Samsung’s latest adverts and marketing campaigns have been taking jabs at Apple, and their most recent effort is particularly unusual. Samsung decided to stage a fake protest outside an Apple Store in Australia, creating quite a stir among onlookers and the tech community.
Samsung sent a busload of protesters to an Apple Store in Australia, and then had the protesters chant ‘Wake Up’ outside the store while brandishing some ‘Wake Up’ signs. This orchestrated event was designed to capture attention and generate buzz around Samsung’s upcoming product launch.
The Strategy Behind the Protest
This protest was part of a broader marketing strategy by Samsung to create a buzz around their brand and upcoming products. The ‘Wake Up’ campaign was aimed at encouraging consumers to reconsider their loyalty to Apple and to ‘wake up’ to the alternatives available in the market, particularly the new Samsung Galaxy S III. By staging such a provocative event, Samsung aimed to generate media coverage and public discussion, thereby increasing awareness and anticipation for their new product.
The choice of location, an Apple Store, was deliberate. Apple stores are iconic and symbolize the brand’s strong market presence and loyal customer base. By targeting an Apple Store, Samsung was directly challenging Apple’s dominance and attempting to position itself as a bold and innovative competitor.
Impact and Public Reaction
The protest quickly garnered attention both online and offline. Videos and images of the event spread rapidly across social media platforms, sparking debates among tech enthusiasts and consumers. Some viewed the stunt as a clever marketing move, while others criticized it as a desperate attempt to undermine a competitor.
Interestingly, Samsung also created a website called Wake Up Australia, which featured a countdown to the launch of the new Samsung Galaxy S III. This added another layer to the campaign, keeping the audience engaged and curious about what Samsung had in store.
However, the plot thickened when it was revealed that Samsung was not actually behind the campaign. Instead, RIM (Research In Motion), the company behind BlackBerry, claimed responsibility for the protest. This twist added an unexpected dimension to the story, raising questions about the ethics and effectiveness of such guerrilla marketing tactics.
Source
Updated 1st May 2012
It looks like it wasn’t Samsung behind the campaign, instead RIM has claimed responsibility for it full details here.
This revelation shifted the focus from Samsung to RIM, highlighting the competitive nature of the tech industry and the lengths to which companies will go to capture consumer attention. It also sparked discussions about the authenticity and transparency of marketing campaigns, with some arguing that such tactics can backfire if they are perceived as misleading or manipulative.
The ‘Wake Up’ protest outside the Apple Store in Australia was a bold and controversial marketing move that succeeded in generating significant attention and discussion. Whether viewed as a clever strategy or a desperate stunt, it underscored the intense competition in the tech industry and the innovative, albeit sometimes contentious, approaches companies take to stand out in a crowded market.
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