In the original advertisement, Samsung showed the features of the Galaxy Gear through the sequences that could happen in a ski resort. Rather than clearly explaining the features of the product, however, it made the Galaxy Gear an unlikeable product. We found 4 reasons why the original commercial has problems.

First, it shows the person who does not wear the gear as fool. Although such description was to show how a person with a Gear looks smart, it is not persuasive since the person without the Gear acting clumsy does not seem to be the problem of having the Gear or not. It looks like he is just a person who often makes mistakes.

Secondly, it shows a man trying to pick up a woman using the Gear. However, this may make audience feel that the Gear is just a tool to give a good impression to the opposite gender rather than something that could be useful in everyday life. In addition, the original advertisement was criticized by LA Times and Independent UK due to advertisement’s focus on two males trying to show off to the female.

Thirdly, its background is limited to the resort. Thus, the situations of the Gear being used is also limited making consumers to perceive the product as a gadget that could be useful only in certain circumstances.

Finally, the situations shown in the commercial are not natural. He used the Gear merely to highlight the product rather than because he needed it. Thus, some viewers may think “Did he really have to use it?” or “He could have used his phones. Why did he need Gear?” Without a doubt, such awkwardness and unrealistic usage is harmful for persuading consumers and making them to think they need or want the product.

Due to the four reasons above, people may not recognize the needs of the product. Furthermore, the features of Gear are not used for his or her own purpose but used to show off that he or she is an early adopter.

In order to tell that Gear gives convenience to users, we focus on showing the features in daily life instead of showing how others act when Gear is shown to someone else. To elaborate, the scenes and situations shown in the commercial are everyday activities such as making phone calls, waking up in the morning, and checking schedules, to name a few. Furthermore, since our main target consumers are 20s to 30s we focus on the situations that target consumers often face such as taking lectures, using kiosk machines, and working out. By doing so, we believe that it will be more persuasive to the consumers and make them think they can also enjoy the convenience of having Galaxy Gear in daily life by purchasing it. In other words, unlike the original commercial, the audience may see themselves through the characters of the advertisement because the characters are doing what they do in daily life in a place that is similar to the places where they spend most of their time.

Moreover, our target consumers are 20s to 30s who are smart shoppers. They don’t usually spend their money to simply boast unless it is extremely luxurious product. They check every information of the product and think if they really need it or what they would get if they buy one. Thus, we showed that it’ll make their life easier if they have one instead of just showing how you may look cool if you are wearing one and portraying someone who don’t have the product to look like as if he or she is clumsy.

Because of the reasons above, we also changed the slogan ‘Are you Geared up?’ to ‘Gear is here. Gear easier’. We believe that the changed slogan will give the impression to ad viewers that it is new type of electronics that is a gadget they can buy since it is affordable by saying ‘Gear is here’. Also, ‘Gear easier’ brings feeling of that it is easy to use and it will make their life more convenient. Plus, the pronunciation of ‘Is here’ and ‘Easier’ is similar which gives a rhyme to the slogan and makes the slogan more memorable.

It is more of pull strategy that we used. The new advertisement makes consumers want the product and think about how they would look or how they can make use out it by their own way while the original advertisement uses push strategy by implanting ideas that they will look smart and will be popular if they wear the Gear. In conclusion, we focused on features of Galaxy Gear that actually can be often used. Also, our team put a lot of effort to show the convenience of the features itself instead of describing the features as a tool of showing off to impress others. Hence, the new advertisement will be more persuasive and attractive to our main target consumers and generate the desire of owning Galaxy Gear.

Written by Sihyuk Lee, Jiyoon Heo, Hyemi Kim, Kyuyeop Shim, and Jaehyuk Yoo| Marketing Communication 2019 Fall | College of Business Administration, Kookmin University