three floors to their building....Finally one of the top executives who were
running Samsung Electronics went in and said, ‘Stop!’ ”
—
PETER WEEDFALD, SAMSUNG NORTH America’s CMO, who was based in
Cherry Hill, New Jersey, was a pianist and a television enthusiast. One
evening he sat down at the grand Steinway at a Seoul restaurant and played
a piece for a delegation of Korean executives. When he finished, he
recalled later, “We started thinking about this black ebony or white ebony
and how beautiful it is and how the TVs were sort of flat at that time in
terms of color.”
What if the TV itself could be designed like a beautiful piece of
furniture, almost like a grand piano or a painting hung on a wall—rather
than an ugly black box you threw in the corner? On orders from G.S. Choi,
designer Yunje Kang and his team scoured the furniture stores and
hangouts of Seoul, where they talked to shoppers who were buying
furniture based on its look, rather than just its function. It was a way of
thinking that was just gaining momentum in South Korea. After a great
deal of debate, they settled on a thin, glossy television design.
When they presented their concept to G.S. Choi, he exclaimed
appreciatively, “It looks like a wineglass!” He gave the project the code
name “Bordeaux.”
Samsung selected an elite team of eleven engineers and designers to
work on the TV. The division heads had to sign a confidentiality document
and vow not to come out of the studios until the top-secret Bordeaux
project was completed.
The team put in grueling days and nights at the company’s Value
Innovation Program (VIP) Center, which had been set up by CEO Yun
Jong-yong. The facility was open 24-7; it had thirty-eight bedrooms, a
kitchen, a gym, traditional baths, and pool tables. For Samsung’s product
developers, it was like training for a Navy SEAL mission.
The teams of designers and engineers fought each other daily; the
engineers wanted a bulkier, bigger TV with more hardware features, while
the designers were focused on a sleeker, thinner unit. Both presented their
ideas and designs to G.S.
“The design appears to be by designers from Milan, but the engineering