In one of the more unusual tech industry partnerships to emerge this year, Samsung has announced it has signed a major global cross-promotional agreement with Italian coffee maker illycaffè.
The multi-year deal will see the coffee maker marketing a number of its stores and cafes, beginning with its flagship Regent Street store in London, as being “digitalised by Samsung”.
The companies are aiming to have a number of the concepts stores open by the end of 2014.
The stores will feature a range of Samsung’s Galaxy smart devices, including tablets pre-loaded with customised apps, along with staff trained to demonstrate the devices to customers
Meanwhile, illycaffè will become Samsung’s official coffee supplier for Samsung Showrooms and major events.
“Samsung is a natural ally for us in developing a new retail concept where the physical and digital experiences have no boundaries,” illycaffè chief executive Andrea Illy says in a statement.
“Their passion for true creativity and their unrivalled expertise in technology innovation and new media will help us in bringing to life a totally new generation of coffee shops around the world.”
While the coffee brand is distributed locally by Sydney-based company John Frisco and Associates, it is unclear whether the deal will eventually extend to Australia.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
