Iris London partners with Samsung to refresh the brand’s best-in-class retail learning platform

Samsung Electronics UK leads the global market in high-tech electronics manufacturing and digital media. In 2019. Iris London partnered with Samsung Electronics UK to refresh the brand’s best-in-class retail e-learning platform Samsung Backstage.

The Challenge

Representing the creative ambition and creative passion of the world’s largest technology company, Iris and Samsung wanted to build upon the success of Samsung Backstage by reimagining the experience from the ground up, delivering more engaging content and personalized experiences based on user needs, and ultimately driving brand love among retail staff in the UK. 

To help achieve this vision, Iris established four key strategic objectives informed by user research:

• Platform as habit: Better integration with our users’ lifestyles and work environment to increase engagement and frequency of use
• Cutting-edge learning: Improving knowledge retention and breadth with a focus on bite-sized learning courses that are more intuitively structured
• Rewarded advocacy: Driving broader brand loyalty by introducing non-financial engagement incentives
• Connect the dots: Proving platform value through the inclusion of more sophisticated and measurable business KPIs

The Solution

Totara Learn’s open source and modular architecture played a key role in allowing us to achieve the freedom to both learn and innovate, facilitating the delivery of a customized and user-first solution that also maintained Samsung’s premium brand aesthetic.

Improved web and app 

The new Samsung Backstage offers a seamless and consistent experience between the web and the native app, accommodating our users’ time-poor and on-the-go lifestyles.

Bite-sized content & progress tracking

The same responsive content is served to both web and app users, ensuring the learning experience and progress is consistent across all channels. Bite-sized courses on individual product features enable users to learn at their own pace. Aggregated completion tracking across programs allows users to measure their product knowledge meaningfully. 

All the information in one place

The Program functionality allowed us to create a central place where users can find all the information they need. This hub then directs users to the different learning assets, such as product features, quizzes, tech specs and more.

Intuitive navigation & IA

There are multiple pathways for reaching a desired course and content is categorized using the powerful Course Catalog feature so that users can focus on the subjects which are most relevant to them.

Platform gamification

Our made-to-measure Points functionality uses Totara’s Event and Observer system to manage what activities and actions earn points for the user. Our Credits module translates these points into rewards for our users to redeem. Available rewards are managed through an inventive use of course topics.

Leader boards have been included in user profiles to encourage engagement and drive retention. 

Creative flexibility

A custom roots theme and integration with Totara’s mobile web services for our made-to-measure native app were both essential in the creation of an engaging front-end design that guides users on their learning journey with a thoughtful mixture of gradients, accents and icons.

Enhanced communication

We have used and built upon the Totara messaging system to create the Notification Center and Group Messaging functionalities. 

Group Messaging has opened up a new channel for communication between Samsung and their brand ambassadors (Elites). This is used regularly and adds real value, enabling timely messaging across this broad group of individuals. 

The Notification Center provides a view of user accounts and activities to ensure they are always about what’s happening with their account and points.

The Result

Samsung Backstage has delivered strong results for Samsung UK:

• The refreshing of Samsung Backstage has delivered a reduction in online training costs of up to 40% for new product content launches. 
• We have seen over 18,000 active users from a database of 38,000 in the last 3 months. This is a strong performance against industry benchmarks for users who are time-poor and saturated with manufacturer information. 
• Since re-designing the platform, we have seen a 29% increase in quiz completions among all active users. 
• Stores with a Samsung Backstage Elite user sell 64% more premium devices than stores without. 

“Now in its 10th year, Samsung Backstage has solidified itself as an integral channel for maintaining a strong relationship with UK retail staff. This year’s full platform refresh gives our users what they’ve been asking for and more: a significantly upgraded learning experience across web and app so users can log on whenever they want without missing a beat, bite-sized learning content that makes learning even more fun and engaging, and a points system that rewards them for their investment in the platform. We’re really proud of this work, and we are excited to build on this year’s innovations going forward.”

Mike Edwards, Retail and Contact Center Director, Samsung UK