Samsung spending big on ads, but returns aren’t quite as expected
Say what you will about their smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches, but one thing is for sure: Samsung doesn’t skimp when it comes to marketing. Already on record as one of the biggest spenders on advertising, a recent report from Reuters delves deeper into Samsung’s strategy. Has Paying big paid off?
The short answer is yes, but with a caveat. The $4.3 billion spent on ads and marketing in 2012 is expected to balloon to $14 billion by the end of this year. If anything, it has helped to raise brand awareness around devices like the Samsung Galaxy S4, but huge advertising push hasn’t exactly established the brand Samsung is going for. Samsung wasn’t coy about wanting to create a more Apple-like aura through marketing. In pushing that message, however, the Korean company seems to have lost sight of the bigger picture.
The solution? Spend more, according to brand consultant Moon Ji-hun. With the number of new products introduced in the past year alone, a strong, cohesive advertising push might be the only way to tie it together for consumers.
Most recently Samsung has taken heat for the relatively unsuccessful Galaxy Gear smartwatch. The device has been pushed in advertising more heavily in recent weeks than its counterpart smartphones, but has sold far fewer of the watches than it has Galaxy Note 3 handsets. Moon believes Samsung was smart enough to know their watch would not be a mainstream hit and sees the added marketing as a calculated maneuver to establish the brand as a future-thinking force of innovation.