A week or 2 ago Samsung released a video to coincide with the new iPhone 5 launch. You may have seen it; it’s titled “The Next big Thing Is Already Here“.  Samsung were indeed clever with their angle & timing of this video, but with it are they making a mockery of their target market, the current iPhone users, by potentially insulting them?

Watch this video below…

For me, it feels like Samsung is “rubbing noses-in-it” rather than re-educating. This approach feels very risky. Surly the objective should be win over trust of potential customers rather than taking the micky out of them? Sure the video has generated 16M views & a lot of commentary, but from an outsiders perspective I feel that it’s quite simply a childish & very brash approach. As a boy, I remember my own mother used to say: “Bad mouthing competition is frowned upon because it a makes you look un-professional”.

On the flip-side, the conversations taking place in this video are certainly very real. In the lead to the release you would frequently hear similar discussions around the office.

It’s just my POV. At least it’s a “viral” video and not a proper campaign. I suppose in a world where Apple dominates the market share of Smartphones, companies are inevitably going to step outside traditional education methods with the aim of clawing some of that market share back. I just feel that the use of these “real world conversations” wasn’t exactly executed in an entirely tactful way.

If I were to do things differently, I would probably have thought more around the opportunities to celebrate these differences collaboratively rather than to parade them.

 

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  • Chris

    As an avid Apple user i must say this type of advertising leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. 

    I am looking to upgrade my phone in the next month or so and have looked at the S3 and do like what i see but i don’t like the brands (Samsung) tactics around the iPhone VS S3, i think its petty and a little ironic. After all a lot of what Samsung has achieved in the smartphone business has come from doing very good copies of the iPhone. There’s just not quite enough of a combined offering from the S3 to tip me over the edge as i’m very comfortable living within Apples very easy to use ecosystem and Samsung’s advertising hasn’t helped!

    • http://phill.co/ Phill

      Hi Chris,

      Thanks for you comment, it’s interesting to see your reaction - especially given you intend to by one of these smartphones soon.