When a product isn’t doing well, one marketing strategy is to sling mud at the competition. That’s why all Samsung’s latest ads don’t focus on the Galaxy S9, but criticize the iPhone instead.
There are four new ads that target some aspect of Apple’s products, such as the notch, no microSD card slot, and a lack of on-screen multitasking.
Samsung missed analysts’ profit expectations during its most recent financial quarter, partially because of sluggish demand for the Galaxy S9. And iPhone took took 8 of the top 10 spots in U.S. smartphone sales in Q2. Last year’s iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus both outsold the newer S9.
Ingenious: Notch
The screen cutout drew criticism when the iPhone X first appeared, but most people have moved on. Not Samsung. They have an ad with a customer visiting the “Ingenious” bar to complain about the notch.
https://youtu.be/FPhetlu3f2g
This, of course, ignores that Galaxy phones have relatively large screen bezels at top and bottom, cutting off potential screen area.
Ingenius: Multitasking
Samsung’s second new ad criticizes the lack of side-by-side multitasking in the iPhone.
https://youtu.be/h3RwxpahHo0
This one is undeniably true. There’s no on-screen multitasking available to iPhone users. It is available in the Galaxy S9.
Ingenius: Storage
The third Samsung ad introduced today brings up a limitation some iPhone have been complaining about for over a decade: no microSD card slot. Most Android devices do include a removable storage card slot, including the Galaxy S9.
https://youtu.be/QyDo4wmQ0HQ
A visitor to the “Ingenious” bar doesn’t want her files stored in iCloud, but on the device. The salesman points out that she can buy a model worth more storage for “just $140 more.” Which isn’t accurate: jumping from 64GB to 256GB on Apple’s latest costs $150.
Battery can’t keep up? A lot can change in a day.
The fourth Samsung ad introduced today doesn’t target iPhone quite as specifically. It doesn’t take place in the “Ingenius” bar, and just points out the hassles of running out of battery power. The device shown has some similarities to an iPhone, though. The ad can’t be too specific because the iPhone X and iPhone 8 significantly outlast the Galaxy S9 on a single charge.
https://youtu.be/Y-37lkw_uaQ
Samsung’s new ad ends with a cryptic reference to August 9, 2018. That’s the day the Galaxy Note 9 is expected to be announced, and rumors indicate this device will have an enormous battery.
These are just the latest in Samsung’s “Ingenius” advertising campaign. Earlier entries criticized the iPhone’s need for a headphone dongle, the lack of a fast charger, and a camera that gets lower test scores than the Galaxy S9.
