Few would dispute that Apple has mastered the art of marketing its products, but one of the company's former ad men believe that Samsung may have effectively stolen that skill from Cupertino along with their product designs.
Ken Segall may be best known to Apple fans as the man who created their iconic "Think Different" ad campaign, but in a new blog post, the former employee is concerned that "something's changed" with Cupertino's marketing strategy.
"Samsung has made remarkable inroads in a very short time," Segall writes, citing the Korean manufacturer's deep pockets and big spending, which eclipses that of Apple as well as HP, Dell and even Coca-Cola.
"In marketing, as in political advertising, the bigger the budget, the bigger the chance of success," Segall notes. "Assuming, of course, that the message is a potent one."
That second bit is the one that most concerns Segall, citing Samsung's "well produced, well written" ads which "seem to be striking a nerve" against Apple, who continues to remain focused on ads that simply show off what the products do.
"Samsung invested in a two-minute Super Bowl ad; Apple chose to remain silent. Samsung created a new story for the Oscars, tapping the eccentric Tim Burton; Apple ran only a variation of its more traditional product-centric campaign," Segall elaborates.
Segall believes Apple and ad agency Chiat are likely to "recalibrate" and plan a new attack to ward off Samsung's "double-barreled approach of creativity and big spending."
It's definitely time for Apple to fire back in the style of its classic "Get a Mac" ads, rather than continue to effectively ignore Samsung's existence in public and keep the battle raging in the courtroom over patents.
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