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Samsung Mobile S8/S8+ Mobile Phones

Heath Hedstrom, Megan Lockard

Principles of Creative Advertising and Design

Professor Gary Domet
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Fall 2017
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1.​ ​History: ​Samsung was founded in Taegu, Korea in 1938 by Byung-Chull Lee. The company
began not as an electronics company, but as an export company that focused on selling dried
Korean fish and other goods to Manchuria and Beijing. Throughout the years, Samsung has
transformed from primarily exporting goods to acquiring numerous affiliated businesses such as
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Everland and more under
the Samsung name.

Around the 1960’s, Samsung decided to direct their main focus onto electronics after the Korean
war stressed importance on industrialization. About ten years later, Samsung began producing
what is now one of their most popular products, televisions. They later began producing other
household products like washing machines then microwaves.

Fast-forwarding to today, Samsung was the largest mobile phone manufacturer in 2012. In the
following five years, Samsung has released all kinds of new technologies for the company such
as virtual reality devices like the Gear VR in 2014 to the new Gear S3 smartwatch, which was
released this year.

Mission Statement:​ Samsung does not have a set mission statement, however, their vision for
2020 is, “Inspire the World, Create the Future,” which the company says will reflect Samsung
Electronics’ three key strengths: “New Technology, Innovative Products, and Creative
Solutions.”

Marketing Strategy: Using quick cut, vivid commercials where the phone is
the star of the show is the methodology for the current campaign. Highlight
the benefits in a direct but unstated way, while using hip music, all the while
placing the phone in real world situations for real world uses.
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2.​ ​ Campaign: The current ad campaign for Samsung Mobile in the United States is two-fold. The first
campaign/product is the Samsung Galaxy S8 mobile phone, the second being the Samsung Galaxy Note8
phone/PDA. For this exercise, we will focus on the flagship phone, the Galaxy S8. According to the
primary agency for the campaign, R/GA,

“The launch of the Galaxy S8 came at a crucial time for Samsung. The recent recall of the Note 7 had
done serious damage to their reputation, fan base, and stock price. The stakes were high, and they needed
a hit. At the same time, people’s relationships with their devices are changing. There’s a growing sense
that our technology should work for and adapt to us, not the other way around. And the Galaxy S8 is
designed to do just that – every aspect of the new phone is built to feel more natural and behave more
intuitively. After months of conversations about batteries, factories, and suppliers, it was a message our
audience was more than ready to hear.” (www.rga.com)

The kickoff to the Galaxy S8 marketing campaign started officially on March 28th, 2017, with a massive
Times Square Takeover. R/GA secured 40 strategic video boards around Times Square, New York, to
show their video. The video consisted of a spectacular blue ocean (strikingly similar in blue to the
Samsung blue), with a giant whale in it. Alongside the whale was a diver, in this case, we believe, to
show scale. The whale and diver moved effortlessly across the 40 screens, and around Times Square, in a
truly attention getting display. The giant scale of the outdoor campaign was done to show the potential
of a phone with no edges. The tagline at the end was “UNBOX YOUR PHONE”. The end result was
remarkable, garnering multiple YouTube videos of the display, one of them in particular reaching over
357,000 views. The accompanying print advertisements kept with the whale and diver theme, showing
the phone immersed in the water (subliminally highlighting the phone’s waterproof feature), and showing
how the infinity edge display blends seamlessly with real life.

The Galaxy S8 initial launch television commercial did not stick with the whale and diver theme,
although the whale and diver theme was used in subsequent advertisements starting immediately after
launch. The debut ad used several different scenarios from real life to “unbox” the phone. The image of
the phone starts out as a usual smart phone, the images are used to knock out the side bevels (one scene
literally using a boxer to remove a side bezel), among other scenarios to remove the large top bezels,
replaced by much smaller ones. The overall campaign theme was retained, with the commercial ending in
the UNBOX YOUR PHONE tagline. All the commercials since the debut have featured bright, vivid
colors, and each ended with a tagline and/or product name, along with the Samsung logo at the end.
Recent commercials have started to incorporate popular, recognizable music in them, but maintain the
overall structure of the commercials. Interestingly, there have been variations of taglines throughout the
campaign.

Additional taglines include:

“Made for summer”
“Upgrade to Galaxy”
“Infinitely Amazing”
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Overall, the campaign seems to maintain a sort of overall timing, audio, visual and graphic style rather
than an obvious repetitive use of a single tagline. The commercials are timely- summertime, and most
notably, a commercial referencing the eclipse, utilizing the amazing camera to capture the low light
situation. Each commercial seems to highlight one main advantage over other phones, although there are
few ads like the “Growing Up” Upgrade to Galaxy commercial that highlights all the technical advances
of the phone vs. the competition over the years. The campaign is thoroughly thought out, detailed, offers
real world situation in which the S8 is better than the iPhone, and really does an effective job overall of
showing why you and every mobile consumer should switch to the Samsung Galaxy S8.
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3. Brand name: ​Samsung means “three stars” in Korean. The company has held the same name since its
start in 1938. Samsung’s founder, ​Byung-Chull Lee, chose this name because he had a vision for
the company to be powerful and everlasting like stars.

Logo: ​Samsung’s past logos included some version of three stars, unlike today’s simple logo that
debuted in 1993, which includes a blue, tilted oval behind white, bulky letters that read the
company’s name. It is said the oval is titled to put full attention to the brand name.

​ Q:​ Samsung’s primary headquarters is located in Seoul, Korea.The building began

H
construction in 2005 and 3 short years later was completed. It stands at 656 ft. and includes 44
floors. The exterior of the building is sleek, modern looking and follows the blue pattern in that
the windows have blue tint all across the building.
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4.​ Primary & Secondary Research (SWOT)

Strengths
Samsung is a huge company, with a huge R&D budget to go along with their huge marketing budget. The
phone products are in many ways technically superior. Advantages include: swappable batteries, better
camera, more/upgradeable memory, retina log in, waterproof, wireless charging and many more.
Samsung seems to be leading the phone market in new innovations.
Weaknesses
Samsung is still recovering from the catastrophic battery explosion disaster of the Note 7. The phone
battery would randomly ignite or explode, causing serious injuries. This was a marketing nightmare.
Samsung quickly owned up to the problem, recalled the phones, and have promised to make them safe
again. Samsung seems to be positioned as the lesser phone compared to the iPhone. This is mainly due
to the strong allegiance consumers have with Apple products. This allegiance often started in grade
school for many people, and is hard to overcome. Samsung may have the technical advantage, but the
iPhone has the Cool factor.

Opportunities
Samsung needs to keep educating the public about how more advanced the features are on the Galaxy line
of phones compared to iPhone. The real world situations where the Galaxy is better are numerous, and
need to be exploited. The customization of the S8 is unrivaled, and needs to be touted more. In addition,
the company needs to take fuller advantage of the two product lines, the S8 and Note 8. The Note 8 is
basically a touch screen computer that happens to have a phone attached to it. The ads are similar
between the two products, and may in fact confuse consumers as to what phone they want to buy. I
would either completely separate the marketing, or completely integrate the marketing of the two phones
to avoid confusion.

Threats
The iPhone is the number one threat to the Galaxy line of phones. The other major threat would be some
sort of battery or safety issue with the phone. Samsung was lucky enough to survive one catastrophe,
would the public be willing to look past two incidents? There are other phones on the market, but the
iPhone and Galaxy dominate. According to 9to5mac.com,

“Apple captured 79.2 percent of global smartphone profits last year, according to the latest research by
Strategy Analytics on Wednesday, highlighting the US technology giant’s ability to maximize pricing and
minimize production costs. The global smartphone industry was estimated to have posted total operating
profits of $53.7 billion last year, with Apple’s operating profit standing at $44.9 billion, the research
showed....
In comparison, Samsung’s smartphone business posted an operating profit of $8.3 billion last year,
accounting for 14.6 percent of the global profits. Samsung is still reeling from the global recall of the
Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, which was discontinued in October last year over safety concerns.” (Ben
Lovejoy 9to5Mac-March 8th, 2017)
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The cell phone industry trends are leaning towards real life usability, along with ruggedness, smart
design, and the ability to easily post on social media. Samsung checks all of these boxes.

The Samsung Galaxy 8 stacks up very well to the competition. The current trend seems to be that
Samsung will come out with a new feature, and Apple will do the same a year or two later. Examples
include virtual reality, retina/face recognition, wireless charging, waterproofing. The Galaxy is
considered by many to be a superior product. Consumers think iPhones are cool, and the latest
technology. The challenge for Samsung is to bring the cool factor to the phone. This will be a tough
battle, with iPhones now being the Big Brother of early Mac Ads, and Samsung being the one to Think
Different.

The real difference in the Samsung product is the ability to do more things better. Consumers can
separate themselves from the crowd, and have a phone that is a much more powerful tool, not just some
piece of aluminum and glass that looks pretty.

The marketing in China and other countries is remarkably similar to the advertisements in the United
States. Most of the ads have little voiceover, and the little text is typically still portrayed in English.
Cracking the Chinese market will be tough for Samsung; relations between the two countries have been
tense over the last few years, and Samsung still has an uphill battle with problems of the Note 7 batteries.
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5. ​ ​Diversity: ​The campaign for the Galaxy S8 does reflect diversity. This campaign features ads that
include things such as an astronaut on the moon and a whale in the ocean. It is showing amazing things
that the phone can do, not so much people doing amazing things with the phone. For example, one ad
features two people looking over a mountain side gazing at stars. The ad is focusing more on the beautiful
view then the people, which in a sense lets the consumer really imagine themselves in the setting. Most of
the ads rarely include people, and if they do, they are seen more as figures in the background. This is
including diversity in a great way because it isn’t honing in on one specific race, gender, or generation.
By doing so, it allows the theater of mind to open up and have any consumer picture themselves using the
Galaxy S8 in any of these settings. There also isn’t one specific culture overpowering the campaign. It
doesn’t seem Americanized or Koreanized, it is simply showing the wonders the Galaxy S8 opens up for
all humans of all different backgrounds.
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6.​ Creative Brief: ​Samsung Galaxy 8 Mobile Phone

Objective:
The objective of Samsung in the United States is to steal market share from the iPhone, and once again
become the leading mobile phone in the market. The company lost significant share 2 years ago due to the
Galaxy Note 7 battery failures, leading to fires. Samsung lost billions of dollars in revenue, legal, and
compensatory expenses. Growth has been minimal, but has slowly returned to essentially tie the iPhone
in market share.

Target Audience: Everyone! More specifically, persons 18-34. This group is the leading user/consumer
of new electronic devices, and are the most adaptable to change. Samsung wants to capture this
demographic to create long-term users of their products.

Current Position: Samsung is perceived as the uncool, cheap phone. Apple seems to have more style in
both the look of their products, and their advertising. Apple has an overall coolness factor that is hard to
overcome.

Samsung needs to enhance their coolness factor, along with extolling the benefits and features of the new
S8. They need to show how much more technologically advanced the phone is, how much more
customizable it is, and also, how the phone can save them time, and some money, while keeping the cool
factor.

The Samsung Galaxy 8 has several benefits, including a swappable battery, longer battery life,
swappable/upgradeable memory, more free apps, split screen multitasking, wireless charging, open source
operating system, and a display that has no edges. One of the biggest benefits is how customizable the
phone is, how you can use your voice to operate it, and how Bixby the digital assistant learns your habits
and makes recommendations.

The One Thing- It’s not an iPhone. It’s MY Phone. This phone is not just another phone like any other-it
is customizable to suit you.
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7. Ad ideas.
1. Been There. Done That. A series of campaigns showing how Samsung came up
with certain new features sometimes up to 2 years before Apple. Examples
include face recognition, waterproofing, wireless charging, virtual reality.
2. Going along with the Samsung creating new features first, 2 kids are in class, the
one in front has a Samsung shirt on, the other-Apple. The kid in the Apple shirt
looks over the Samsung girl’s shoulder. Samsung-See What’s Next.
3. Highlighting features such as a swappable battery, among others-Samsung,
Leading the Way.
4. Break from the herd. Visual includes several Apple sheep blindly following the
lead Apple sheep- possibly to slaughter? The black sheep has a Samsung logo on
it, the black sheep breaks away from the herd to freedom.
5. Complete remake of the Apple “1984” commercial. The subjugated are the blind
Apple followers, the hero of the commercial is from Samsung, breaking the
television with the Apple leader on it- Break Free- Samsung. (Apple is
all-imposing big brother now, Samsung is the underdog protagonist).
6. Show the Samsung Galaxy in split screen mode, doing several tasks at once.
iPhone user has his one task on the screen- annoyed. Samsung- Do More, Better.
7. Ad shows a montage of Samsung firsts, final tagline is a take of their company
motto- Samsung-Creating the Future.
8. Commercial shows the frivolity of the iPhone. Person is showing off their new
phone that comes in Toasted Pomegranate color, and highlights a silly app. The
friend (Samsung owner) is half listening to the Brand A phone user yammer on
about how great their phone is. Meanwhile, the Samsung owner is multi-tasking
and getting work done. Samsung- technology for the rest of us.
9. Samsung, More Features, More Fun, More Life.
10. Samsung Galaxy 8-It Knows Me. Customized ring tone- visual is a Samsung user
opening their customized phone screen with just their face (face recognition).
User ends the call, the phone then suggests news articles and current events with
the user interface Bixby. The Samsung Galaxy 8- phone owner says to the
screen- “It Knows Me”.
11. Same as above, but at the end the announce says, “It’s not an iPhone- it’s My
Phone.”
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8. Print ad copy: It’s MY Phone

Featuring Iris Scanning, TouchWiz personalization, and your

own personal assistant Bixby, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is
completely customizable to you and your style.
(Women holding the phone, using the Iris Scan, saying, ‘It’s MY Phone”.
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9.
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CLIENT:​ SAMSUNG Writer:​ MEGAN LOCKARD/HEATH

GALAXY S8 PHONE HEDSTROM
Account Executive: GARY DOMET Length:​ 30

Title:

*Font:​ Times New Roman – Not All Caps ​Size:​ 12*

:05 SFX: Cafe noises, small crowd in background.

Waiter- two large coffees, two muffins
Patron 1 and 2: Thanks!
:15 SFX: Bixby reminder SFX - Don’t forget to pick up your dry cleaning on the way to work.
Patron 2: Is that your phone?
Patron 1: Yes, check this out- Bixby- remind me again on my way home from work.
:30
Bixby SFX: Ok- I will remind you when you leave work.
Patron 2: That is Amazing! Did you just open your phone with your eyes too?
Patron 1: I did, I just go this phone, and I love it!
:45
Patron 2: Is it the new iPhone?
Patron 1: No, it’s better. It’s MY Phone.
Anncr. VO: The new Samsung Galaxy S8, with iris scanning, complete customization, and
:60
your own personal assistant Bixby -the Samsung Galaxy S8
END
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14. ​Website: ​The Samsung website is very easy to navigate on a desktop as well as on a mobile
device. Since Samsung produces more than just phones, there are many tabs directing the
consumer to which product they would like to view in an organized, easily accessible manner.
Currently, the home page features what looks like key items for this holiday shopping season,
including the Galaxy S8 and Note 8. They are simple photos including the products by
themselves, which again, keeps the page simple. Overall, the page holds on to Samsung’s brand
image because it is including a sleek white background, the blue logo at the top, and is
organized. Clicking under the “Galaxy products” tab, the website features blocks of photos of
different products and short descriptions of each product. If you scroll further down, there is an
interactive 360 video of ancient caves, which is posted right above Galaxy’s Gear 360 product,
showing what this specific product can do, and keeping with Samsung’s image of exploring and
taking technology anywhere.
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15. ​Tweets: ​Samsung Mobile currently has 12.4 million followers on Twitter. Creating a
hashtag like #ItsMyPhone encourages followers to post their own experiences with how they use
their Galaxy S8 and how it beats the brand new IPhone X. Most IPhone users do not know that
Galaxy products are meant to fit the user and creating a conversation about how it fits to YOU
puts the product out there.
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16. Summary, describe what insights you have discovered about the brands business, how you
feel about their current campaign.

Both of us being iPhone users, we have come to realize that Samsung is making some GREAT
phones. Samsung has essentially led the way in terms of what cell phones should look like, what
they should be capable of, and how we will use them. Apple has consistently been playing catch
up, in terms of features, and technology. Samsung’s open source Operating System (OS)
Android technology allows developers to create apps quickly and inexpensively. According to
digitaltrends.com, the number of free Android apps currently on the market is 2.8 Million,
compared to Apple’s 2.2 Million. Despite all the advantages of the Samsung phone, the iPhone
has made significant gains over the last year. In the United States, Samsung earned 35.2 percent
of the market for the three months ending August 2017 (up 0.8 percentage points year-over-year.
In the same time period, Apple gained 3.7 percent, up to 35 percent, essentially tieing Samsung.

Albeit smaller growth than Apple year-over-year, we believe that without the excellent
marketing campaign of the completely redesigned Samsung Galaxy 8, market share would have
severely decreased, taking second seat to Apple. Samsung is still feeling the hangover of the
Samsung Note 7 battery disaster. Consumers are reluctant to return to a product after being (in
this case figuratively and literally) burned. The smart, timely, real world advertising for Samsung
has done an excellent job of turning the huge Samsung ship around.

Additionally, Samsung’s marketing campaign has done incredibly well outside the United States,
particularly in Great Britain, where, according to Marketwired.com:

"Samsung took full advantage of the weeks just before the iPhone 8 and iPhone X were
released in Great Britain, with significant promotional activity that helped drive its
overall share to a three-year high of 38.4% for the three months ending August 2017,"
explained Dominic Sunnebo, Global Business Unit Director at Kantar Worldpanel
ComTech. "More than one in four Galaxy S8 buyers cited a specific promotion as a key
purchase influencer, and almost half said that a good deal on the price of the phone was
key to their purchase. Both of these metrics experienced a large increase over the last two
months of the period.”

As the memory of the Note 7 fades, we believe that as long as the current campaign stays the
course, Samsung will once again return to the front of the pack in the U.S. Market.
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Appendix
“History- Corporate Profile- About Samsung.” ​Samsung, ​27 Nov. 2017,
http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/corporateprofile/history06.html

​ 7 Nov. 2017,
“History- Corporate Profile- About Samsung.” ​Samsung, 2
•​http​://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/corporateprofile/history06.htm
l

•​https://www.lifewire.com/history-of-samsung-818809​ (number 1 source)

•​https://www.emporis.com/buildings/1196107/samsung-electronics-headqu
arters-seoul-south-korea​ (number 3 sources)

•​https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/android-vs-ios/

•​http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/kantar-samsung-at-three-year-
high-in-great-britain-apple-growth-up-in-us-2237025.htm

•​https://www.slideshare.net/santhoshmadheswaran/samsung-company-pre
sentation

•​https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/saltzman/2017/08/26/8-thi
ngs-you-missed-samsung-galaxy-note-8/604903001/

•​(Ben Lovejoy 9to5Mac-March 8th, 2017)

https://cdn.mobilesyrup.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/s8-wet-2.jpg