Case Study Samsung Company

Question: Write about the Case Study for Samsung Company. Answer: Samsungs Marketing Communications Its a strategy used by any organization in business to reach their specific target market through different communication types. This strategy is one of the fundamental and complex parts in the Samsungs efforts of marketing its products. This can include branding, viral marketing, direct marketing, advertising, packaging and many public relation activities that aim at attracting more clientele. Through this communication, Samsung has been able to develop brand awareness. This means that consumers are able to make translation of the information available for any product into different perceptions concerning its position in the larger market as well as the products attributes. Samsung has embraced marketing communication so as to retain its current customers base and attract new ones too (www.letsgodigital.org) This strategy has also assisted in the cementing relationships among customers and the relationship among suppliers. It also defines the business plan for Samsung products information dissemination and brand awareness development just the way it does for other businesses. For example, this strategy was successfully used in the launching of Samsung Galaxy s6 with an aim of increasing the market share of the new product. The company achieved this by establishing a prestigious image that made a good representation of smart phones. It also had to target customer retention and loyalty. Samsungs Brand Image and Consumer Brand Awareness Brand Image When it comes to the reinvention of the brand image, Samsung has done an awesome job. It had previously been perceived as a company that sells cheap products with a habit of copycatting versions of the Japanese technology products. But currently Samsung is a brand that is regarded with high respect to the extent that it can now command premiums for most of its products. Samsung has created an image of being more affordable than apple products but it can still evoke an image where its trendy and this is all thanks to its sleek designs. Its also regarded as a reliable brand which has always kept up with current technology (Sustainability report, 2015). Its brand image also evokes superior technology. This company has been able to induce a simple image that is easy to use despite being fond of constantly coming up with products which are packed with state-of-the-art features. This is evident in its global brand simplicity index which ranked high in the year 2013 placing it position eigh t among other companies. In the past few years Samsung has been able to successfully transform its brand image from a value formoney brand to an innovative leader. This has been achieved through the change of its marketing strategy where its currently focusing more on meeting the customers needs (Triggs, p. 2014). Brand equity framework: Salience in the pyramid is represented by customers identity with the product which is quite good globally. Performance and imagery is represented by the meaning of the product to the clients which is quite reliable since its a durable product. Judgments and feelings are represented by the response of the company to the clients concerns. While resonance is how the company and the clients relate which is good as well. Consumer Brand Awareness Consumer brand awareness for Samsung is not ahigh level compared to some of its competitors. Samsung is a brand that is recognized globally when it comes to consumer electronic brands more so in the mobile space and this is regardless of gender race and even age. Samsung also enjoys top up mind unaided recall in this digital era and its second to apple. In the android space, Samsung ranks top in the android space when it comes to brand awareness. However, Samsung slogan has been difficult to recall among consumers and that has been a downside when it comes to Samsung brand awareness. Consumers still find it hard to recall which Samsung slogan is latest even with aided recall (Sustainability report, p. 2015). Over the years Samsung has also been able to evoke many brand associations with some of its functional brand associations being innovation, smart, quality, durable, stylish, up to date sleek and classy. Some of its emotional brand associations include but not limit. In the brand awareness pyramid in relation to Samsung company: Most consumers are aware of the product and can easily recall and recognize the brand. However, the slogan is not easily recognized. Samsungs Brand Meaning Samsungs brand meaning is gotten from Korean language. The word Samsung itself translates as three stars. The name was originally picked by its founder Lee Byung-chull during the early stages of the companys inception. He had the idea of this company becoming powerful and everlasting sometime in the future just as the stars in the sky. The reason for the three symbol s hidden in the Korean language where three is used as a symbol to represent something that is powerful and big. Samsung has indeed lived to this symbol up to date (Adweek, p. 2014). Current IMC Approach to Brand Enhancement Integrated marketing communication is a strategy that Samsung has used to market most of its products through use of different promotional methods which reinforce each other. The main tools used include direct marketing, internet marketing, personal selling, sales promotion, advertising and public relation events (Tibken, p. 2014). Advertisement: Television advertisement has been used to create brand awareness by Samsunglike while launching Galaxy S5 Samsungtogetherwith its advertising agency they released a new but funny campaign to achieve this launch. The advert presented how exciting the new product was together with its qualities (Morrison and Bergen, p. 2015). Internet marketing: Samsung has embraced the use of Face book and YouTube awareness as well as online banner advertisement to market its products. Recently Samsung has given an ice bucket challenge to companies such as Nokia, HTC and Apple when it comes to the use of Facebook and YouTube promotions. It ranks top among the three. Sales promotion: One strategy that has made Samsung attract a high customer base in terms of sales promotion is the idea of offering bonuses to people who buy their phones they also exchange their old ones so as to receive a value worth their old phones in terms of shopping money. This has made some customers to save up to $ 100 off the normal price through trading in their old phones. Public relations: before Samsung S5 was released it was featured in the Oscar. It captured selfies taken by Ellen DeGeneres. Whether one watched the Oscars or not they were able to access these selfies trending on twitter and they were record breaking because they were clear and having been taken by Samsung S5 this was a good move to market its new brand. The greatest PR is one made through celebrity endorsement and its even better if the celebrity uses the product before millions of people. Direct marketing: Samsung has also achieved this whenlaunching most of its products by putting up campaigns to promote new products. They often have a target audience of ages between 15-50 years and they also do this through emails. Personal selling: In this strategy Samsung manages to sell its products in large numbers. Its electronic corporation often holds different promotional events to attract loyal customers. For example, in one of the Samsung S5 promotional event named Samsung sense academic festival they were able to sell off a good number of their new product. Use of cognitive learning theory: This theory is used to market expensive products in which their customers are able to easily justify the new products using their special features and then be encouraged to buy. Strategies to Restore Brand Image Customer Confidence after Recalling 3 million Devices Globally Recently Samsung recalled over 3 million devices globally after the exploding battery crisis. To restore consumer confidence in purchasing its smart telecommunication devices and brand image Samsung has laid down some strategies which include; (IMC, p. 2015). Partnering closely with most of the local companies present in their key markets in India and china: To achieve this, the company is leveraging all of its local companies around the world so as to develop content that is local and also offer local services. Focusing on software and services Samsung has for a long time led other companies when it comes to having good hard wares in its phones and other products with the best processors and brightest screens but this has not been enough to keep its consumers coming back. Its therefore making a big investment in soft wares through hiring of new and experienced software engineers and starting new and modern operations like Media Solutions Center. Figuring out its end goal: For any business growth to be realized, the low end is what matters the most and its also the place where one experiences a lot of competition. Therefore, strategies should be well laid down to deal with such competition at the end low end. The lower end has to be attached without hurting its brand. Moving faster with less panic: Samsungs pride is in how quickly it can roll out its products. But if not done correctly this may result to having many products in the market with scattershot approach. This may also mean spending a lot of finances on marketing with lower prices and eventually weighing down on profits. References AdWeek (2014) Available at: https://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/technology/samsungs-top-15-media-integrations-over-past-two-years-160686 IMC campaigning samsung galaxy S5, 2015 https://bappi045141.blogspot.co.ke/2015/03/integrated-marketingcommunication-of.html Jimenez, J.I (2013). Samsungs marketing communication. https://prezi.com/v7yyhpc2je5j/samsungs-marketing-communication/ Morrison, M. Bergen, M. (2015) Advertising Age, Available at: https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/samsung-launches-marketing-blitz-latest-galaxy/297995 Sustainability Report (2015) Samsung Electronics Tibken, S (2014). Five ways samsung can overhaul its ailing smartphone. CNET.htm Accessed 13/4/2017 Triggs, R. (2014) Android Authority, Available at: https://www.androidauthority.com/apple-samsung-ad-budget-2013-366238 www.letsgodigital.org, 2012