Marketing mania
Samsung has dished out free phones to dissatisfied iPhone 4 owners via Twitter in an unusual marketing stunt to raise awareness of its rival smartphone offering.
A handful of iPhone 4 owners who were vocal in their qualms about the iPhone 4's reception problems on Twitter, were reportedly approached by @samsungukmobile and offered a free Galaxy S Android smartphone from Samsung.
Wired UK broke the story that the phone giant has been quietly handing out its answer to the iPhone 4 to Twitter users like Tiffany Nieuwland.
She sounded off on Twitter about her iPhone 4's reception dropping out and was offered a Galaxy S phone free of charge, in a bid to promote alternative options to Apple's best-selling handset. She told Wired a friend at Samsung told her: "Samsung is so confident about the superiority of the Galaxy S that they're sending free ones to existing iPhone customers so they can decide for themselves."
There are reports that five Twitter users have benefitted from the unusual marketing stunt, which has generated a lot of noise considering the small number of handsets distributed. However, it is believed four of the lucky tweeples work in marketing or publishing, apart from one student. In fact, Nieuwland works in digital marketing for Conde Nast, which owns Wired magazine.
Samsung has reportedly confirmed the stunt was legitimate. A spokeswoman from the firm told Wired: "Recently there has been a real increase in online activity from consumers dissatisfied with some of our competitors' products. We decided to contact a cross section of individuals to offer them a free Samsung Galaxy S as a replacement, as we're confident that once people have the phone in their hands, they'll see how impressive it is for themselves."
While some critics may dispute Samsung's 'cross-section' of Twitter users, the interesting marketing approach has certainly generated publicity but it is too early to see whether the exploit will have any effect on the sales of its Android 2.1 smartphone.
