Creating New Markets for Transparent LCD Technology
The Challenge
As global leaders in display technology, Samsung came to us with what they thought could be the future of TV.
Their R&D team pioneered the development of the next breakthroughâtransparent LCD technology that enabled the display of full color HD images on what appeared to be a regular glass surface. The transparent panel would optically blend the displayed image with whatever was behind the screen, meaning that transparent LCD technology was not likely to win in the high-resolution arms race of the home theater television market.
While it was interesting, unless we could define new market opportunities for Samsung, the technology would be nothing more than a novelty.
The Key Insight
To leverage this exciting, emerging technology we needed to find an application that used the transparency display as an asset to enable interaction of the onscreen content and the environmental context behind it, as well as provide ambient light for a better viewing experience.
One of the answers we found was in the freezer aisle. By replacing the glass doors of retail refrigerators and freezers with transparent display screens, we could solve for a whole ecosystem of stakeholders. Grocers could sell ad time and promote their own private labels, the freezer manufacturer could upgrade their equipment, brands could market their products at point of sale and consumers could receive a dynamic alternative to the fogged up freezer doors. Without realizing it, Samsung had discovered the future of glass.
The Outcome
Samsung partnered with value added resellers like Stratacache to take this solution to market as the first commercial application of transparent LCD technology.
This new suite of retail display solutions, under the brand name PrimaSee, was launched in 2011 and in 2012 won a DIGIA ward for Best New Technology Innovation, and was named a finalist in the 2012 Technology InAVation Awards as the Most Innovative Digital Signage Product.
