linton Jeff, a Delhi-based blogger participated in a Samsung Mob!lers 2012 Program and went to IFA, Berlin as a part of the program, on plane tickets and hotel bookings sponsored by Samsung. The blogger chose to travel as an independent journalist and this was the beginning of a catastrophe.
According to reports, the Indian blogger was asked to wear a uniform, a Samsung-branded shirt, and promote the company’s tech products to journalists at the show. If that was not bad enough, it got worse when the company offered to withdraw the sponsorship and leave Jeff stranded at the trade show when he refused to comply with them.
The sudden turn of the events became even more dramatic for the blogger and unfortunate for the Korean electronics maker when Nokia offered to sponsor the blogger’s remaining trip. According to a report by LiveMint, “Nokia Oyj’s representatives offered that the company had already taken care of the blogger’s accommodation and travel costs, and he is expected only to cover IFA as he had originally intended.”
Twitter, the micro-blogging site went berserk with the hashtage #ScumbagSamsung ridiculing the company’s act.
But like after all controversies, all’s well that ends well. The company issued a statement regretting the fact that there was a misunderstanding between the Samsung and the blogger and that he was not sufficiently briefed on the nature of Samsung Mob!lers’ activities at IFA 2012. Another mail was sent to the blogger apologizing for the mishap.
But eventually, the beneficiary in the entire fiasco turned out to be Nokia. The recent Apple-Samsung $1.049 billion verdict of 27th August, 2012 already has Samsung in a fix with Apple seeking an immediate ban of the sale of eight Samsung Electronics phones. But what is also interesting is that shares of Nokia leapt 10 percent on the verdict day on hopes it can benefit from a setback to rival Samsung, according to Reuters.
It’s still a question on who’s having the last laugh? Whether it’s still Apple or Nokia, we don’t know. But one thing is for sure, Samsung’s PR needs to lay low till the dust settles.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment