iPhone and Samsung Launches Bring Highest Scores Of The Year

Ted MarzilliCEO YouGov Direct
October 10, 2014, 4:24 PM GMT+0

Just as Apple’s iPhone 6 launch hoopla was subsiding after having reached its highest consumer perception levels in two years, Samsung’s aggressive counter-campaign and product news appear to have sent its scores climbing in Apple’s place.

YouGov BrandIndex measured iPhone and Samsung with its Buzz score, which asks respondents "If you've heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?" Buzz score can range from 100 to -100, with a zero score equaling positive and negative feedback. All measurements are for adults 18 and over.

The iPhone 6 announcement took its brand name’s Buzz score up to 34 – even with reports of phones bending, a mark which it had not reached since October 2012 when Apple unveiled the iPad Mini.

Although the iPhone 6’s recent 34 Buzz score represents a two-year high, it was topped in September 2012 by the launch of its predecessor, the iPhone 5, when the score hit 44. Both smartphone debuts created a Buzz score run that lasted two to three weeks long.

However, rival Samsung wasted no time seeing its own Buzz score rise to match its high for the year (31) around September 28th, with its own Galaxy Alpha smartphone launch just a few weeks after the iPhone 6. Samsung also capitalized on a viral campaign making fun of the new iPhone’s reported "bendgate" issues.

Buzz: Samsung, iPhone