Finally, Samsung Gets It
Apple does a lot of things right in the consumer electronics space. It’s cultivated a fiercely loyal fan base for its products thanks to its attention to design and quality. It charges a premium price for its goods and owning one (or many) of the company’s products means you aren’t just holding a device, you’re holding a status symbol.
And when Apple promotes its products, it makes it all about the experience.
Looking at Samsung’s moves over the past year, I think it’s safe to say that the company finally gets it. It finally understands that quality is key. It’s realized that vague ads, or ads that tout device specs aren’t as easy for people to latch on to as a commercial that shows what a device is capable of.
Now Samsung has taken that last big step toward turning its Galaxy S line of smartphones into iconic products.
The company will be working with Best Buy to install stores-within-stores at many of the retail giant’s locations, much like Apple has done. These areas stand out when compared to the rows of other less-promoted devices in the store, and they give potential buyers an opportunity to play with the Galaxy S phones and learn about everything they can do. The stores should be set up just in time for the Galaxy S4 to go on sale, which means new buyers will be introduced to the Samsung experience in a whole new way.
Instead of searching for the Galaxy S4 in a long line of devices that look the same, they can simply head over to the Samsung store-within-a-store and find the device more easily. For Samsung, this means customers spend less time eyeing up the competition and more time playing with the S4.
And there’s an added benefit of Samsung having a special space carved out in Best Buy. While it’s promoting the Galaxy S4 and all of its features, it can also show how that device might work in tandem with some of Samsung’s other products like its Galaxy Tab or Galaxy Note tablets. Having a place to show off Samsung-only products is not only good for smartphones like the Galaxy S4, it’s also good for Samsung tablets and Android tablets as a whole.
When the Galaxy S4 is officially available through carriers and goes in sale in retail locations, it might be the first time that Samsung and Apple are on near-equal footing in terms of the public’s mindshare. And with the iPhone 5 now a half-year old and the next iPhone’s launch a couple of months out into the future, now could be the best time for Samsung to make some serious inroads.
The company is certainly making a lot of noise as it plans to overthrow the current smartphone king. Time will tell whether or not it’s successful, but if Samsung is starting to use the same playbook that helped Apple to the top, its chances can’t be all that bad.