By Chris Nicholls
SYDNEY: Samsung has splashed out with a national roadshow, estimated to have cost $700,000, to wow retailers with its new whitegoods products.
The first event, held in Sydney last night and titled ‘Style Eye for the Whitegoods Guy’, brought over 330 retail representatives from around the country to see the latest ‘Space’ refrigerator, twin convection oven and 4-star WELS rated top load washer.
In the main presentation, three Samsung product managers were ‘made-over’, while Samsung goods renovated their ‘house’, in keeping with the take on the television series “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”.
The invitations were extended to representatives from Harvey Norman, Narta, Retravision and other major retail groups.
A Samsung spokesperson said while accommodation, flights and various set-up costs meant the total bill reached $700,000, the spend was part of Samsung’s philosophy.
“It’s a major issue for us [the roadshow]. We’ve done it every year, as you know, and our view is go hard or don’t go.”
According to the spokesperson, the event had now grown to more than double its original size in just three years.
“Three years when we started this, we had 150 people. In the last two years, we’ve been turning people away,” they said.
The roadshow will now travel to Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane in the coming weeks.