from

375
00:20:49,750 –> 00:20:51,950
Speaker 1: washer to dryer. So you don’t even have to switch

376
00:20:52,010 –> 00:20:52,690
Speaker 1: it anymore.

377
00:20:52,850 –> 00:20:53,710
Speaker 3: Very European.

378
00:20:53,730 –> 00:20:54,770
Speaker 1: I agree.

379
00:20:54,790 –> 00:20:58,070
Speaker 3: I have to ask you our famous last question. All right.

380
00:20:58,609 –> 00:21:00,940
Speaker 3: Which is, what’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done?

381
00:21:01,780 –> 00:21:06,220
Speaker 1: The bravest thing I’ve ever done. I actually think it’s

382
00:21:07,060 –> 00:21:09,100
Speaker 1: kind of part of who I am. Something I do

383
00:21:09,160 –> 00:21:12,410
Speaker 1: every day, if you will. I call it microdosing bravery.

384
00:21:13,320 –> 00:21:16,000
Speaker 1: I try to push myself out of my comfort zone

385
00:21:16,080 –> 00:21:18,960
Speaker 1: every day in some way, whether it scares me, whether

386
00:21:18,980 –> 00:21:23,090
Speaker 1: it makes me feel uncomfortable, whether it just challenges my perspective.

387
00:21:23,980 –> 00:21:27,050
Speaker 1: I feel that’s how you grow. And I will always say,

388
00:21:27,090 –> 00:21:30,470
Speaker 1: especially to my two daughters who are 20 and 17,

389
00:21:30,470 –> 00:21:32,889
Speaker 1: it’s the stuff you do that scares you the most

390
00:21:33,410 –> 00:21:36,409
Speaker 1: that you reap the biggest rewards from. It’s not when

391
00:21:36,450 –> 00:21:39,320
Speaker 1: you play it safe because you don’t grow from that.

392
00:21:39,440 –> 00:21:43,850
Speaker 1: So I embody that philosophy and I’m definitely encouraging them

393
00:21:43,930 –> 00:21:47,909
Speaker 1: to as well. So microdose bravery. That’s my takeaway.

394
00:21:48,450 –> 00:21:49,730
Speaker 3: What’s your microdose today?

395
00:21:50,250 –> 00:21:53,030
Speaker 1: Well, I flew back from London yesterday, so it was

396
00:21:53,109 –> 00:21:57,230
Speaker 1: having like 10 different meetings while I’m jet lagged. So

397
00:21:57,450 –> 00:21:59,170
Speaker 1: and maybe doing this interview.

398
00:21:58,820 –> 00:21:59,920
Speaker 3: While I’m jet lagged, too.

399
00:21:59,940 –> 00:22:02,800
Speaker 1: I should have had a disclosure.

400
00:22:02,820 –> 00:22:07,100
Speaker 3: We couldn’t tell. We couldn’t tell. You’d never know. Sarah,

401
00:22:07,140 –> 00:22:10,649
Speaker 3: thank you for sharing your story, Samsung story. And by

402
00:22:10,670 –> 00:22:12,750
Speaker 3: the time that we release this episode, it’s going to

403
00:22:12,770 –> 00:22:16,730
Speaker 3: be big season, guys, to stock up on whatever you

404
00:22:16,770 –> 00:22:18,650
Speaker 3: need for the second half of the year. So check

405
00:22:18,690 –> 00:22:23,040
Speaker 3: out Samsung. If you want to keep going down the

406
00:22:23,100 –> 00:22:26,850
Speaker 3: rabbit hole of the consumer electronics category, you can go

407
00:22:26,880 –> 00:22:29,490
Speaker 3: check out an episode we did with the president of

408
00:22:29,530 –> 00:22:32,650
Speaker 3: Best Buy. If you like what you hear, write a review,

409
00:22:32,830 –> 00:22:34,630
Speaker 3: share on LinkedIn. Thanks for listening.

410
00:22:44,730 –> 00:23:04,580
Speaker 5: Thank you. Hi, I’m Jackie Cooper, Global Chief Brand Officer

411
00:23:04,800 –> 00:23:07,420
Speaker 5: at Edelman and the host of Touch of Truth, a

412
00:23:07,460 –> 00:23:11,410
Speaker 5: new podcast launching on the Adweek Podcast Network. My dad

413
00:23:11,470 –> 00:23:15,050
Speaker 5: gave me this incredibly smart piece of advice. Meet everyone once.

414
00:23:15,369 –> 00:23:17,730
Speaker 5: As a result, I’ve met some of the most fascinating

415
00:23:17,750 –> 00:23:21,000
Speaker 5: and inspiring people on the planet. Now on Touch of Truth,

416
00:23:21,200 –> 00:23:24,460
Speaker 5: we’re coming centre stage and sharing the mic to experience

417
00:23:24,500 –> 00:23:27,360
Speaker 5: stories of truth, insights and visions for the future that

418
00:23:27,380 –> 00:23:29,859
Speaker 5: will challenge your way of thinking. Touch of Truth is

419
00:23:29,920 –> 00:23:33,450
Speaker 5: available wherever you listen to podcasts. New episodes come out

420
00:23:33,650 –> 00:23:35,690
Speaker 5: every Tuesday. I do hope to see you there.