Samsung helps to make Olympics more exciting
Lee Sang-hwa, a two-time Olympic speed skating gold medalist, carries the torch for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics in Incheon, Nov. 1, 2017. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
By Kang Seung-woo
Samsung Electronics’ three-decade-long journey as an Olympic partner has helped make the quadrennial sports event a success.
And its Olympic efforts are reaching their apogee this year as Korea hosts its first Winter Olympic Games in the mountainous county of PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, starting Friday.
Korea hosted its first-ever Olympics in the summer of 1988. The global tech giant was a local sponsor of the Seoul Olympics and became a Worldwide Olympic Partner 10 years later.
Samsung Group has sponsored the PyeongChang organizing committee by providing 100 billion won ($92 million), which accounts for 10 percent of total sponsorship deals worth 1.04 trillion won. Samsung Electronics is the crown jewel of the nation’s largest conglomerate.
However, the number is not really indicative of how it has stepped up efforts to support the PyeongChang Games, as it has engaged in a range of promotional events.
Samsung’s Olympic endeavor has already been hitting the road for a successful hosting of the PyeongChang Games that Samsung Group Chairman and former International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Lee Kun-hee devoted to bringing to the country.
The top Olympic sponsor has rolled out a torch relay campaign under the theme of “Do What You Can’t” since Nov. 1, 2017, when the Olympic flame arrived in Korea.
Through the campaign, Samsung is seeking to illustrate the idea of overcoming obstacles in order to achieve dreams, sharing people’s inspirational and extraordinary stories and creating a festive mood in the lead-up to the Winter Games, scheduled to run through Feb.25.
Samsung picked 1,500 runners from all walks of life out of 7,500 for the torch relay that traveled 2,018 kilometers through eight major cities and nine provinces before arriving at the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremony.
The runners included Lee Sang-hwa, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the women's 500-meter speed skating, baseball player Lee Seung-yuop, robotics engineer Dennis Hong and its Club des Chefs _ Lim Ki-hak, Lee Chung-hoo, Kang Min-goo and Yim Jung-sik, all of whom the tech giant believes are enough to share their stories and encourage others to put efforts into pursuing their dreams. The group of chefs was launched in 2013 to contribute their unique insight and fresh ideas for creating next-generation kitchen products.
As part of efforts to promote the campaign, Samsung opened a zone in its global exhibition hall called “Samsung D’light” that showcases its latest product lineup from April 18 to May 31 last year for visitors to experience the torch relay in advance.
In addition, Samsung held celebrations in towns and villages, through which the torch travelled, and the Samsung Caravan accompanied torchbearers around the country during the 101-day relay, offering new inspiring opportunities for everyone to experience and take part in the Winter Olympic Games.
“Samsung has made efforts to elevate the festive mood of the torch relay and local communities using diversified marketing activities,” said a Samsung official.
A foreign visitor enjoys an immersive virtual reality experience offered at the Samsung Olympic Showcase, located at Gangneung Olympic Park. / Courtesy of Samsung Electronics
Samsung, which has created a digital doorway into the Olympic spirit for the athletes, officials, staff and fans worldwide, is expected to take advantage of the PyeongChang Games to showcase its inspiring technology to the world.
The company will supply 5,000 of its high-end TVs, worth 2.4 billion won ($2.2 million), to game venues, the athletes’ village, and the media center: taking over from Panasonic.
The Japanese tech firm had been the main TV sponsor for the quadrennial sports events since 1987. However, the two companies reached a strategic deal last year that will allow Samsung to supply TVs for the PyeongChang edition while Panasonic will take over the Korean firm’s rights for printers and notebooks for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.