Samsung’s Olga Suvorova knows that as a challenger brand in a market dominated by Apple, it is important to show up in cultural conversation.
“We move at the speed of culture,” said Suvorova, chief marketing officer, mobile experience at Samsung Electronics America. “We have a huge opportunity to create lasting business for our brand, for our partners and for our current and future consumers.”
The mobile phone brand ran two ads during the Academy Awards, shining the spotlight on stunt performers and highlighting how Samsung Galaxy’s AI features can enhance your life, even if that includes action-packed fight scenes. Samsung has also partnered with Unrivaled, a professional women’s basketball league that plays 3×3, as its official technology and presenting partner.
Whether they are promoting smartphones, wearables, headphones or tablets, AI is at the center of the brand’s platform.
“AI is shaping the next generation, period,” said Suvorova. “More and more people are using AI tools every single day across a variety of needs, a variety of tasks, which presents a huge opportunity. Samsung has been at the forefront of AI innovation for many years and with the launch of mobile Galaxy AI innovation in early 2024, we have continued to build and reinvent what people can do with technology, especially technology so exciting and so rich and powerful as AI.”
Since 2024, the company has expanded Galaxy AI to more form factors from mobile phones to wearables to laptops and has been focused on improving key features and experiences ever since.
“Empowering users from all backgrounds with something like photo editing magic or the tools to communicate across language barriers with something like a life interpreter or the platform to reach health goals with slip and energy score tracking,” added Suvorova.
“My role is to make Samsung mobile brands and portfolio a desired choice in the US. That will result in disproportionate business and market share growth.”
Prior to joining Samsung, Suvorova has held senior roles at companies including Goldman Sachs, Google and Procter & Gamble. Brand Innovators caught up with Suvorova from her office in New York to talk about AI, storytelling and showing up in culture. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What is your approach to AI?
Our approach to AI is really focused on improving people’s lives. It’s not what technology does, it’s what people can do with technology. We’re not just looking to launch new features for the sake of it. We want to have the greatest impact on people’s lives from utility to joy, because both are super important and AI plays a role.
It’s been pretty amazing to see how people find Galaxy AI useful in their daily lives and what they do with it. Nearly one out of every five Samsung Galaxy users are now turning to Galaxy AI tools every single day. And with the launch of Samsung Galaxy S25 a couple of months ago, Galaxy AI made another major shift from just individual generative AI features to a more cohesive experience that truly understands the user and the environment and can be activated with just the press of one button.
We are constantly listening to our users and trying to get their feedback, how they’re using Galaxy AI, what is important to them, what are the cool things that they’re doing, what they would love to do. You will see more from us on that front as we’re continuing to build and learn from our incredible communities in the US and across the world.
How are you telling that story as a marketer?
Our marketing focus has been on showing versus telling in the context of the most relatable or real-life situations and experiences. We’re also bringing the Samsung Galaxy brand and AI innovation to life through partnerships with the people, the brands, the platforms that share our values from joining forces and being an official technology partner with an incredible first of its kind, 3×3 basketball league that’s challenging the conventions of women’s sports to activating during such big cultural moments like Oscars with our amazing products, but also a powerful brand point of view that shines light on creative stunt performers that oftentimes don’t get the credit they deserve.
These impactful partnerships allow us to both show our challenge and your mentality while highlighting the incredible AI feature that differentiates Samsung from the rest. We’re influencing that cultural zeitgeist to put Samsung at the forefront of conversations in the places and spaces where our customers spend so much of their time, whether online or in real life. That’s what is so key to our storytelling about AI.
How are you thinking about Samsung’s role in culture?
I like to think about Samsung and Samsung Galaxy Mobile brand as an unconformist innovator, inventing and reinventing the technology and what people can do with it stemming from our brand philosophy of openness. I want Samsung to be top of mind when it comes to culture, when it comes to what people are doing and thinking about.
As a brand, we have a very powerful role to play in doing that. We’re about breaking barriers, challenging conventions and really opening people up to new and different experiences, standing up against sometimes constraints of cultural conformity and monotony. That’s a pretty exciting role that we have been playing in culture and will only continue to double down on.
And to do that, we are partnering with like-minded brands, platforms, people that share our values that are challengers in their own fields and are positioning ourselves in the places where customers are spending our time. We’re going bigger in sports, in fashion, gaming, and the field. It’s galvanizing the communities around this shared belief and shared purpose.
Can you talk about how you’re thinking about innovation when it comes to your marketing?
It starts with innovation and innovative products. I feel incredibly lucky because Samsung is really an incredible innovator and we’re challenging ourselves to be a challenger brand that constantly stands up to the needs of consumers.
We immediately had an opportunity to start making different approaches and marketing differently and enhancing our brand positioning by showing versus telling. Another part of innovation in marketing is building for a cut through and being a meaningful part of consumer conversation. It’s getting more and more important.
We have been doing a lot of that with a bolder point of view as a challenger brand in the US and within the mobile category and owning bigger cultural moments. We’ve experimented a lot. We have been asking ourselves really hard questions to get to really smart, bold, but also effective marketing. I love switching things up and challenging what’s possible.
Can you talk about how your past experience at some of the other companies including Google and Proctor & Gamble you’ve worked with have helped shape your perspective in this role?
You take something from every role into your next role. And I’ve been privileged enough to work in incredible companies and touch millions of consumers and customers’ lives through incredible brands.
My time at those organizations taught me critical business acumen, how to lead the team of talented marketers, how to manage my time, how to take bold risks and when to let the dust settle. So in many ways, every part of that journey has prepared me for this role. I take something from each and every one of those experiences but apply it to a unique business, a unique brand challenge that Samsung Mobile category and Galaxy brand represents for us in the US. I’ve learned so much already from my short time at Samsung.
Can you talk about what marketing trends you expect to kind of play out this year?
It’s a combination of one, continuing to make AI technology and innovation meaningful to consumers. We will see more of that. That’s definitely an exciting opportunity and focus for us.
The second part is being effective at delivering hyper-personalized messages but across omni-channel experience. And to do that effectively, we as marketers need to focus on cutting through the noise and navigating complexity more than ever.
