Samsung Discusses 'Relentless, Aggressive' Pursuit of Apple in its Ads

[MacRumors]

In a lengthy new interview with Adweek (via CNET), Samsung's top marketing executive Younghee Lee addressed a few topics centered around how the company "embraced innovation to become a global master of brand marketing." Its accomplishments in the media space have earned it the 2016 Marketer of the Year award at the Cannes Ad Festival.

One of Lee's soundbites of the interview is particularly interesting, given Samsung's history of negatively focusing on Apple in some of its advertisements over the years. When asked about how the company manages to stay above Apple with the largest global smartphone market share in the world, Lee detailed a marketing strategy that emphasizes what the team believes to be right, and then they "pursue it relentlessly."

We always relentlessly pursue what we think is right in technology. Our communications program is no different. If we think it is right, we pursue it relentlessly. In North America, we were aggressive with our marketing toward competitors--we went at them head on. If you think about the "Fanboy" and "Wall Hugger" (Galaxy S) campaigns and the approach we took there, we tried to be flexible, relevant and bold.

The virtues of our brand are engineering, openness, freedom in mindset, purposeful innovation, multiculturalism, vibrancy, being inviting and inclusiveness. My goal is to help our consumers understand our values and support how the brand can be attached to them.

Lee's comments are referencing two ads that present a focus on Apple's iPhone -- Fanboy (video above) and Wall Hugger -- and then introduce Samsung's alternatives with a few features that were improved over Apple's handsets at the time, including a larger screen and better battery life. The company will keep its market-winning strategy going forward, according to Lee, while also attempting to focus on her biggest challenge: "to obtain more share of mind from millennials" in order to keep Samsung and its Galaxy brand "as a young and fresh mindset."

Check out Adweek's full interview with Lee here.

Article Link: Samsung Discusses 'Relentless, Aggressive' Pursuit of Apple in its Ads

 

[macs4nw]

Ok, whatever..... just keep those quality components coming.....

 

[reemas]

Quality rumors like this are why I check this site very rarely these days.

 

[MonkeySee....]

Samsung are just trying to gain their own "Cult" following. Which won't happen.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Pursuit is the correct word indeed. Java apps, lol. Time to work on your new file system suckers. Go swallow more evidence, Samsung. And good luck with those spying TVs.

 

[2010mini]

They do create some very funny ads though.

 

[BrodieApple]

Apple ads: "look at our product!"
Samsung ads: "look at their product, lol! oh and ours too"

 

[joueboy]

If you spend billions in advertising then you deserve to win in "ADS FESTIVAL". I applause you Samsung you certainly deserve this award.

 

[now i see it]

Marketing people are so full of themselves. The reason Sammy phones are so popular is because they are the best android phone made. Period.
And the reason Android is so popular is because it's cheap. Period.
Nobody pays attention to ads when making a buying decision.
Bunch of self inflated delusionals.

 

[kdarling]

Samsung are just trying to gain their own "Cult" following. Which won't happen.

True, although of course that's one big point of their ads: people should not buy something just because they're part of a cult following.

They do create some very funny ads though.

There are definitely some memorable parts, which have entered the common vernacular.

Who can ever forget the "exploding" head scene over the headphone jack location?

Or, "Dude, you're a barista!"

 

[bbeagle]

Apple ads: "look at our product!"
Samsung ads: "look at their product, lol! oh and ours too"

It's actually:

Apple: 'Look at our product!'
Samsung: 'Look at their product! lol! Stupid users! lol! Wait - we'll copy what they did and do it the same way! Ummm... but it's no longer stupid when we do it!'

 

[soupcan]

How Samsung became the largest smartphone manufacturer? Oh I don't know, because they have a ******** of phone models from the dirt cheap $30 "smartphones" to the $600 flagships. Apple on the other hand only sells flagships (the SE being an exception, price wise). Something would be very wrong if Apple stayed above Samsung in market share, wouldn't it?

 

[Speedy Dingo]

"Relentless to be like Apple"

Doesn't matter what Apple does, design wise or marketing wise, and whether people see it as insignificant or pointless, Samsung will always try to mimick it just because Apple has done it. Macrumors needs to run a story saying that this is the leaked design of the iPhone 8. Shaped like an iPhone 4, size of a 6 with a Digital Crown like on the Apple Watch;

Then watch Samsung put it out on the market.

 

[H2SO4]

Marketing people are so full of themselves. The reason Sammy phones are so popular is because they are the best android phone made. Period.
And the reason Android is so popular is because it's cheap. Period.
Nobody pays attention to ads when making a buying decision.
Bunch of self inflated delusionals.

Biggest load of balderdash on this thread. Whilst being cheap won’t hinder adoption.
I cannot fathom how somebody, (you), cannot see that some people will just prefer Android simply because we are all different. Period.
I remember when the BMW 3 series, (expensive), outsold the Ford Mondeo, (cheaper), at least over here in the Uk.
I prefer my iOS device but that doesn’t make Samsung rubbish.
Get a grip.
[doublepost=1465996931][/doublepost]

How Samsung became the largest smartphone manufacturer? Oh I don't know, because they have a ******** of phone models from the dirt cheap $30 "smartphones" to the $600 flagships. Apple on the other hand only sells flagships (the SE being an exception, price wise). Something would be very wrong if Apple stayed above Samsung in market share, wouldn't it?

How does Apple ony sell flagships?
I mean look at what you just said. Apple on the other hand only sells flagships (the SE being an exception, price wise).
So what you are saying is 'Apple only does this except when it’s doing that………''

 

[waterskier2007]

Apple ads: "look at our product!"

Honestly, most Apple ads don't really focus on the product at all. The 'Shot on iPhone' campaign is a good example. They don't even show the product. Most of their ads center on how you can use the product, not the product itself. I love their ads for that reason.

 

[brendu]

How does Apple ony sell flagships?
I mean look at what you just said. Apple on the other hand only sells flagships (the SE being an exception, price wise).
So what you are saying is 'Apple only does this except when it’s doing that………''

To be fair the SE is very much a high end phone. It has most of the same specs as the top of the line iPhone currently being sold. It is nothing like the cheaper models Samsung or other OEMs sell and its price reflects that too. It's not cheap. $400 is still a lot of money compared to a $100 android budget phone.

 

[Rocketman]

So Samsung is going after Apple, much like Hillary will go after Trump. It appears we have a few months of mudslinging ahead of us in the media.

 

[mejsric]

oh well..

 

[JGRE]

Biggest load of balderdash on this thread. Whilst being cheap won’t hinder adoption.
I cannot fathom how somebody, (you), cannot see that some people will just prefer Android simply because we are all different. Period.
I remember when the BMW 3 series, (expensive), outsold the Ford Mondeo, (cheaper), at least over here in the Uk.
I prefer my iOS device but that doesn’t make Samsung rubbish.
Get a grip.
[doublepost=1465996931][/doublepost]
How does Apple ony sell flagships?
I mean look at what you just said. Apple on the other hand only sells flagships (the SE being an exception, price wise).
So what you are saying is 'Apple only does this except when it’s doing that………''

Talking about the Biggest load of balderdash, do you read your own comments? The guy never said that Samsung was rubbish, these are your words.
Honestly, what don't you understand regarding his flagship comment? You manage to twist a straight sentence in something completely different. Please get a grip on yourselve

 

[willmtaylor]

They do create some very funny ads though.

...but far more clichéd, desperate, and unoriginal ones.

Blind squirrels and nuts. Throw it against the wall and see what sticks.

 

[jasonklee]

The Samsung Z3 with Tizen is state of the art. Love it because it lacks gimmicks like Touch ID, Siri, 3D Touch, Apple Pay. Koreans really know design better than Westerners. Got to give credit where it's due.

 

[Mums]

Samsung are just trying to gain their own "Cult" following. Which won't happen.

Absolutely correct, but Apple's cult following is quickly diminishing as well.

 

[willmtaylor]

Absolutely correct, but Apple's cult following is quickly diminishing as well.

"Cult following"? Good grief. People buy want they want. If it doesn't do what they want how they like, they get something different.

It's not a religion; it's consumerism/capitalism. Period.

 

[Zirel]

Samsung ads are for stupid people. Go watch that Wall Higher ad and then look at this:

Apple's 4.7" smartphone has more battery life than the Samsung's biggest smartphone.

No Samsung phone can touch the iPhone 6 Plus and 6s Plus.

 

[6836838]

It's easy to do hardware the days. The question to ask is whether you want a data mining & advertising company running your Operating System.