Samsung’s latest spate of ads attacking the iPhone and other Apple products shouldn’t come as a surprise, but are they effective at all?
Samsung is yet again trying to take a bite out of Apple’s sales through a series of attack ads, launched right around the new iPhone and Apple Watch announcement event.
Ads parodying Apple’s genius bar are Samsung’s latest fare, which it launched the day after Apple made its announcement.
SAMSUNG AD: “I’ve been waiting two years — two years! — for us to do something groundbreaking.”
“Here it is here it is! A bigger screen! … Wait, hang on — a bigger screen?”
“Yeah, every phone has a bigger screen.”
The ads, which The Verge described as “awful,” won’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s seen how Samsung reacted to iPhone launches in the past, as the outlet pointed out in a separate article. “For years now, it’s almost instantly swooped in with mocking ads that criticize Apple’s latest announcements for being behind the curve.”
Although the ads have attracted attention, it hasn’t always been for the best reasons.
Samsung’s Korean arm tweeted a quote from Steve Jobs about smartphone screen sizes — which CNET described as a decision “to mock the dead to sell its Galaxy Note 4.”
And also related to Jobs’ death, the company saw a lot of fallout after The Wall Street Journal published Samsung executives’ emails from shortly after Jobs’ passing which argued for pursuing more attack ads.
“Unfortunately, Steve Job’s passing has led to a huge wave of press coverage of Apple and iPhone’s ‘superiority.’ … Sorry to continue to push this issue, but I have seen this far too long and I know this is our best opportunity to attack the iPhone.”
The fact that Samsung has stuck with the same strategy of attack ads begs the question — are they even effective?
Although it’s hard to say for sure, analysts consulted by Advertising Age found that similarly aggressive ads from Microsoft targeting Google were effective. “The ads are tarnishing Google’s image in the eyes of viewers and putting Microsoft products — including underdogs such as Bing — into the consideration set.”
Still, with all the press Samsung ads have gotten, it’s worth noting Apple isn’t exactly a stranger to attack ads, if you can recall, back in the mid 2000s running a series of ads urging viewers to “Get a Mac” and painting PC as a lovable failure.
Apple says preorders for the iPhone 6 have broken records, with 4 million orders in the first 24 hours it was available.
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