Athletes may still be warming up for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, but Samsung Electronics’ UK and Ireland marketing and omnichannel director, Annika Bizon, is running full speed ahead in the City of Lights.
Last week, she was on stage in Paris at Samsung’s massive “Galaxy Unpacked” event, where the electronics giant unveiled a series of new products, including its new Galaxy Ring smartphone, and also unveiled its vision for healthcare and wellness, as well as the next steps in its AI journey. Meanwhile, across the city, Samsung’s unique Olympic experiences and activities were beginning to take shape ahead of the July 29 Opening Ceremony.
“I’ve been here for about a week and a half, and I’ve seen the whole city turn into the Olympics. It’s been really cool to see,” she says. “I was on my way to train for Unpacked, and I walked past the Louvre, and suddenly I saw ‘Open Always Wins’ written all over the buildings. It’s really exciting!”
The Galaxy Unpacked event focused on wellness, with the launch of the aforementioned smart ring and new models in its smartwatch lineup, the Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Watch7. According to Annika, who wore the Galaxy ring on stage, what makes this launch so exciting is how AI is integrated into the whole thing.
“It’s amazing to be able to see it in real life and have it in your hands,” says Annika. “At the same time, it’s all about AI and how it can help us live healthier lives, and how our devices work together. It also has a direct connection to the Olympics, because the Olympics are about health and wellness and doing your best.”
Annika explains that the ring is an example of “discreet health” and speaks to consumers’ desire for greater wearable flexibility (not every outfit is a smartwatch outfit) and more intuitive technology. “We’re at the heart of the AI story. AI is making it better because it’s even more intuitive to your life and the way you want to live… I talked a little bit about this at Unpacked, it’s about where you want your data to be, how you want your data to be managed so that all of those data points are brought together. As I said at Unpacked, you might want to miss your morning spin class because you might be in a place physically or mentally where it’s just not right for you. And Samsung will help you do that. It will give you advice on what you should be doing and how you should be managing your health.”
While the Samsung team was telling its AI story on stage, with a focus on utilities like Live Translate, Samsung was also busy setting up and creating the Olympic experiences so people could experience their story for themselves and get a taste of the products, whether they were in Paris or not.
Annika can’t talk about all of these immersive experiences in Paris, but one that has been revealed is the installation of 200 Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphones around the city to livestream and give audiences around the world a completely new way to see the Games. “Two hundred S24s will be streaming the Olympics, which makes it feel like you’re immersed in the whole experience. To me, it’s a game-changing way of thinking and opening up the Olympics to everyone in a different way. So whether it’s Ring, Watch, or phones, all of these things have been thought out in a very complex way. Not only are we at the Olympics, we’re part of it and we’re bringing a better experience to consumers, which I’m proud of.”
That sense of immersion is key for Annika, especially when it comes to technologies like AI, which are still quite confusing for many people. “For me, it’s about how do you integrate technology into a really immersive space… I’ve said this many times, AI can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but really what AI really means is showing people that it makes your life easier or better, right? So, by simplifying it, by demystifying the word ‘AI’ and saying, ‘Did you know you can ‘Live Translate’ on this phone?’, ‘Did you know you can look at your health in a completely different way using the Ring?’ or ‘You can watch the start of the 100-meter line with an S24 right in front of you, and you could be in the Olympics.’”
“I’m really excited because I’ve seen some of the immersive spaces they’ve created around how we integrate technology into everyday life. It’s really cool and very different from what we’ve seen in the past.”
“I think you can explain to people what a product is, but at the end of the day, from the consumer’s point of view, these are new and innovative products. You love them when you hold them in your hands and you know you love them when you see what they can do. You love them when you see how they can fit into your life,” says Annika, who firmly believes that there is no substitute for telling people something rather than letting them experience it for themselves.
From a communications perspective, Samsung’s presence at the Olympics proclaims “Openness Always Wins,” emphasizing not only the interconnectedness of its technology ecosystem, but also a spirit of inclusion and immersion.
Samsung’s relationship with the Olympics goes back decades, having supported the Seoul Olympics as a Local Partner in 1988 before becoming a Worldwide Partner of the Nagano Winter Games in 1998. And the innovation we’re about to see in Paris is something that can also be traced back to the early days of the relationship, when their ‘Call Home’ initiative allowed athletes to talk to friends and family back home.
Speaking personally and reflecting on Samsung’s approach to its partnership with the Olympics, Annika has some powerful insights into how brands can truly leverage their partnerships and sponsorships to ensure they are more than just a logo on a wall.
“There are key elements on multiple levels. First, you have to make sure that you’re really delivering the most enriching experiences to the consumer, and then you have to make sure that the experience is creative and different. You have to have as many touchpoints as possible in a space… This is a partnership that we’ve had for 40 years. How can we make it different every time we come to the Olympics?”
“Then you move to the next step, which is, ‘What partners should we have? Who are our influencers?’ We took people like [British parasport athlete and presenter] Kadeena Cox, we went to the Olympics and Paralympics with our incredible ambassadors and influencers. It’s all about authenticity, as much as anything else, so they can tell their story and we can give them a platform to do that.
“And then, especially with things like the S24 content capture, there’s the question of how do we make sure that it really, really speaks directly to our audience? It all has to tie back to that openness. Openness is always a winner. It has to be referenced because it’s the mantra that allows us to feel authentic in the space and interesting to our consumers.”
With the opening ceremony just days away, we are about to witness the culmination of a carefully orchestrated mega-event by Samsung in Paris. It took a lot of hard work and meticulous planning from the entire team, including Annika.
“I think if you have the opportunity to be given a gift, to work hard for something as incredible as the Olympics, you have to make sure that the plan you put in place is as incredible as the Olympics. Otherwise, you’re not doing justice to yourself or the Olympics.”