9-to-5 Mac posted a cute new Samsung ad campaign titled 'The Next Big Thing' and it kinda takes a dig at Apple and the iPhone. I say “kinda” because it’s actually taking a dig at iPhone buyers. Take a look at the ad and then read on for some ANALysis:
It’s actually funny; I quite like this:
Hipster 1:
I could never get a Samsung—I’m creative.
Hipster 2:
Dude, you’re a barista.
Bahahaha, fair play to you Samsung!
Poignantly, my friend linked me to the ad as I was queuing for a fix at in my favourite, albeit snooty, cafe. I let out an unsophisticated, outer-suburban guffaw that cut through the
single origin vibe, causing punters to mis-sip and baristas to fumble their créma florets— if only I could have shared that moment with them on the big screen.
Anyway, who is this ad talking to? It can’t be talking to me or the barista in the queue because we take our shit very seriously.
We queue for hours and days because we like the iPhone. I queued for an iPad 2 because I wanted it
bad. But then, I didn’t queue for an iPhone 4S because it wasn’t as important to me. I
will, however, queue for an iPhone 5 because [I expect that] it’s going to be a show-stopper.
Samsung isn’t talking to those it makes fun of. Instead, I can only imagine, it’s talking to those who’re either jaded with the
holier-than-thou iPhone/iOS environment or those who just don’t care.
Despite its humourous bent, I think it’s a lame advertisement for a premium phone. Samsung may be preaching to the non-iPhone crowd, but they’re alienating a cohort of potential customers. Needless to say, after seeing it three times in prep for this story, I honestly can’t tell you which model it was for. Probably the Galaxy SII... probably. [Update: I watched it again; it's the SII]
Most importantly, the ad reinforces a fundamental difference between Samsung and Apple devices: people won’t queue for Samsungs.