- Home furniture retailer Ashley and Samsung Electronics America are working together to demystify the smart home via a special display in the retailer’s flagship store.
- “The Connected Home Experience powered by Samsung SmartThings” features areas within the store with staged room setups (or “vignettes”) that incorporate Samsung’s SmartThings ecosystem to demonstrate how the two brands’ products complement each other.
- The demonstration spaces will debut later this month at Ashey’s Brentwood, Tenn., flagship store and will expand to some of the retailer’s other locations over the next few months. For customers who can’t make it to the Brentwood store, Samsung has created a “SmartThings Interactive Home” experience on its website. The feature allows customers to explore connected home setups virtually.
One of the barriers to entry for shopping smart technology is the perception that it’s overwhelming to update or difficult to set up,” said Allison Stransky, chief marketing officer of Samsung Electronics America. “The Connected Home Experience powered by Samsung SmartThings is designed to break down those misconceptions by showing how easy and simple smart tech updates can really be.
“Many consumers already have the building blocks for smart technology, and our partnership with Ashley demonstrates just how effortlessly it can be integrated into their existing spaces, all while showcasing how furniture and electronics come together to make a home a better place,” she continued.
The full experience in the Brentwood, Tenn., store includes 11 interactive vignettes that demonstrate how the connected home can come to life in different ways. One display, “Heart of the Home,” emphasizes family connection, while “Music and Vibe” shows off how connected lighting and projectors can set the perfect mood. Each vignette is controllable via a kiosk with a Samsung tablet equipped with a SmartThings app.
“Many people associate the smart home with functional benefits like home security,” Stransky said. “At Samsung, we want people to see how building a connected smart home will make their space even more amazing because SmartThings can help you create immersive, personalized experiences.”
The “Connected Home Experience” will be featured in a grand opening at Ashley’s flagship store in Brentwood, Tenn., on Oct. 26. The celebration will include an episode taping of the “Get Real with Caroline Hobby” podcast and giveaways from local vendors. The brands will be supporting the partnership with social and CRM activations, as well as local marketing efforts in the Nashville area.
