Galaxy, iPhones, and Pixels: how tech companies are advertising phones
Originally published at linkedin.com on November 7, 2017.
Upon the release of Apple’s latest product, the iPhone X, Samsung has released a spot that follows an Apple user throughout the last ten years. In its commercial, Samsung shows us the difference of living an Android and iOS life.
Samsung Galaxy: Growing Up
In the one minute spot, Samsung takes us down memory lane back to 2007. Here, Apple user Erik walks down by an Apple store where people are already waiting for the first iPhone. He opts into the iOS lifestyle, and quickly begins noticing things:
As three years pass, Erik takes a picture of his car, only to be stopped by a “Storage is Full” message on his camera app. After another three years, he meets Lauren, who is a Galaxy user. Erik is quick to notice that the Galaxy is a much bigger phone than his iPhone. In 2015, he is stuck again waiting in line for the iPhone 6s. In 2016, Erik and Lauren both fall into a lake, with Lauren’s Samsung being okay since it’s water resistant, while Erik’s iPhone is turned off. The iPhone gets thrown into a bowl of rice. The ad continues to note many other features: camera quality, headphone jacks (meaning no dongles needed), and wireless charging.
This, however, is clearly not the first time Samsung has taken a jab at its competitor.
The Next Big Thing is Already Here
Samsung’s most notorious campaigns are “The Next Big Thing is Already Here.” The series of ads that run under this campaign aim to directly highlight the differences between Samsung and Apple products.
In an Adweek article, Samsung noted that what makes them unique is the technology innovation they make available through their products:
“At a time when tens of million Americans are ready to upgrade their smartphones, the two biggest brands have introduced flagship devices-at the same time. This new ad speaks directly [to] them, underscoring why so many are choosing Galaxy S8, S8+ and Note 8 as their next smartphone. Instead of being on autopilot, they are finally excited about technology again.
The ad, of course, was also seen by Apple users, who were quick to note that the commercial lacked the part where their Galaxy Note 7s kept exploding.
Apple: iPhones are connecting people
When Apple first introduced their iPhone back in 2007, they did it with a compilation of movie characters answering phones with a “Hello?” While most of the scenes included people answering through a landline corded phone, we see big boxy cellphones towards the end of the video.
Apple’s commercials get the most praise. This comes to no surprise since Ridley Scott’s “1984” Apple commercial is often considered as one of the best commercials in history. But aside from their Think Different campaigns, Apple has pushed for some side campaigns that connect users with their product.
In 2013, Apple released an ad that shows how iPhones are in fact connecting families, rather than disconnecting them. The commercial below features a family Christmas reunion where the teenage grandson isn’t participating that much in family activities. You can see the ad below.
Turns out, the grandson was in fact making a video of their holiday from various tidbits he filmed on his iPhone, and thus was able to broadcast it to the TV through AirPlay.
Apple’s latest commercial “Meet iPhone X” is a spot that you have come to expect from Apple: the phone floats in white space, showing off a feature at a time, with hip background music.
Definitely two things are the top sellers for the iPhone X: the Animoji feature, which lets users use their face to create 3D animated emojis, and the Augmented Reality. People are already getting creative with Animojis, making Animoji Karaoke pretty fun to share. Augmented Reality is definitely still in the works, but given Apple’s release of the ARKit (“a new framework that allows you to easily create unparalleled augmented reality experiences”), we can expect many more experiences to be coming soon.
You can read more on Apple’s AR here: Snapchat’s latest updates shows tech leading towards AR and why the iPhone X is overpriced.
Pixel, made by Google, is a fierce contender
Last but not least is Google’s latest piece of hardware: the Pixel 2. Unlike Samsung and Apple, Google boasts extreme power in the cloud (they’re a software company after all). Thus, their marketing and strategy for the Pixel relies heavily on its use of its different software products. To show this, Google released a spot telling consumers to demand more from their phones. Within two minutes, Google Assistant answers any questions you might have.
While still in their early versions of hardware, Google is technically still new to the mobile hardware game. But the aspect of being new was its primary selling point when it released the Pixel a year ago.
With an obvious jab at Apple, the Google Pixel came in three “new” colors: Quite Black, Very Silver, and Really Blue, given Apple’s titles for the colors they release their iPhones in (i.e. Rose Gold). Other jabs include the headphone jack, no camera bump, and much more in a text flashed quickly near the end of the commercial.
What phone will you choose?
It’s interesting to see the advertising from the companies that are quickly trying to find your place in your pocket. Will you choose the innovative Galaxy? Will you opt for the aesthetically-pleasing iPhone? Or will you give the Pixel a chance, bundled with all Google products?
Leave your comments below! Feel free to tweet at @juliangumbo.
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Julian Gamboa is a UC Berkeley graduate with a focus on marketing. Julian was selected as a LinkedIn Top Voice for Marketing and #Social Media (2017) and a Course Instructor of the marketing and digital publishing course Digital Marketing Today at the Haas School of Business. He is also the founder of Digiviewpoint, a millennial publishing account.
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