When I studied abroad in Seoul, South Korea, I worked on a final project with four other students in a famous class named Mass Media and Popular Culture in Korea. The aim of our group study was to investigate the cellphone industry in Korea through Samsung, the leading electronics corporation in the world. We attempted to address the question, "Why do people choose Samsung?"

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Since I was the only advertising student in the group, I led the primary research towards a multi-national target audiences. I also supervised secondary research to learn about Samsung' current market share, marketing strategies, media influences, and etc. As a result, we found that most of people liked Samsung and the reason was due to functionalities like changeable batteries (which Apple doesn’t have), big screens, sleek design, and high quality camera. Most people first got to know Samsung through TV commercials and Youtube videos. For example, the very first famous Oscar celebrity selfie was taken by a Samsung phone. Samsung devices also appeared in most popular Korean dramas fairly frequently. It usually appeared as phones used between couples and among the celebrities.