“What has been the criticism of many commercials pitching cell phones, Droid’s in particular, is how they don’t market any real value to the end consumer,” Ben Bajarin writes for Tech.pinions. “Showing a gal fighting a robot, or a person hijacking a truck to steal a phone, doesn’t necessarily showcase to the end consumer why they should choose this product over another.”
“This latest Samsung commercial (see below) is highly entertaining and a welcomed departure from the usual commercials from iPhone competitors,” Bajarin writes. “That being said, although well intended, I think it misses the broader opportunity and is therefore fundamentally flawed. As I processed this new Galaxy SII commercial, the flaw in their messaging hit me when a would be iPhone buyer in line at an Apple store said this: ‘How will people know I upgraded, since the new one looks the same?'”
Bajarin writes, “Despite a range of other odd moments in the commercial, this one struck me because it leaves me thinking that Samsung is interested in iPhone converts, or at the very least early adopters What is flawed with this commercial is that it makes no sense to the non-techie consumer, the largest part of the market and the one Apple’s commercials are designed to speak communicate with. Samsung shouldn’t be concerned with consumers upgrading from the iPhone 4 to the 4S.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s very simple. As we wrote earlier today
Samsung is concerned with keeping the sheep they have in the pen. “Don’t wander!” That’s all this particular ad is about. Siri’s siren call has created some very restless sheep and that obviously has Samsung spooked.
The target of this commercial is the non-iPhone user, specifically those who have already settled for a Samsung iPhone knockoff, not iPhone owners.
Watch the ad again. It’s clear that Samsung’s intent is to keep their customers from straying.
Come on now it’s still a good commercial and they have a valid point. How long will apple fall behind before we get a larger screen and 4G capability?
The bigger the screen gets – the bigger my hand has to be – if people are so obsessed with larger screens, why not make a phone version of the iPad?
You don’t need a phone, you need a tablet. And in other news…..4G is not 4G, not yet!
4G continues to be nothing more than a marketing term. It does NOT, as of yet, exist as a standard. An actual technology standard, falsely considered to be ‘4G’, is 3GPP Long Term Evolution, aka LTE.
An actual, factual 4G standard may well be LTE Advanced. But we’re still waiting.
4G @ Wikipedia
LTE Advanced @ Wikipedia
Dude. None of those competitors phones have 4G. It’s nonsense. The 4S gets the exact same download speeds as the competitors. Apple just isn’t jumping on the fake 4G bandwagon because no one has a true 4G chipset.
Which American wireless company actually offers true 4G? How widespread is it? With bandwidth limits on most plans what’s the real benefit when a person can also use wifi to do most of the heavy lifting, and when that’s not available the current ATT data throughputs are reasonably fast compared to Verizon. Maybe when the iPhone 5 is released it might really matter. Remember the commercials bragging about how the Android tablets (can’t remember which one) were being touted for being able to run Flash? That was exciting (okay, sarcasm there,) and obviously a lame sales pitch trying to differentiate their weak product from the iPad. Same for the 4G claims. Big deal! Plenty of surveys of bandwidth usage for mobile devices shoe that iOS is way ahead of Android in actual usage, despite Android having more handsets out there running fragmented and outdated versions of their OS.
BTW, on the Samsung commercial… it’s a fairly lame stereotyping attempt, but fails to explain why any of these so-called iPhone fans are waiting in line, trying to make it look like they’re easily swayed by the next shiny toy in some random stranger’s hand. But as one of my buddies from New England always said of first distant impressions (or darts he threw in the board)
“… good from afar, but far from good!”
That’s really the lesson of this spoof. Just add those words to the end silently, and the whole thing backfires. Sadly for them, Samsung misses the point of why Apple connects with consumers. When the actors start saying, “its a Samsung, wow!” they could have been saying, HTC… or Moto… or LG… or Yingtong… or Yellow Duck… or any other brand. [script has empty slot which says, ‘insert brand name here.’]
There is NO finished 4G standard. It continues to be only a marketing term. See my detailed post about so-called “4G” above.
IOW: Any company who says they have “4G” is lying. All they have is faster 3G, if that.
And yes, that means that, surprise, Samsung are liars.
I don’t want to carry a big ass phone.
Careful, you’ll get in trouble for expressing your honest opinion.
No, he’ll just get mocked for being a clueless specs-worshipper.
Is Mr. Barista typing on a macbook pro or another laptop brand at 44 seconds?
When Apple wants people to carry around a brick for a phone and when 4G is available to most people (why sell something that people cannot use…it pisses them off).
Maybe I’m the only one, but I’m confused. Isn’t the iPhone 4s also capable of HSPA+ (4g(bs cough)). So that isn’t an advantage. Isn’t this a little late for this kind of marketing. Are there still people lined up for iPhones?
The blond chick mimicking “why don’t you just get a 4G phone” is hilarious.
The ad actually makes me want to get an iPhone even more.
The underlying message is – nobody else wants a samsung Galaxy so you won’t have to stand in line – ever. I am not sure that that message is a good one to send. Current iPhone owners know that the wait is only if you want it on the first day(week) or so, otherwise no problem.
Uh, this ad kinda reminds me of the Microsoft commercials about people selecting a laptop computer and saying that they weren’t “cool” enough to buy a Mac. Yea, those PC laptops have been flying off the shelves (not) since those series of ads were aired.
And remember the Motorola ad for the Xoom that aired during SuperBowl XLV, the one that made the not-so-subtle reference to that historic 1984 spot by Apple, except this time, Motorola is the one throwing the hammer. Except for the Motorola Xoom owner, everyone else is dressed in white, moping around like expressionless sheep. And how did those Xoom sales turn out?
Also, why in the ad didn’t any of those waiting in line for the 4S ask any of the smug Samsung phone owners if their phones had SIRI?
I think the confusing line in the commercial was an attempt to mock Apple fans as “style over substance” customers who buy phones mainly to show them off (hence the actor’s disappointment that the new model looks just like the old one). You know, the same old, tired, snarky elitist label. This is, of course, largely not true, and the fact that the intent of the line is open to interpretation proves that part of the commercial failed. I think the target audience for this commercial is certainly NOT current iPhone users.
What I find hilarious is Samsumg’s mockery of a company whose fans wait in line to buy products, when Samsung (or any company for that matter) would LOVE to have that kind of devotion from its customer base.
I like this quote:
“I think the confusing line in the commercial was an attempt to mock Apple fans as “style over substance” customers who buy phones mainly to show them off ”
The thing is thats how most Korean even Japanese cell phone users are. They buy ah iPhone or whatever smart just as a fashion statement and never really use it like a smart phone.
>The thing is thats how most Korean even Japanese cell phone users are. They buy ah iPhone or whatever smart just as a fashion statement and never really use it like a smart phone.<
Not sure where you got that impression, but I can assure that every bus and subway in Seoul is now clogged with people using their iphones and androids as smart phones. Maybe hapless Chinese iphone users stuck on 2G China Mobile?
Why don’t I just get a Samsung? Because it feels insecure & crappy-cheap to the touch. It doesn’t have the assured, premium elegance of an iPhone! Why don’t I get a 4G phone? Because I don’t want to be carrying a phone charger with me all the time. Samsung – like all the members of the Android horde – are concerned with making a buck than serving the long-term interests of consumers. Why will I never buy a Samsung? Because I value originality, American exceptionalism & longevity of my mobile device.
The problem with this commercial is that it insults the very people it is suppose to be enticing. Although I would never stand in line for an iPhone or anything else of the sort, I don’t see it wrong when people do this. Now camping out three day’s in advance for Black Friday, that is another story.
Rule 1 of advertising: Don’t piss off your target audience. Who are they hoping to reach out to? Samsung buyers are already hooked. It’s the iPhone buyers they want to bait, but not with this advert.
Such hostility.
By the way, Samsung, hostility does no win you new customers. And the iPhone design, including screen size, is perfect. I dread they may ever change it, other than to make it thinner.
The commercial is a smashing success if you ask me… everyone is talking about it. lol.
What commercial?
“Everyone” may be talking about it, but it won’t be a “smashing” success unless it translates to a lot of Galaxy SII sales for Samsung. Otherwise, it’s just fodder for water cooler small talk.
I agree it may not sell many phones but it is being widely discussed. So from the aspect of “getting your name out there” they apparently did a good job.
Yes, I would also agree that the ad is being widely discussed, but there’s also the possibility that it could also have the unintended effect of drawing even more attention to the iPhone 4S. Sort of like free advertising for Apple.
That is a real possibility i agree
Cool. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Adolf Hitler was also widely discussed.
I would love to buy a shiny, new Samsung phone… But by the time it took me to purchase an iPhone, Samsung would have introduced it’s tenth newest smartphone and I would be stuck with one of it’s older phones! I’ll stick with the iPhone after all! :-p
This IS good advertising. It may not be a good product, but it definitely is good advertising. No the iPhone doesn’t offer an LTE veriant. Yes iPhones have smaller screens. Yes it looks the same as the 4. Yes iOS 5 reduces battery life in some instances. Do those things matter? Not in the real world.
Interpretation. People line up to get an iPhone, because everyone wants one. Samsung, two-for-one sale next week…
LTE = Battery Drain – as of now LTE is a huge battery drain and I really do not need to download that much data to warrant that speed on a phone..
Dude the only reason there is a line infront of apple stores cause they didnt allow phone preorders online till recent (atleast i think they do now) it was stores and straight from apple first. if i had a file next to me this article would go under the iphone, mw3 & justin beiber (trying to look cool and fit in) section.
I’m a Korean-American and happy to say I don’t own a single Samsung product and don’t have any plans to. Samsung and other conglomerates of its ilk over there is what ails the country more than anything else.
Let’s remember Samsung’s CEO and Chairman Lee Kun-Hee was convicted for tax evasion and conspired to cover it all up. He’s a national disgrace as far as I’m concerned. The richest man in Korea evading taxes… That’s the man running Samsung, a true dung…
+5
You make excellent points. Smart guy.
Plus his son, the heir apparent, Lee Jae-yong is a bit of a bozo.
Nearly 1million views on uTube. However it runs in flash, so its not reaching apple users…
Actually, it’s H.264.
That’s because a fandroid in New Jersey has watched it 999,950 times.
That’s funny… I watch YouTube videos on my iPhone all the time, using YouTube’s mobile web page.
And I have the ClickToPlugin Safari extension installed (replacement for ClickToFlash) installed on my Mac, and that makes YouTube load the “non-Flash” versions of videos, even on my Mac.
It all works fine. Flash is becoming more and more irrelevant, faster than most people expected.
As I said in the previous article, the big flaw is that (unlike the iPhone Seri demo spots) Samsung doesn’t actually show anyone doing anything with the Galaxy SII.
Yeah. That would be embarrassing.
Just ask the android-user if they are running the latest os version. 75% of them will have to answer “no” since the carriers don’t allow upgrades or are too slow in doing so. Case closed.
People in the end will love whatever phone they want and will have there reason for it. I see companies like Samsung and HTC trying to or making it look like they are setting the trends and using cutting edge technology…….yet they are not. True 4G service is not yet wide spread enough in this country yet to say it’s a reliable service……it’s available in pockets of this nation. So I understand why Apple hasn’t made a 4G phone yet…….because the customer experience won’t be satisfying. Many 4G phones in my opinion are way to big and just don’t fit in the hand that well because of the size…..and battery life on them suck. If Apple does make a bigger screen for the iPhone, I hope they chose to keep the phone the same size as the current and past models and just up size the screen and get rid of the home key. Also, I hope they improve the battery life of the next phone as well to keep up with power demands of a 4G chipset. Another big up sell to the iPhone is the software and hardware Eco system. The Samsung Galaxy S2 hasn’t gotten anything close to what iPhone and iOS devices have. So having a larger sized phone that is awkward feeling in your hand with a bigger screen that makes for crappy battery life and a network technology that’s not yet fully available to the whole country and an eco-system that is fragment and no built in reliable cloud system is better? So tell me how is this better? To each their own and enjoy whatever phone you have!!!
“So I understand why Apple hasn’t made a 4G phone yet”
Me too! Apple aren’t interested in being liars. 4G continues to be only a marketing term and is not yet a existing technology standard. (See more of my blether about it above). Whereas Samsung ARE interested in being liars, as witnessed in this ad! 🙂
The multitude of lawsuits against Samsung has allowed their mask to fall off. They’re an insincere and snotty company with no imagination. Here they are pulling an imitation routine yet again, this time playing at being Microsoft’s marketing division.
This ad is a wonderful bookend to last month’s deliberate ripoff of Apple’s “Think Different” ad series, including a sound-alike announcer. These clowns have no shame.
Samsung: You are sooooo screwed. Childish Marketing Moron maneuvres only make your impending karmic reward more tantalizing. 😀
The other flaw is this: They are showing everybody waiting in line to get an iPhone, where are the lines for the Samsung?
While they do try to play people waiting as stooges, it does kind of fall flat. In the end, they are interested mostly because some hot girl has it.
Right!
Defensive advert. They mention an issue with the iphone battery when they know the Samsung phone has poor battery life and the fact it looks the same when not only do Samsung phones look the same in upgrades but actually mimic the iphone. The lies of their message, paranoia and fears are all held within this advert.