As predicted the internet went wild as Samsung unveiled its latest flagship handset, the Galaxy S4, at a glitzy event in New York. While the phone itself is certainly an improvement on its predecessor, it’s the marketing push behind it that will prove to be the mega blockbuster.
The marketing onslaught already began way ahead of launch, with the brand posting a series of teaser videos and graphics and even “leaks” online to build up excitement ahead of the big day.
And the big day certainly was big - it made Apple’s signature events look like a morning coffee meeting about paper by comparison. Samsung’s announcement was held at the humungous Radio City Music Hall, with the overspill crowd herded towards Times Square, where the company had erected an equally massive billboard. The day before, Samsung also assembled a smartly-dressed flash mob to perform for the New York City masses.
Of course it will be the next few days, weeks and months where Samsung really flexes its marketing muscle. Samsung spent about $401m to market its products in the US alone last year, compared with the $333m spent by Apple, according to Kantar Media.
Samsung will continue spending heavily on marketing in 2013 - it’s a strategy that helped the company overtake Nokia to become the biggest phone manufacturer in the world in 2012 and register record profit throughout the year.
Kantar predicts Samsung will spend $150m in advertising the S4 alone globally this year, compared with the $108m spent by Apple on marketing the iPhone 5.
Geoff Blaber, mobile device software research lead at CCS Insight, says its Samsung’s forthcoming “unrivalled” marketing campaign that will “deeply concern” the competition, rather than the actual device itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment