In the 2000s, mobile technology was innovating at breakneck speed. New phones with the most mind-boggling features of the time were entering the market left and right. From physical keypads, we quickly adapted to touchscreen. From only calls and texts, we started a whole life on social media and consumed content in one device. And from being just a medium for communication, the smartphone has become an extension of ourselves, and a means for self-expression. All these exciting features have come together, evolving continuously to become the blueprint for what makes a great smartphone.
And in 2009, Samsung unveiled its first-ever Galaxy — putting our entire world in the palm of our hand.
Samsung Galaxy, from A to Z
Since its first Galaxy, Samsung has made it its mission to continuously innovate and explore new features that cater to each of the market’s needs. The latest of its creations has arrived — the Samsung Galaxy foldables, Galaxy Watch9, and Galaxy Watch Ultra2.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8, Galaxy Z Fold8, and Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra are the newest additions to the brand’s roster of foldable phones, a technology that Samsung has proudly pioneered. One might say that Samsung wasn’t only thinking outside the box when it first came out with the foldable touchscreen phone — it folded the box in half and put it in their pocket.
“Foldable devices are still a breakthrough device, even if we’ve introduced it to the market in 2019,” Jun Guevara, Head of Corporate Marketing at Samsung Electronics Philippines, said in an exclusive interview with adobo Magazine. “With the eighth generation — with every generation — we make sure to refine and improve the design, the build, the durability in every step of the way. You’ll see that with this year’s lineup, […] we’re introducing three foldable devices to the Philippines and to the world.”
At the peak of pop culture
As a trendsetter in the world of technology, Samsung keeps up with the latest in pop culture. The most recent partnerships of the brand include ones with the box office success The Devil Wears Prada 2; upcoming blockbuster Spider-Man: Brand New Day with Sony; and global pop artist BTS’s world tour, “Arirang.”
“These are […] the peak moments right now in terms of pop culture, especially for this year,” Jun began to explain. “It gives us a platform to really showcase what our products can do, and we’re very excited about the opportunity to partner with these brands.”
“I think one thing that you will see is that we make sure not to partner with them in a one-off type of moment marketing way. We include our products within these experiences very seamlessly to really showcase the features and benefits that our products can do. Similar to concerts and BTS, everyone knows that our S series phones are perfect for that concert experience. Now, with our partnership with Spider-Man, I think you’ll be able to see how our foldable devices, with its compact form factor, really allows for different types of experiences as well.”
Samsung also values having a palpable sense of community among its users and its brand ambassadors, Team Galaxy. Jun said that in the past, content creators were only perceived to be simply another media channel to amplify the brand’s message. The relationship between creators, consumers, and brands, however, has evolved.
“We do see creators as a partner for us from the start, so we collaborate with them because creators are the ones that are closest to culture. They’re really the ones who know the most about emerging behaviors, about the best content formats, and what people […] find engaging. So, we enroll them from the start to really help us amplify it and create our story.”
To appeal to a wider local audience, Samsung has tapped its own Team Galaxy, including Catriona Gray who shot a special Enola Holmes-inspired film in London with the new Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra. Her content that represented the Philippines in the recent Team Galaxy Connect during Galaxy Unpacked, won the DIAMOND award. Other prominent members of Team Galaxy are Ry Velasco, Wil Dasovich, Janine Gutierrez, Emilio Daez, Abi Marquez, Erwan Heussaff, Drew Arellano, Bianca Gonzalez, Macoy Dubs, Sam YG, Hannah Pangilinan, Bella Racelis, Ninong Ry, and Ayn Bernos, among others who equally showed support for the new foldables and watches.
“In terms of how we choose who joins Team Galaxy, one misconception is […] that it’s just about follower count, but it’s not. We don’t just want to have the biggest voice in the room. We want the most trusted voice,” he emphasized. “We look for authenticity, because people who have been very authentic with their community, people who engage with them consistently and directly, they’re the ones that have really built trust. People trust their recommendations because they know that this is true.”
“We also look for diversity. We make sure that we get celebrities and endorsers from different communities, different regions, because we serve millions of Filipinos with our Samsung devices, and they all come from different lifestyles. So we want to make sure we relate to them as well. The last thing is, we look for those that are genuinely curious about innovation, and that can tell the story of our products in a very effective manner.”
A true trendsetter
Not long after Samsung introduced foldable touchscreen technology to the market, other brands followed suit and released their own models. All these options, and yet, Samsung remains the top choice for consumers.
“We stand for innovation, and that’s a reputation that we’ve built through the years,” Jun pointed out. “The fact that we introduced foldables into the market, and the fact that every year we make sure to improve and refine the foldables, that resonates very well with our consumers, and they see that. […] In terms of our marketing strategy, we make sure that it’s not just us telling this story, because we believe that the most effective and strongest stories are not the stories that the brand creates. It’s the ones that people choose to tell after they’ve experienced our innovations. And we’ve seen that with every year: more and more people are really clamoring for our foldables because they’re talking about how good the phones are.”
Meet the new stars of the Galaxy
With three new models, the Samsung Galaxy Z Series brings forth the brand’s most extensive lineup yet: the Galaxy Z Flip8, Galaxy Z Fold8, and Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra.
The crowd-favorite Galaxy Z Flip8 boasts style and self-expression in a pocketable form. It’s the sleekest, thinnest, and lightest Galaxy Z Flip. It’s enhanced with a 50MP flagship camera with ProVisual Engine for professional portraits with realistic bokeh, and a FlexMode with Camcorder grip that’s paired with a Horizontal Lock.
The Galaxy Z Flip8’s FlexWindow is redesigned with a new home screen and is powered by the upgraded Intuitive Now Nudge and Now Brief features that allow users to easily access everything at the palm of their hand. The FlexWindow also has AI-Powered Automation that can follow simple commands to do more on the device even while folded.
The flagship Galaxy Z Fold8 is the latest addition to the series, and is sturdily built for content, creativity, and discovery with a choose-how-you-watch viewing experience. The large display offers 7.6 inches of entertainment in 4:3 landscape or 3:4 portrait, while the 10:16 cover offers an optimized app experience for social media browsing.
The Galaxy Z Fold8 is the lightest Fold yet, with 50MP Wide and Ultra-Wide cameras for dual high-resolution. Users can also capture both sides of the moment with the rear and front cameras using the Dual Recording feature.
The Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra brings Samsung’s most powerful features into a foldable device. Designed to maximize creativity, the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra boasts a professional-grade Ultra-Level camera system. The trio of lenses is composed of a 50MP Ultra-Wide camera; a 200MP main camera for HDR capture with life-like clarity and color; and a 10MP telephoto camera. The gadget uses ProVisual Engine, which is perfect for nightography video, and provides 8K quality for shooting and editing.
Inside the unit is a productivity-savvy Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, powered by a 5,000 mAh battery. Outside, the latest Flex Titanium technology offers strength, resilience, and flexibility, all while being exceptionally thin — making this the slimmest Fold ever.
The most premium of the foldables, the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra has an expansive workspace that when combined, is equivalent to two 6.5-inch displays. The immersive display is made flatter with a nearly invisible crease.
Personalized health goals at hand
Accompanying the new Galaxy foldables are two new smartwatches: the Galaxy Watch9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra2.
“With our Watch9 and our new Watch Ultra series, seeing is believing. But what we’re really pushing is how this is a gateway in terms of managing your overall health. You can track multiple metrics through your watch and through the Samsung Health app, which can help from just managing your health to preventive healthcare,” Jun explained.
Both watches are equipped with the latest improvements from Samsung Health — the brand’s very own smart health app. Its Vitals feature is an intelligent early-warning system for potential health issues, with proactive alerts for significant deviations from the personal baseline. Key Metrics continuously track the baseline: Blood Oxygen, Heart Rate Vitality (HRV), Heart Rate; Skin Temperature, and Respiratory Rate.
While the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 comes only in a 47mm model, the Galaxy Watch9 comes in a 44mm Large model and a 40mm Small model.
An extension of your world, all in the Galaxy
Always a step ahead of everyone else, Samsung has the unique gifts of insight, intuition, and ingenuity. More than being a trailblazer, the brand breaks boundaries that most people aren’t aware of, and gives users what they want before they, themselves, even know what they want.
The ability to seamlessly switch from a regular phone to a tablet in one gadget; having a handy camcorder for easy, hands-free videos and photos; working on multiple apps in one screen; and personalized and preventive health monitoring show that the possibilities with the Galaxy foldables and the new watches are endless. But if there’s one thing that we can expect of Samsung, it’s that the best is just about to unfold.
