Samsung Electronics America Inc., the official worldwide Olympic partner for telecommunications equipment, is running a competition to promote its Mythic handset.

Along with reigning women's snowboarding halfpipe Olympic gold medalist Hannah Teter, Samsung launched a competition for consumers to be one of 10 Samsung USA Mobile Explorers at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. All teams will get $2,000 worth of Samsung products and the Ultimate Mobile Explorer team will win a $24,000 cash prize package and will be featured bloggers on Samsung.com.

?The strategy behind the 2010 Winter Olympic Games digital contest is to allow 10 lucky Samsung Explorers to have firsthand access at the Olympic Games and share their personal experiences through online blogs while capturing content with their Samsung Mythic mobile phones,? said Jose Cardona, spokesman for Samsung Electronics America Inc., Ridgefield Park, NJ.

?They will also post video footage and photos of their experiences in Vancouver as they celebrate the Olympic atmosphere in the city,? he said.

Samsung Electronics America Inc. is a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. The company markets a broad range of consumer electronics, information systems and home appliance products.

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the sole entity in the United States whose mission involves training, entering and underwriting the full expenses for the U.S. teams in the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games.

In addition to being the steward of the U.S. Olympic Movement, the USOC is the moving force for support of sports in the United States that are on the program of the Olympic Games.

Samsung USA Mobile Explorers
The 10 Samsung USA Mobile Explorers will have firsthand access at the Olympic Games and share their personal experiences through online blogs.

They will also post video footage and photos of their experiences outside of the Olympic venues in and around the city of Vancouver.

To enter Samsung's Mobile Explorer contest, consumers are asked to pair up and create a video application demonstrating their experience and interest in blogs and social networking, ability to seek-out and generate buzz and general excitement about the 2010 Olympic Games.

Video applications can be submitted online at http://www.samsung.com/mobileexplorers through Jan. 8, 2010. This contest is open to U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older.

Videos are being judged on creativity, content, interview skills, and enthusiasm. The public will also have the opportunity to vote for their favorites online. 

During the Games, the 10 Samsung Mobile Explorers will compete in challenges?visiting Vancouver sites, collecting fan stories and discovering the Olympic spirit?while capturing the content with Samsung Mythic mobile phones.

Samsung Mobile Explorer videos and blog entries will be posted daily on http://www.samsung.com/mobileexplorers Feb. 12?28, 2010.

Public voting for Ultimate Mobile Explorer will be conducted online during that same timeframe.

Snowboarder Hannah Teter, a Samsung Olympic ambassador, will be on hand to share her experience with the Mobile Explorers and challenge them with her own Olympic-Games-related tasks.

Among them will be a head-to-head contest for the teams to raise awareness for her charity Hannah's Gold, which uses the proceeds from sales to assist with curbing the effects of poverty in Africa.

Samsung will make a dollar-for-dollar match of Hannah's Gold 2010 sales in support of the charity.

Hannah's Gold is Teter's charity initiative, benefitting communities in Africa struggling against the effects of poverty. Currently, funds are supporting clean-water and community-building projects in Kirindon, Kenya.

U.S. Samsung Mobile Explorers will be joined in Vancouver by 40 other Explorers from Canada, Russia, China and South Korea.

Samsung Electronics has been a sponsor in the wireless communications equipment category since 1998.

At the 2010 Olympic Games, Samsung will use its wireless technology for communication among Olympic VIPs, delegates and staff.
 
For the first time, Samsung?s mobile services, including text-message-based status updates and group SMS services will be available to the public at the Vancouver Olympic Games.

Samsung will use various tactics to get the word out about the Samsung Mythic and the Olympics digital contest.

Specific online ad properties promoting the Samsung Olympics campaign include NBC TodayShow.com, MSN, Facebook and FoxSports.

Samsung?s social media assets include Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts.

There will also be program seeding with key influencers in the action and snow sports, media and audio-visual spaces.

Samsung will pursue PR/media opportunities with finalists in January and on-site at the Olympics in Vancouver, as well as with Hannah Teter, including dispersal of multimedia assets like photos and a YouTube introduction video.

?The Samsung Mythic phone will be promoted in many of Samsung?s existing mobile-phone out-of-home assets such as billboards in Times Square and various airports, the biggest being LAX, and several online assets,? Mr. Cardona said.