• by Aaron Baar , March 9, 2010

As the company moves to launch the first 3-D television set in the United States (and around the world), Samsung Electronics is embarking on an ambitious global advertising effort that looks to show how three dimensions look on a traditional 2-D format.

Next week, the Korean consumer electronics company will begin airing a 60-second television commercial that shows teams of people installing multiple Samsung televisions around a city, seemingly overnight. Images projected on the installation show how they interact within the real (i.e., 3-D) world. A girl, for instance, surrounded by foliage tries to grab butterflies on a screen. In another, a kitten takes a swipe at a toy above traffic. The commercial ends with an epic display of traffic stopped around Samsung televisions in the street as if on the edge of a waterfall.

"We took a different approach to communicate our message with consumers," Sue Shim, senior vice president of Samsung's visual display division, tells Marketing Daily. "We wanted to make it more connected to consumers and more engaging in their lives."

The campaign, which is tagged "A New Dimension in TV," marks a bit of a departure for Samsung, highlighting the user experience rather than the gadgetry that enables the technology, Shim says.

"When it comes to [average] consumers, they're not concerned about the specific technology," Shim says. "They're more interested in the viewing experience they would get from the actual TV."

While the epic commercial depicting the city's transformation will roll out in global markets as the 3-D televisions become available (Korea is first, followed by the U.S., and Europe later in the year), each market has leeway to create commercials that specifically address its demographics. In the U.S., for instance, Samsung ran teaser ads during the Oscar telecast on ABC that showed sea life emerging from a television screen into a living room. The U.S. campaign is tagged "Dedicated to Wonder."

"Our strategy is to have one message come across and remain the same," Shim says. "If they want, they can translate it to fit within their markets."

The U.S. campaign will also include a 3-D cinema commercial, believed to be the first such execution for a consumer electronics brand, and a promotional program in which everyone purchasing a 2010 Samsung 3-D TV and 3-D Blu-ray Player or Home Theater System will receive a 3-D starter kit that includes two pairs of active shutter 3-D glasses and a 3-D Blu-ray version of DreamWorks Animation's movie "Monsters vs. Aliens." (Samsung has also expanded its strategic alliance with DreamWorks Animation, which will include a promotional offering of the popular "Shrek" franchise for Samsung's 3-D products during the second half of the year.)

Given the limitations of current technology, however, the real proof of innovation for most consumers will be in the retail outlets, Shim acknowledges. As such, the company is working with its retail partners to ensure that consumers get a good idea of what 3-D TV is all about. "We can't explain all of the experience of 3-D in 2-D technology," she says. "The consumers can get a real 3-D experience in the stores."