Apple was on top of the smartphone market for quite some time, and Samsung wanted a piece of it. Between all the lawsuits and patent claims, Samsung has been running commercials trying to convince us that Samsung products are superior to Apple products. In addition to the normal commercials that one might expect, Samsung has also run commercials making fun of Apple, and everyone hated them. But not for the reasons you might expect.
Back when Apple was set to release its new iPhone, Samsung ran commercials of people lined up, waiting to buy the latest creation from Apple. We’d overhear people in line talking about what they might be getting in the new version of the iPhone.
“The headphone jack is going to be on the bottom!” (mind blown)
They then heard the rumor that the new iPhone wasn’t going to look any different from the old iPhone.
“If it looks the same, how will people know I upgraded?”
Then someone in the line looked over and saw another person with a phone that looked amazing – but it turned out to be a Samsung.
“I could never get a Samsung, I’m creative.” “Dude, you’re a barista!”
That explains a lot of the mentality. Some people are loyal to a brand more than anything. Even when faced with something bigger, faster, and is by all measurable means “better”, they still stick with what they know and love. I’m not immune. I still carry a Nexus 5 with me, even though the Galaxy S 5, HTC One M8, the new Moto X, and others are more recent and up-to-date. Why? My Nexus 5 does what I need it to do, and I know that I’m going to get the next version of Android before anyone else. That’s what’s important to me, and it’s my choice to make. Apple aficionados aren’t that different.
“Dude! The iPhone might be getting a bigger screen!” “They still don’t have that?”
Yes, bigger screens are nice, but the same old device with a bigger screen? That’s not too much of an improvement. Again, Samsung was quick to jump on that point with a new commercial, this time from the perspective of two “Apple Geniuses” who have just gotten the news.
“I’ve been waiting two years – two years – for us to do something groundbreaking. Here is it! Here it is! A bigger screen! Ah!! Wait, hang on. A bigger screen?!”
If you haven’t seen Samsung’s commercials, they’re well worth your while. You’ll probably hate them. Almost everyone does. But people don’t hate them for any of the usual reasons. People hate them because the messages they’re conveying are true. People see themselves in these commercials, and when put in that situation, viewer’s whole value system and beliefs are called into question. They shake the faith of the viewer and make them second-guess their choices. Rather than reevaluating their decisions, most who watch the commercials will simply hate them. They’ll react emotionally – in the negative – but not because the commercials are false or misleading. Instead, because deep down in places Apple customers don’t want to acknowledge, they know the commercials are true.
While the commercials probably won’t convert many loyal Apple fans, Samsung will have successfully planted the seed of doubt in their mind, which will work slowly to undermine the stranglehold that Apple has on them. Eventually freeing them from blindly following the masses and buying “the next big thing” from Apple.
That’s a good thing. No, not because it means less people will buy Apple products, but because Apple will have to start making substantial innovations, not incremental ones that its competition deployed three generations ago.
In the end, it means we’ll see better products from Apple, more true innovation, and ultimately, the entire playing field will be better for it, thanks to healthy competition – not blind faith.
“We’re going to get that for sure! Maybe not this time, but next time. Right?”