Samsung Electronics had to “humanize” itself following last year’s Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, as revealed by Marc Mathieu, Chief Marketing Officer of the company’s U.S. division. While speaking at the Cannes Lions Festival on Tuesday, Mathieu implied that doing damage control in the aftermath of the ordeal surrounding Samsung’s 2016 phablet was the biggest challenge of his career, with Samsung getting negative coverage during each plane boarding in the United States and passengers being warned that they can’t have their Galaxy Note 7s with them. Despite all the difficulties, Samsung had to dedicate enough time to listen to all feedback from consumers, Mathieu said, adding that the debacle is what prompted the company to evolve its product marketing strategy and put a significantly larger focus on brand trust instead of devices themselves.
One of the many results of that approach is a quirky ad for the Gear VR head-mounted display starring an astonished ostrich that is primarily aimed at entertaining consumers instead of feeding them a vast amount of information about the company’s product, Samsung’s CMO revealed. While the tech giant’s marketing division wasn’t at fault for the Galaxy Note 7 debacle, it played a crucial role in Samsung’s process of bouncing back from the ordeal, largely due to the risk-taking culture that in nurtured in recent years, consequently allowing its top experts to come up with innovative ways of rebuilding the firm’s relationship with consumers, Mathieu believes. Despite being the largest phone maker in the world, Samsung isn’ resting on its laurels in terms of promotional efforts and is constantly looking to disrupt the industry so as to not be disrupted itself, the company’s top marketing expert said, adding that the Seoul-based firm will continue pursuing the same strategy in the future.
Saving face in the aftermath of the Galaxy Note 7 scandal was an important achievement for the South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer that’s now preparing for the launch of the Galaxy Note 8. The company’s 2017 phablet is expected to be unveiled in mid to late August before going on sale in September, with many industry watchers expecting it to become a massive commercial success that will make final amends for the troubles caused by its predecessor.