Samsung points to anti-Apple ads as 'tipping point' for company

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
According to one executive for the firm, Samsung's line of ads mocking Apple's iPhone and its devotees marked a tipping point for the firm, one that sparked a conversation that has propelled Samsung's brand on to become one of the most valuable in the world.



Samsung and Apple together account for more than 100 percent of the profits in the smartphone industry when considering the losses of other manufacturers. The South Korean manufacturer is the top handset maker in the world in terms of overall units sold, though it significantly lags Apple in terms of profit from those devices.

All the same, when Samsung began mocking the industry-leading iPhone, "that really did mark quite a tipping point for us globally," according to the company's chief marketing officer Arno Lenoir. Speaking with Ad News, Lenoir said that the campaign has sparked conversation and pushed Samsung's brand forward.

"We were able to tell a cheeky story," Lenoir said, "if you think about it, we're a Korean company starting to really mess with the order of things."

Indeed, Samsung has seen its value share growing steadily as it has focused more on mocking Apple's products. In 2012, Samsung took 34 percent of smartphone profits, and the firm took 43 percent in the first quarter of 2013, then 50 percent in the second quarter.

Samsung's latest iPhone competitor, the Galaxy S4, revealed to positive but largely unimpressed reviews. The device still sold very well, moving 20 million units just months after its release. That made it Samsung's best-selling phone ever, though it was still behind the pace of Apple's iPhone.

Still, Lenoir sees the South Korean tech giant as a "challenger" in the industry.

"I don't think the public sees us as a market leader just yet," Lenoir said, "and I quite like that. I like being thought of as a challenger brand ? I think even though we will be in most segments a market leader, we will always be acting like a challenger. And that comes back to that perpetual state-of-crisis mindset.?

That "state-of-crisis mindset" Lenoir spoke of is a reference to the company's continual investment in research and development, with the company's attitude being that it could go on the downslope at any time.

"We look at things like the S&P 500 companies in 1997," Lenoir said. "87 percent of those companies are no longer in existence, whether they've been bought or merged or just failed."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 95

    Quote:


    if you think about it, we're a Korean company starting to really mess with the order of things."



    That says all about the Samscum's corporate ethics.


     


    One bozo is up at the Samsung executive desk. Wow!

  • Reply 2 of 95


    "the South Korean tech giant as a "challenger" in the industry."


     


    What a crock. How about seeing Samsung as a 'thief'

  • Reply 3 of 95
    adonissmuadonissmu Posts: 1,776member
    Well you give your phone away for free people will take it. Who knew....
  • Reply 4 of 95
    chandra69 wrote: »
    That says all about the Samscum's corporate ethics.

    One bozo is up at the Samsung executive desk. Wow!

    What does the line you quoted have to do with ethics? As a matter of fact, what did this article have to do with ethics? Samsung has done unethical things like copying aspects of Apple's UI design from app icons to the brown leather-themed calendar, but this article is about the success of an ad campaign, not those things.
  • Reply 5 of 95
    adonissmu wrote: »
    Well you give your phone away for free people will take it. Who knew....

    Yep that's how Samsung managed to take 50% of the profits. They gave everything away for free.
  • Reply 6 of 95
    freerangefreerange Posts: 1,597member
    I can't wait for the big slap down of this morally corrupt scumbag of a company.
  • Reply 7 of 95

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by wakefinance View Post





    What does the line you quoted have to do with ethics? As a matter of fact, what did this article have to do with ethics? Samsung has done unethical things like copying aspects of Apple's UI design from app icons to the brown leather-themed calendar, but this article is about the success of an ad campaign, not those things.


    Exactly. If you cant see any relation between my comment and the what the post says... I cant help you.

  • Reply 8 of 95
    jmncljmncl Posts: 42member


    Not only are they a criminal company they also bring shame to hard working, honest, Korean people.


     


    I'll never buy anything sold by Samsung.

  • Reply 9 of 95
    freerangefreerange Posts: 1,597member
    Yep that's how Samsung managed to take 50% of the profits. They gave everything away for free.

    Actually Samesung DID NOT make 50% of the profits! That was another bullshit guesstimate from the morons at Strategy Analytics, the same company that posted the absolutely bullshit false analysis of Apple share in Japan.
  • Reply 10 of 95
    chandra69 wrote: »
    Exactly. If you cant see any relation between my comment and the what the post says... I cant help you.

    I think you should help me. Tell me how a marketing campaign has anything to do with ethics.
  • Reply 11 of 95
    freerange wrote: »
    Actually Samesung DID NOT make 50% of the profits! That was another bullshit guesstimate from the morons at Strategy Analytics, the same company that posted the absolutely bullshit false analysis of Apple share in Japan.

    I can't speak to the accuracy of the numbers used in the article. Take that up with the author.
  • Reply 12 of 95
    I think Kevin needs to write for SamsungInsider - most of his articles seem to have a negative Apple bias - albeit slight or with backhand compliments. Not all of his articles - just most.
  • Reply 13 of 95
    pazuzupazuzu Posts: 1,728member


    Negative advertising works- just ask Mitt Romney and John Kerry.

  • Reply 14 of 95

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jmncl View Post


    Not only are they a criminal company they also bring shame to hard working, honest, Korean people.


     


    I'll never buy anything sold by Samsung.



    My sentiments exactly! Well said.

  • Reply 15 of 95
    geekdadgeekdad Posts: 1,131member
    Aren't the Samsung ads similar to the famous "Im a Mac and Im a PC" ads? Aren't they both pretty negative and funny too?
  • Reply 16 of 95
    I wonder how Apple is planning to deal with Samscum in the advertising field...
  • Reply 17 of 95
    tzeshantzeshan Posts: 2,351member


    Samsung with the help from Google steals iPhone design thoroughly thus became successful.  For most consumers they don't care they are buying counterfeit products from Samsung.  I don't think Apple should try hard to switch these types of consumers back to iPhone. 

     

  • Reply 18 of 95

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by geekdad View Post



    Aren't the Samsung ads similar to the famous "Im a Mac and Im a PC" ads? Aren't they both pretty negative and funny too?


     


    To my mind, there's one important difference.  The PC USER was never brought into the comparison in Apple's ads, only the machines (though anthromorphised by the two actors).  Samsung's adds attempt to directly caricature and mock users of Apple's products.

  • Reply 19 of 95

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pazuzu View Post


    Negative advertising works- just ask Mitt Romney and John Kerry.



    And Apple:


     


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQb_Q8WRL_g


     


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT3_tiQZwwA


     


    Negative ads done badly damage your brand.  If they're done well, with charm and humor, they can work.

  • Reply 20 of 95
    nikiloknikilok Posts: 383member
    You know Samsung's just a cheap carbon copy of the iPhone. They are only there because of the inefficiencies in the patent system internationally.

    In another day and age with stronger patents and faster outputs, companies like Samsung wouldn't even exist. So Samsung's not a challenger, but a cheap skate copy cat.

    And what do you know people buying Samsung phone's are actually liking them for all the stuff they copied from the iPhone.
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