There was a time when companies acted professionally in public towards rivals, respected the competition, and would let products speak for themselves. Those days are gone. Samsung spends millions on anti-Apple advertising, and HTC crashed Samsung's Galaxy S4 Radio City Music Hall event. Both "good ideas at the time" ultimately backfired on the companies in the end.
This can be seen as an evolution in publicity possibly, but when you don't have the goods to back up these attempted new insults/marketing tactics, you appear more foolish than the decision maker and PR company is telling you. Let's take a look at how Samsung and HTC have resorted to mean girl behavior in trying to send a message, which ultimately backfired.
Samsung saved Android; Google, Apple and the rest of the world knows it. Samsung realized that it couldn't keep releasing the same hardware designs and expect people to buy its smartphones and tablets over Apple's iPhone and iPad. Samsung decided to spend millions on R&D to set itself apart from other Android licensees, and also spent millions on publicly bashing Apple. It created commercials putting down Apple's products as well as the people who were buying them. Samsung also spent a ton of money on changing the designs of their smartphones and tablets to have more of an Apple inspired look, although they won't admit it. A court did, and awarded Apple damages because a jury found that Samsung infringed on Apple's design patents.
Samsung is now getting too big and Google and HTC are turning on the company. Google is being subtle about it. HTC on the other hand decided to join in on the mean girl behavior and crashed Samsung's Galaxy S4 launch it held at Radio City Music Hall and Times Square. HTC had representatives stand outside both venues handing out hot chocolate, snacks, $100 off HTC One coupons, and giving hands-on demonstrations of its latest flagship smartphone with a new UltraPixel camera.
The company recently announced that it had to delay the smartphone. An HTC executive was quoted saying it has, "A problem managing its component suppliers as it has changed its order forecasts drastically and frequently, HTC has had difficulty in securing adequate camera components as it is no longer a tier-one customer." HTC might be big enough to crash rival events, but it is no longer considered an important-enough player to warrant parts from its suppliers.
Whether these backfires are karma or just failed attempts, companies need to spend more time focusing on their own products before publicly ridiculing a rival. It would make you appear less foolish when your carefully-hatched plan backfires and costs your company billions; you look foolish to your shareholders, employees, and the public. Something to think about...
