Super Bowl Commercials 2012: Will Galaxy Note ad Have Impact on Sales?
The Samsung Galaxy Note is now available for pre-order on AT&T online shop. Will it now see a rush of buyers, thanks to the commercial that was aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday?
Based on two-year contract, Galaxy Note's price has been tagged at $299. It comes in two color options - Carbon Blue and Ceramic White. Pre-ordered units will be shipped by Feb. 17. The official launch day is Feb. 19.
Galaxy Note features an especially huge screen - 5.3-inch Super AMOLED display (1,280 x 800 pixels resolution). The device also boasts of other specs like 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, dual camera (2-MP front-facing and 8-MP rear-facing), a long-lasting battery, NFC chip, Adobe Flash support, and 1GB RAM. The device will run on AT&T's 4GLTE network.
The device made a splash at Super Bowl on Sunday by securing the prime spot. Samsung has spent a whopping $10.5 million just for 60 seconds, though this is considered as the longest air time in Super Bowl for commercial ads, according to financial blog 24/7 Wall St.'s estimate.
Super Bowl is the biggest game of the football season and is watched by over 100 million Americans. Naturally, companies compete to grab prime ad spots and a 30 second air time could cost as much as $3.5 million. The ads aired during Super Bowl are often memorable, sometimes wacky and sometimes controversial too.
How will Samsung see the impact of its Super Bowl commercial ad?
In 1984, Apple introduced its Macintosh computer at Super Bowl and, to date, it has been billed as one of the top 10 Super Bowl ads. And, though the ad did not help Apple overtake Microsoft in the personal computer market, it is remembered as one of the most memorable and impressive ads and played a big role in making Apple what it is today.
On January 24th, Apple computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 wont' be like 1984, the voiceover in the ad said.
What about the Galaxy Note ad? Through the ad, Samsung has taken a swipe at Apple as the ad shows people with bored expressions, lining up for the new iPhone. However, once Galaxy Notes are placed in their hands, they start singing and dancing and leading bands. Supermodel Miranda Kerr and football star Brian Urlacher are also the part of the musical group. The ad, directed by Bobby Farrelly, who is credited for There's Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber, was impressive but whether it will translate into sales, is another story.
In the ad, Samsung focused on the stylus, S Pen, which accompanies Galaxy Note. To the untrained eye, the S Pen look like any typical stylus, but look a little closer and you'll see that it has been engineered in such a way so that it is not only fast and responsive but also it gives the user precise control over what is written or drawn on the device display, much like an ink pen would on a paper pad.
With the S Pen, the user can write a note or e-mail, sketch a drawing, annotate websites or even write in freehand the words they'd like to send in a text message.
Moreover, Galaxy Note comes with Samsung's proprietary multimedia application called S Memo, which has been designed to convert those scribbles, sketches or notes into a memo, which the user can save or share.
With the stylus, Samsung has tried to elevate Galaxy Note beyond being just a smartphone, a device that can help with content creation, one that will let people be more productive in their everyday lives.
However, the Galaxy Note has its fair share of criticisms. For instance, because of its ambiguous form factor, it's being billed as a 'tweener' device. And, unlike some of its brethren, it runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS.
And, then there's the sticker price shock - Galaxy Note has been priced at $299.99 with a 2-year contract, which is $100 more than entry-level iPhone 4S (16GB model).
However, by taking a jibe at the iPhone, Samsung has pitted Galaxy Note directly against it. Will it be a threat to the iPhone? We don't know. But one thing's for certain - the cat-and-mouse game between Galaxy Note and iPhone has begun.
Check out the 2012 Galaxy Note and the 1984 Apple ads aired at Super Bowl below. Which of the two ads do you think is better?
Galaxy Note commercial aired at Super Bowl XLVI
Apple Macintosh commercial aired at Super Bowl XVIII
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.