Samsung Unpacked

Building Anticipation, One Performance at a Time

A product reveal starts before anyone sees the product. For Samsung’s Galaxy S4 launch, we took that anticipation into the streets of Manhattan, giving people something unexpected to stop for and a reason to wonder what was coming next.

Working with Barkley Kalpak Agency, I led an experiential program that connected four days of live performances with a public viewing experience for Samsung Unpacked. The idea was to turn the campaign’s promise of a reveal into something people could encounter in their everyday lives, then bring them together to see it happen.

Professional dancers in three-piece suits appeared across the city, performing in Times Square, Union Square, Penn Station, Herald Square, Flatiron, Washington Square Park, Chelsea Triangle, and outside Radio City Music Hall. Their choreography incorporated branded panels and signage that came together to form the Unpacked logo. The campaign became a moving spectacle, using people, timing, and a shared visual language to tease the launch.

I oversaw the casting, staffing, and choreography development, connecting the performances to the larger launch program. Each appearance gave passersby a glimpse of what was coming while carrying the same recognizable idea from one neighborhood to the next.

On launch day, the program shifted from anticipation to participation. We transformed Duffy Square and the Broadway Pedestrian Plaza in Times Square into a live viewing experience for consumers, extending the Unpacked event at Radio City Music Hall into the public space outside alongside hands-on introductions to the new device.

A large mobile LED screen streamed the reveal within a branded environment, while the American Eagle billboard brought the event to another scale above the crowd. People who had not been inside the launch venue could still gather, watch, and share in the moment Samsung introduced the Galaxy S4.

Together, the street performances and live viewing experience gave the launch a presence beyond its invitation list, turning a product announcement into a shared city experience.

Results

4 days of performances across Manhattan
8 featured performance locations
Times Square live viewing experience

The program generated online press coverage and social media attention around the launch.

My Role

Creative strategy, concept development, creative direction, design oversight, fabrication oversight, production oversight, casting and staffing, choreography oversight, and on-site execution.