Is Samsung Apple-ing Apple?

Remember when Apple started to make their big comeback in the computer world after years of nothingness? They had well-designed products, innovative features and great advertising that propelled them forward into the mix with the stale PCs. You may recall an advertisement or two like this:
 Apple highlighted the disadvantages of PCs in a sharp, sarcastic way and spawned a series of commercials that continued to be popular (unlike Kia's recent attempt to reuse their hamsters).

Well, it turns out they aren't the only ones that can do that. Samsung has decided to take a play out of the Apple book and go with a sarcastic commentary on Apple's most dedicated fans. It definitely made me laugh while at the same time reinforcing why i'm currently not an Apple user. This isn't their first foray into this type of commercial but it is their most aggressive thus far I would say. The most interesting part of the ad is when the seat-saver turns out to be holding a spot for his 55-65ish parents while he enjoys the Galaxy S3. Hipsters aren't going to like the fact that the iPhone5 is now in with the older demographic crowd, that takes away from it's coolness factor. At least it used to.

Even though it is a blatant use of Apple's genius marketing, it's execution makes it feel a lot different. Well done Samsung.

Why your social media needs a personality

As most people know by now, social media is a great platform for any sized business that is willing to put in the time and creativity required to keep your fans and customers engaged. Anyone that thinks all they have to do is create a Facebook or Twitter account and people will automatically pay attention either works for Red Bull or has no idea what they are talking about.  

A modified version of the old website adage that "Content is king" applies to social media. You have to constantly be finding RELEVANT content to share with your community. Not just mass quantities of information poured out minute-after-minute via Twitter. That will just overblitz your followers and make them pay less attention to you. One or two really good, relevant posts per day is all it takes. 

One reason why social media is so effective for small businesses is that it allows customers the chance to interact with the brand on a personal basis. The person updating the account is typically the owner and they know their business inside and out. Typically they don't use corporate-speak when talking to customers, they are free to use a sarcastic tone or a cringe worthy dark joke here and there, which the masses appreciate.

That is probably one of the toughest selling points for getting large corporations to use social media. If you put tough restrictions on those that will be updating the account, you will not get a return. But, if you allow your social media people to use their personalities within reason, like Samsung Canada did in this amazing bit of PR work, then you will find success and quite often will get noticed by the community.

So if your social media isn't firing on all cylinders maybe it's time to add a bit more personality into the mix.