According to Wired, a Twitter account by the name of @samsungukmobile has reached out to frustrated iPhone 4 owners. Samsung is apparently handing out free Galaxy S smartphones to people who have tweeted about their mishaps with the iPhone. They simply ask for your contact details and set you up for the Galaxy S handset hook-up. Sounds like a scam, right? According to Tiffany Nieuwland, it’s legit:
“My iPhone and I have been inseparable for almost a month now, tomorrow being one month since the iPhone OS 4 launched. But the honeymoon period ended this week as repeated dropped calls, and a sudden unexplainable inability to make or receive calls or send texts left me disgruntled.
“So I did what anyone else would do: I vented my frustration on Twitter. Imagine my surprise, then, when this morning I am tweeted by Samsung offering me a free Galaxy S, their latest phone. Too good to be true? I decided to investigate.
“I called a friend at Samsung, and though she was initially sceptical, it has now been confirmed: the campaign is legit. Samsung is so confident about the superiority of the Galaxy S that they’re sending free ones to existing iPhone customers so they can decide for themselves.”
A Samsung spokesperson later revealed that this is an official promotion. They told Wired: “Recently there has been a real increase in online activity from consumers dissatisfied with some of our competitors’ products. We decided to contact a cross section of individuals to offer them a free Samsung Galaxy S as a replacement, as we’re confident that once people have the phone in their hands, they’ll see how impressive it is for themselves.”
An interesting spin on the try-before-you-buy concept with a little social media monitoring and marketing thrown in. Other brands should definitely take notice. This is almost text-book stuff for many social media marketers out there, but many companies still aren’t seeing the light.
The Samsung Galaxy S is an Android 2.1 phone with a 4″ AMOLED display. Android is nipping at the iPhone’s heels and Samsung is smart to get these devices into the hands of real customers. Even if those people don’t keep them, I’m positive they’ll be showing off their fancy free Android phones to family and friends.