Advertising
Slim, sleek and smooth; these are not adjectives that describe a human being. These are words presently used to advertise products, be they cars, laptops, mobile phones and the like. How a product is described creates consumer curiosity and this leads to taking a step further in creating the look that goes with the description as suggested by Berkowitz et al. (1994).
Product designers have to work consistently in creating an image of a product that will go beyond the customer’s imagination and, therefore, entice him/her to prefer that particular product to the competitor’s product.
This goes agrees with the saying; image is everything. How a product is presented to the audience is far more important than the emphasis on its technological or feature prowess. This is because consumers are more focused on the looks rather than the performance as most of them would forego the former for the latter. This is exactly what Samsung Galaxy SIII has adopted.
Advertisers have adopted the phone’s amazing features and performance and added a magic touch by presenting it as a phone with human capabilities. This does not mean, however, that the phone has adopted Artifical Intelligence (A.I.) technology. Rather it has come up with innovative technology that has an encompassed an array of verbal and facial features in a phone.
This is the punch line of the phone. It captures the consumer’s wildest imagination. Probably the inspiration behind this feature was to come up with a phone that could understand the human language; one that was capable of having a ‘conversation’ with the user. With the voice recognition feature, one can actually speak an instruction and the phone complies accordingly. Therefore, in line with this capability, advertisers are marketing the phone with the slogan: designed for humans, inspired by nature.
Target Audience
The physical description used is similar to the three words above, slim, sleek and smooth. It has rounded edges and a very solid look. The large 4.8 inches-high definition display has created a friendlier user interaction experience as the user can open different window tasks and work on them concurrently.
This has also been aided by the 1.6 GHz processing speed of the device that enables faster processing of tasks. These are qualities that every busy executive will be attracted to. The price tag further indicates that the phone is not available for just any individual in need of a phone. Rather, it is available for those that can comfortably pay for it and maximize its full potential. A magazine review of the phone has indicated that the innovative phone is targeted for the middle class.
This is because these are individuals who try and collect ‘new arrivals’ that validate build their image in the eyes of their peers. In one way or another, they are innovators as they tend to purchase items that have been recently introduced in the market. The digital spark marketing blog has also indicated that the main target market of the phone is the millennial category. These are individuals who keep up with changing trends to ‘stay’ ahead of others.
Hard-selling the Samsung Galaxy SIII
According to Jobber (2000), hard-selling approach tries to convince customers that one product is superior over another based on direct comparison. This is what Samsung Galaxy SIII has adopted. The technological giant has embraced the hard-selling tactics in selling the Galaxy SIII.
The main reason for this approach is the ongoing battle for market share in the smart phone industry. The main rival of Samsung is Apple. The latter has also come up with innovative products that have a particular appeal to the younger generation. This is a segment that cannot be ignored as its huge market potential boasts of up to billions of sales. This is the market that Samsung has been trying to tap into.
The Galaxy advert, particularly, goes head to head with the competitor in trying to portray the superiority nature of the Galaxy to the competitor’s product, the latest iPhone 5. This has been evidenced by signifying one of the phone’s features that of direct file sharing. Two young men are shown transferring data by simply touching their phones in front of the iPhone 5 purchasing line.
This advert clearly creates product differences and the superiority of the phone in the minds of consumers. This product demonstration sends a signal to the customer that the Galaxy phone is more superior, based on demonstrating one powerful key feature: data transfer. The fact that it has been shot in front of the iPhone purchasing store is no accident as it shows the phone is more powerful than that of the competitor.
‘Exciting characteristics’
According to Hanna and Newman (2001, p.153), the Kano Model suggests’ excitement characteristics’ are features, characteristics or benefits that go beyond the customer’s wildest expectations and offer them unparalleled user experience.
This is a supplement of the ‘must-have’ characteristics which are features or benefits that if a product does not have then it is not a product that services the customer needs. It is widely known what ‘must-have’ characteristics a phone should possess. These include texting capabilities, a call log, an organizer among other attributes. This is what the Galaxy has capitalized on.
Besides the essentials of a phone, Samsung has gone further to introduce features that are way beyond the customer’s imagination. For instance, the phone can share data in the form of files, music or photos directly to another Galaxy phone by simply touching the two phones.
This means that one does not have to go through the tedious process of using Bluetooth data transfer, such as activating, searching for devices, inputting codes and finally transferring. This is a lengthy process that has been eliminated hence faster data sharing.
Another exciting characteristic is the phone’s stunning picture taking ability. Despite having a 4.8 inches- high definition display that freezes images as they are and the 8 Megapixels capacity, the user can flip the picture and write a note on the back, just as one would do at the back of real photos for memories sake.
Such characteristics create an appeal towards potential users of the phone hence translate to increased sales as individuals would want to experience such unique experiences.
Advertising variables
The Galaxy SIII is a sleek phone and makes a statement by itself. It simply cannot be classified as just any other phone as its technological features and stylish looks have placed the phone in a class of its own. Of course, everybody would want a piece of the pie but the shiny price tag detail makes the whole difference.
The phone fetches a retail price of around 650 to 700 dollars. This not affordable to everyone and therefore creates a class element. This goes with its target market, the middle class. Moreover, promotion strategy of the phone aims at targeting the youth aspect of the population, particularly the student group.
This is characterized by the back-to-school discount offers that present themselves every September for a limited period of time. Press conferences as well as social media tactics aim to focus on delivering the message of “buying the phone” equals “join the cool group”. Samsung has recognized the huge teen potential in influencing market buying trends.
This is in accordance to Zollo (1989) who indicates that teens in particular are big spenders of their personal or their parents’ money. Based on this analysis, the Galaxy SIII purchase can also be viewed in terms of gender. This is because it has been shown that boys earn more than girls due to a variety of reasons hence become more inclined to buying the phone than compared to girls of lower income revenues.
Samsung Galaxy SIII versus Apple’s iPhone 5
Both Galaxy and iPhone have recognized the importance of brand design and have proceeded to creating ‘Slim, Sleek and Smooth’ phones. The products have exquisite designs that have appealed to potential customers based on their appearance hence offering similar advertising strategies.
Technological innovations
Technology is rapidly changing and every firm must come up with innovative ideas that portray the company as in line with the changing demands of technology for their survival.
This is a major factor that has been embraced by both Samsung and Apple. These two technological giants are big on innovation and encourage it in their products. This is seen by the innovative features manifested in the Galaxy and iPhone 5. Everybody likes to be associated with the current trends and, therefore, advertising these products as technology leaders translates to increased market sales.
Friendly customer experience
Both products offer a friendly customer experience to users as their products are easy to use. For instance, the Samsung SIII has an inbuilt user manual that helps users navigate through the phone with ease. iPhone 5, on the other hand, has touch screen “gestures” meant for zooming and scrolling through the 4 inch display.
However, one advertising strategy difference that sets the iPhone 5 apart from the Samsung Galaxy SIII is the use of speculation to create customer interest. Apple is very good at maintaining secrets for as long as it is necessary in order to keep people guessing. This has worked very well as the media is always looking out for the next new thing.
This is particularly true for iPhone products. Apple uses this strategy and evokes further speculation by providing virtually no information. People want to know how the new iPhone differs from its predecessors and look out for new innovative features. The media speculation and buzz helps create free consumer interest and when the product is finally released, the product is the next sought after thing in the market. This is characterized by the long queues witnessed at the purchasing stores on the sales date.
The information provided above shows the importance of advertising strategies for firms that are keen on getting their products to the market and the variables affecting such strategies, particularly the image, industry and audience.
References
Hanna, R. & Newman, K., 2001, Integrated operations management , Adding value to customers, Prentice Hall, New York.
Jobber, D., 2000, Principles and practice of marketing, McGraw-Hill Publishers, New York.
Berkowitz, E., Kerin R., Hartley S & Rudelius W. 1994. Marketing, Ohio, South-Western College Publishing.
Zollo, P., 1989, As the century turned, McGraw-Hill publishers, New York.