Among other measures, Samsung reportedly turned to marketing and direct communication with the public to help get itself through the Galaxy Note 7 crisis it endured towards the end of 2016. The information on this comes from a new report out of The Drum which in turn credits comments provided by Samsung’s SVP, Global Head Integrated Marketing, Pio Schunker, during a talk at the 2017 ANA Masters of Marketing Conference, in Orlando.
According to the details, Schunker points out that prior to the Note 7 recall, the company was already in the process of undergoing a brand-change. So while the company was already preparing to make some marketing strategy changes, Schunker explains that post-Note 7 the company’s approach to marketing took on a whole new meaning. As most of the work that had already been done throughout 2016 to humanize the brand was immediately undone again by the negative publicity associated with the Note 7. As Schunker puts it, “just when things were starting to go right, things went horribly wrong.” And not just horribly wrong with Schunker making the admission that the situation Samsung found itself in was dangerous enough it “threatened to permanently damage Samsung’s business and its reputation.”
As a result Schunker was noted explaining that by the time the company started to promote its then-upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone, the company already understood the importance of its marketing efforts was much greater than ever before and even greater than the success of its new phone. As not only did Samsung need to promote the upcoming product, but also reassure those who may have been put off by the events of the months leading up to that point. With Schunker reportedly noting how the ads and promos that came through during this period not only helped to “repair and rebuild” the company’s reputation, but was also one of the factors that directly led to the high rate of Galaxy S8 sales. In particular, the likes of Samsung’s ostrich commercial which although was promoting the Gear VR headset at the time, was part of the company’s plan to distance itself from the Note 7. Something which seemed to have worked better than Samsung probably even expected as not only has the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 gone on to be successful in their own right, but that ostrich advert has taken on a life of its own, including winning multiple awards along the way. For those that missed it the first time, see below.
https://youtu.be/ob7Ruq7n0qA