• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, Yesterday

Reimagine the average TV commercial -- with short “gaming” interactive efforts. Can they replace TV commercials or even some daily mobile phone habits?

Figure traditional TV viewers probably already have other things to do amid multitasking efforts.

But Samsung with their GameBreaks strategy has been wanting to do much more: gaming breaks occurring in between pieces of traditional looking linear TV content.

Samsung believes these small advertising/content pieces are "snackable," deepening the connection between the differences of what smart TV OS platforms provide and the relatively “cool” laid back old-school efforts of traditional linear TV engagement.

Can’t blame Samsung, and other providers still trying to figure out the video game connection with big TV-screen laid-back viewing. (Netflix is still in the game, yes?) The goal is to give brands more connection with prospective consumers.

Samsung started this up a year ago with games like “The Six” -- and now want to keep viewers going with more big screen, short gaming efforts. One executive uses the word "snackable" to define this and other efforts.

"The Six" is a trivia game built into new Samsung TVs -- 2022 or newer -- where you race against time to answer six questions. Of course the “time factor” works well in a world where you might be replacing/supplementing a 15-second or 30-second brand message.

It also has started up a version running on Samsung Galaxy mobile phones, for perhaps added promotion and synergy.

But aren’t there other games vying for attention on their phones -- popular mobile games such as Roblox, Candy Crush Saga, Pokémon GO, Subway Surfers, Call of Duty: Mobile, and Clash of Clans?

Samsung wants to re-invent some traditional-looking TV ad time. But modern media consumers have already been doing that -- scanning social media, texting, on-line shopping, or perhaps “AI”-ing virtually anything.

The problem is that a personal mobile phone can do much more in one hand, than a less adaptive TV remote in the other. But maybe we are not thinking outside the box.

Modern media/smart TV consumers could be holding a Samsung TV remote in one hand and their mobile phone in the other.

Still, is that too much multitasking? Maybe there is more to come.