The good news about CES going fully digital is that the target audience has expanded. The bad news is that they can easily be distracted. So our challenge was to recreate the realism of a press conference in a virtual format, without all the fancy stage effects and no physical event hall. We wanted people to really feel like they were there with us, to generate some excitement while introducing all the new products and the company’s strategic vision. We knew that the only way to do that is with super impactful digital content.

We decided to make a Cinematic press conference, creating a new genre of content perfectly adapted to our new digital reality. With this highly-immersive content, people would concentrate and be engrossed, just like they do when they’re watching a movie.

Using a 30-minute episode, we showed new technologies, new products, and even a few robots—all designed to pull you in as if watching a sci-fi flick. Normally in press conferences, different speakers appear for each theme, coming in and out. But we used only one speaker and made sure the delivery was awesome.

Press conferences used to be boring, one-directional presentations and we knew this would have to be different. Most other brands basically just staged and recorded their press conferences as they normally do, streaming them later on YouTube. Samsung decided to create a new content genre perfectly adapted to our new digital reality. The goal was to make it so people would concentrate and be engrossed, just like they do when they’re watching a movie.

We started shooting and editing about 3 months prior to the event. Using a 30-minute episode titled “Better Normal for All”, we showed new technology, new products, and even a few robots—all designed to pull you in as if watching a sci-fi flick. We released a movie-like trailer inspired by a fun internet meme about aliens to intrigue curiosity. Then, we premiered the live streaming through YouTube and Samsung web site so the whole world could take part. Right after the event, we shared short clips so that people could choose and watch the story they want.

As a result, YouTube views increased by 470% compared with last year. We received tons of amazing comments from netizens and reporters from all around the world, many of them commented that it was better than a sci-fi movie. Some also said they couldn’t take their eyes off it for the full 30 minutes. This content presented a new normal of the press conference in digitalized situation, delivering the brand message with the vivid experiences that we’ve missed, literally showing “Better Normal” for all.