We are on the campus of the University of Zaragoza. Several groups of three or four young people come to see what all the fuss is about. The people at Samsung have set up what looks like some kind of stage with a platform in the middle of what they call ‘the university town’ of the capital mañana. There is also a bus. And it looks like the ones on that stage are throwing things…
“If I had told my marketing professor at the University that I was going to organize an event for students focused on seeing who can make the best-flying paper airplane, he probably would have failed me ,” says Valentín Hernández, Director of Marketing. from the MX (Mobile eXperience) division of Samsung Electronics Iberia, laughing.
Samsung has taken its ‘Directo a Seoul’ initiative to the University of Zaragoza, an activity that is part of the journey it is carrying out together with Google to bring technology closer to all citizens . Through a paper airplane contest, the South Korean brand is looking for the student who is capable of making the best folds, winking at the firm’s new foldables -Galaxy Z Flip4 and Galaxy Z Fold4-, and creating an airplane that can fly as far as possible. The best participants will have the opportunity to travel to Korea and visit the company’s facilities, as well as learn about its gastronomy, culture and technological advances.
“To get closer to this younger audience, we found it fun to recover a game of a lifetime, which at the same time has so much to do with the innovation work that the company has been doing in recent years. We have been able to bend mobile screens, even improve them in several generations and we are sure that many of them will be able to work it well to get that great prize. I can assure you that it will be an unforgettable experience for all those who manage to reach Korea and discover all that this country can offer and all that Samsung means to Koreans”.
One of the groups of young people who tried their luck in the contest.Samsung
The idea is to show everything that their folding can do. Currently, this mobility thing covers a very wide field: it has evolved from only mobile phones to tablets , computers and wearables. But, in addition, as Hernández emphasizes, the important thing in this field is to ensure that the devices “relate to each other”, so that the user can be transferred “a connected ecosystem” .
“I have been working in the technology sector since 1999, so I have seen a lot happen. In the end, I think that the evolution of the devices has gone through the ability to surprise that companies have had : if we look back, we see that it was this inability to innovate that has caused great leaders to fall. The balance, in my opinion, is knowing how to integrate with other systems, adapting to changes and knowing how to conquer new audiences (and keep the old ones)”, says Hernández.
For the ability to surprise, there are the folding mobiles . Because they will be more or less captivating, but of course when we see someone take one of these out of their pocket we can’t help but look . The Marketing director of Samsung’s mobility division assures that “the reaction of the people is being really good.” “Our foldables account for more than 30% of what is our premium range and they are very well received. In the end, I think it’s that ability to be different again: you go to a shopping center or a technology store and see all the cell phonesexposed and… they all look the same to you. Although later they have better or worse specifications, there are no differences in sight. But a folding does have them, a folding is something else. And besides, we have both options: a pocket phone such as the Flip and a larger one such as the Fold”, he adds.
He insists that “when the fight is to see who has the best camera, the most megapixels, the greatest autonomy… it remains more of the same” . “We, I think, have managed to surprise with our folding smartphones and make the public fall in love again. The market expected something different and we have achieved it”, she asserts.
On why Samsung has remained in the spotlight for all these years while other brands have fallen, Hernández makes another reflection: “I think it is our open system that allows integration with other devices and with other brands that develop things that are really good. which has made us continue to be leaders”.
And this is precisely what we seem to be heading for: towards an integrated ecosystem where your smartphone is connected to your tablet and headphones, but also to your washing machine and refrigerator. To achieve this, you have to look for alliances , says the Marketing director, because “no brand can achieve everything”. “You have to allow integrations within ecosystems, people want open standards”, he concludes.
