How a PENCIL sparked an intense competition war between Apple and Samsung!

The heading was not a clickbait, I do address it in the later half of this article. Yes, the Pencil did create an intense war between the two companies. Before we reach that point, we must understand how companies look at their marketing and advertising strategies. One of the first things that should come to our mind in advertising, business and marketing is ethics. Ethics. Ethics.

Any company that tries to pull down other companies by using the competition's own marketing strategy to benefit themselves is an organization that is being really narrow in the mentality. Basic hygiene should not be ignored. The way you build your brand & products should speak for itself, and should itself be able to sell on the basis of innovation and/or quality. Preying on someone else will eventually cause a major injury.

A classic company that always falls prey to this is Apple. I feel this does not only happen with Apple, but it happens with most market leaders. Competition always wants to pull you down.

Here are two reasons why I believe this happens with Apple:

1. Apple is a very self centric brand: If you would have heard any Apple keynote session, or any Apple top management talk, they have always expressed themselves as a comparison to their previous generation of the items. They pretend that the consumer has no other choice apart from their own previous generation devices. And. It. Works. Competition feels left out, and they end up following the leader, that is Apple. Its a pity that even when they follow, they do it, not by their own innovation or creativity, but pulling Apple down. Google also falls prey to this category when Apple got rid of the Headphone Jack back in 2016. I have attached the video for those interested.

1. Apple = Quality: Apple as an organization has built its trust on quality of service and product. They believe in a model of UVP (Unique Value Proposition). It just works. It is so easy to use, so easy to customize, and even more so easy to access support for customers.

However, the purpose of this article is to talk about Adverts, their impact, and my opinions on them. Today, we shall deep dive into the kind of advertising strategy Samsung has employed against Apple by using a PENCIL. Yes, you heard this right, a Pencil.

In order to understand that, it is imperative to see the initial ad that Apple launched when they released the Apple iPad Air.

The ad here personifies simplicity, personifies the brand and how well the new iPad Air is designed. It talks about how the iPad Air compares to a pencil, and how simple the product is. Instantly, students, teachers, professionals, and people from all walks of life connect with how beautifully simple the product is. It makes them want to use the product, and instantly makes them want to purchase it. The comparison of "Using to Start a Poem", to "Learn Share" , to "Going to Space" and so much more with the Pencil is mind boggling. The background of the description changes with every thing the narrator talks about. Finally, the voice of the narrator is super soothing, and more than anything, compelling you to try it out. There is an inspirational tone to his talks. It keeps the user, and the listener hooked onto every second of the ad film.

Now, as a comparison, and in response, please watch what Samsung does with its Samsung Tab Pro 10.1

The starting of the ad itself kills the creativity of Samsung. They had nothing innovative to think of, nor anything compelling to drag the user to use Samsung, hence they decided to use the same Pencil example, while mocking the iPad Air, and eventually praising their own product line.

It just goes to show how Samsung lacks innovation, and how they degrade their competition. The kind of environment in the organization is reflective of this kind of a system.

As humans, we have the innate urge to compare ourselves with anyone, and try to either elevate ourselves as an option, or pull the others down. Samsung chose the latter.

This is something which should be pondered upon, and we should wonder why companies do this?

1. They feel that they can win the market that is covered by the competition by downplaying them.
2. They highlight the one feature that the competition is showcasing, in comparison with theirs. This shows the insecurity of them.
3. The competitive companies also believe that if they mock the brand in picture by making a humor around them, it would create a Guerrilla Marketing feature and in turn would help them get viral, or keep them briefly in the news.

The image below actually summarizes the way Apple and the way Samsung think of each other.

In summary, I would say, being creative is one thing, however, being derogatory is another thing. There are so many other ways through which Samsung has been trying to pull down Apple, and as karma has it, Samsung lost a major lawsuit against Apple.

Apple, during their early days used to play the comparison game with Mac and PC ad campaign, but with time, they moved away from this model and became a total self centric brand.

The silver lining in this entire saga is that we as humans constantly evolve and become more serious custodians of humanity with every passing year, and as companies get more matured, they will hopefully start learning and getting better in terms of creativity.

If you like this series of Advertisements, and my thoughts on it, just drop me a note on my DM and comment below with other ideas which I could work on.