PRecious Comms in Marketing Interactive: Fake Samsung SG$3 Fake

PRecious Communications is a Top Five Southeast Asia PR Consultancy of 2019: Holmes Report

September 17, 2019

PRecious Communications Shortlisted for Six Marketing Talent Awards 2019

October 1, 2019

Since fake advertisements mar the reputation of a brand, it is best to adopt a strategy that ensures effective communication with its consumers.

Lars Voedisch, Founder and Managing Director of PRecious Communications was featured in Marketing Interactive’s ‘Branding News’ section on September 25, 2019, in an article titled ‘Samsung’s fake SG$3 promo – There is only so much a brand can do’. Recently, Samsung clarified that an online article that promoted the new Galaxy S10 smartphone for SG$3 is fake. The technology giant has also informed its consumers to be more vigilant if they come across such deals, which could potentially lead to identity theft or fraud. The price of the Samsung smartphone launched in March this year, is SG$1,200, according to the official website.

Since fake advertisements mar the reputation of a brand, it is best to adopt a strategy that ensures effective communication with its consumers.

Here is Lars’ comment as featured in Marketing Magazine’s article ‘Samsung’s fake SG$3 promo – There is only so much a brand can do.’

“A brand is a promise of genuine quality products and experiences, which come with a certain price for the offered and perceived value. If there is a lack of balance between the quality of products and price, something must “be off”.

“To ensure consumers are not baited into fake promotions, brands need to remind customers to buy through the brand or authorised resellers ideally. As such, brands can recommend consumers to the vetted and authorised retailers or verified online channels for genuine products.”

“Brands can also iterate that the products manufactured by them are genuine and quality products, and come with a warranty that comes with purchased goods.”

“It does not take much to be a retailer in Singapore, and a typical strategy for alternate, unverified sellers, is having low prices to lure customers. Consumers have to understand that if it sounds too good to be true, most likely it is. A typical way to tempt gullible customers would be the ‘bait and switch’ approach. Start with a hard-to-resist offer, but then tell them there were only very few items available and it has all been sold out.”

Why Are We Talking About This?

Today, there is a vast amount of misinformation floating on the Internet. Several websites propagate this practice and try to add credibility by placing mainstream ads next to it. This doesn’t even look suspicious because many large brands advertise on third-party platforms. As a result, several marketers even lose control over ad placement, and these ads sometimes appear right next to fake or fraudulent content. That’s precisely why it is significant for firms to understand how the proliferation of fake news might harm a brand’s marketing efforts.

The other step the brand can take is to address such concerns and warn consumers of such fake promotions. That’s not all – they could also come up with a platform that can verify the doubts of the consumers.

Since fake advertisements mar the reputation of a brand, it is best to adopt a strategy that ensures effective communication with its consumers, and at the same time, takes specific precautionary measures. As they say, it is better to be safe than sorry!