I thought the days of Samsung's super cool promotions peaked in 2013 with the "Next Big Thing" ad campaign to appease Apple customers. But yesterday's episode of Join the Flipside, which drew 9.6 million viewers a day, shows the old trick is still alive.
The ad shows camps of young people and possibly iPhone owners desperately trying to avoid the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4. The premise is that when a person takes one look at a foldable phone, they can't resist its beauty and are instantly smitten from him. . It is told in the style of a teenage horror film set in a death camp.
The ad showcases the unique capabilities of the foldable phone, such as taking selfies and viewing content in flexible mode. It also shows the nostalgia of opening the phone to answer a call, which is believed to be the inspiration for the horror theme of the 90s ad. This is not a new strategy for the Korean company, it tends to attack Apple with aggressive promotions, which has been successful in some cases.
In 2015, Samsung launched the Ultimate Test Drive campaign, which allowed iPhone users to try the new Samsung Galaxy 6+ Edge or Galaxy Note (RIP) 5 for $1 for 30 days. The promotion ran a month before the launch of the iPhone 6s, and Samsung quickly scored a win by selling Galaxy phones designed for the promotion. I wrote at the time that iPhone owners who leased a Galaxy device were impressed with its futuristic design and features, but the bloated software ruined the whole experience, a common story for Samsung hardware over the years.
In 2013's Next Big Thing campaign struck a similar note, poking fun at Apple fans – flat-faced, of course – who lined up for hours to buy the latest iPhone . The only reason they bought it was because they wanted to be seen on an iPhone, not because the ad said it was a great device. It is a fact that still applies today. The campaign ends with the pedestrian surprise from the Samsung Galaxy S2, which has 4G and a large screen. Simpler times may have been the birth of Android and received the first meme.
Gone are the heady days of giving away the flagship phone for $1 (for now), but Samsung is offering a less impressive $50 credit for all pre-orders of the Galaxy Z Flip 5 on its website. Like Sega's aggressive advertising and marketing strategy against then-market leader Nintendo in the 1990s, it's the reality of being an opponent that can't be distracted by giant discounts from Apple and freebies from the likes of Samsung. The Korean company has cut the prices of its core products several times in all regions this year.
We don't know how effective this kind of strategy is to win over iPhone owners, but it may not be the only goal. Samsung lawyers 'next big thing' campaign 'drove Apple crazy' in epic 2014 patent battle, internal documents say. Winning over iPhone owners may be one goal, but good corporate trolling seems to be another.
