LONDON, U.K. – After the collaboration of the two companies in the New York SOHO Samsung Galaxy Studio in November and at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January, illycaffè, the Italian premium coffee roaster and Samsung, the global technology leader, agreed to cooperate on a multiyear partnership aimed at enhancing the consumer experience in their respective retail flagship stores.
Samsung will provide illycaffè flagships stores with engaging high tech entertainment and service solutions and illycaffè will provide Samsung Showrooms and events worldwide with a superior coffee experience.
“At Samsung, our goal is to help people live richer, simpler and more meaningful lives,” said Younghee Lee, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing, IT & Mobile Division at Samsung Electronics.
“We seek innovators like illy, who share our commitment to enhancing people’s daily lives, to be our partners. Together, we look forward to taking this collaboration to the next level in the near future by opening it up to new areas and additional shared projects and to driving creativity, innovation and passion over a great cup of coffee.”
“We are really proud to announce this partnership with Samsung,” said Andrea Illy, illycaffè Chairman and CEO. “illycaffè has always been at the forefront of creativity and innovation. Samsung is a natural ally for us in developing a new retail concept where the physical and digital experiences have no boundaries.
Their passion for true creativity and their unrivaled expertise in technology innovation and new media will help us in bringing to life a totally new generation of coffee shops around the world.”
The agreement is designed to pool the resources of both companies in order to leverage each other’s strengths and brand equities by utilizing Samsung’s legacy in technology innovation, electronic devices and multimedia content and illycaffè’s expertise in premium coffee, food and beverage retail marketing and their connections with a diverse set of artistic projects.
The attention that both companies bring toward human creativity, specifically with regards to art and design, provide a common ground for the two brands.
The illycaffè store on London’s Regent Street is the first example of this partnership.
A boutique cafe where traditional style meets high tech, it enables customers to enjoy a superior experience based on engaging visual interaction and premium multimedia content.
The first phase of this long term partnership includes the Regent Street illycaffè opening with more locations, including on-site at Samsung stores, by the end of 2014 – these stores will be marked as “digitalized by Samsung”.
Samsung will provide illycaffè with a selection of Galaxy mobile devices, including tablets and other smart devices, and digital solutions, including a mobile application and additional innovative solutions, specifically developed for illycaffè products and illycaffè stores. Samsung will also provide on-site “Samsung Angels” to further help customers achieve the best in-store experience possible.
