Flipping the Script: Samsung Outspends Apple in Advertising

Samsung is embracing the concept of having to spend money to make money. To wit, Samsung in 2011 spent just $78 million advertising mobile phones in the U.S., three times less than Apple, which invested $235 million into its domestic marketing effort. That ratio changed dramatically last year, as Samsung increased its advertising dollars to $401 million, taking out ads on TV, billboards, the Internet, and so forth. Apple also bumped up its marketing budget, but fell short of Samsung at $333 million, The Wall Street Journal reports.

It's money well spent. Samsung's "The Next Big Thing" ad campaign is now familiar to most people, and as a result, it's selling more smartphones in the U.S. than Apple. According to comScore, Samsung's share of the smartphone market towards the end of 2012 was more than 8 percent higher than Apple's.


In addition to heavy spending on ads, Samsung was aggressive in getting its devices into the hands of all four major carriers. The Galaxy S III, for example, is carried by AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile, and to prevent confusion, Samsung made all four use the same name.

Looking ahead, Samsung is likely to keep spending big bucks on advertising, especially as it gets ready to launch its highly anticipated Galaxy S IV handset.