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Samsung’s $4.3B ad budget: It’s not just for mocking Apple

By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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April 4, 2013, 8:32 AM ET

Source: Asmyco.com

FORTUNE — We’ve learned a couple of things since November when Asymco‘s Horace Dediu surprised us with his estimate that Samsung spends more on marketing than Apple , HP , Dell Microsoft and Coca Cola combined.

1. We learned that Dediu’s estimate was a few billion dollars short. According to the update he posted Tuesday based on Samsung’s latest quarterly report, the Korean manufacturing giant spent $4.3 billion in 2012 on advertising alone. It spent even more — $5.3 billion — on Sales Promotion/Marketing, whatever that entails.
2. We also learned that not all of Samsung’s ad budget was used to pay for cheeky Galaxy smartphone ads. The $45 million lawsuit it filed last month against LG Electronics for allegedly “tarnishing its corporate image” in LG’s refrigerator commercials offers a glimpse into the high-stakes ad war the two companies have fighting in the global appliance market.

Below: Battling TV ads from the two contenders.

Samsung:

http://youtu.be/b7s844L0z6M

LG:

http://youtu.be/OMMrdhB7mr4

About the Author
By Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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