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A dossier on the brand Samsung
Product : Samsung Mobile




Submitted to Prof Srinivas Govindrajan on 10-Aug-2013


Prepared by
Anirban Ghose (A13001)
Ayan Das (A13005)
Debayan Datta (A13006)
Saunak Basu (A13015)

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What it includes

Sl.
No.
Topics Page
No.
1 Early history of the brand and its evolution over time 3
2 Initial positioning and subsequent repositioning 7
3 Advertising, sales promotion and segmentation
strategy followed by the brand
10
4 Analysis of product and generic competition to the
brand
15
5 Strategies adopted over time by the brand to tackle
competition or prime market expansion
17
6 Distribution strategy followed by the brand 23
7 Conclusions regarding the future directions for the
brand
25
8 Bibliography 26













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[ 1 ] Early history of the brand and its evolution over time

From its inception as a small export business in Daegu, Korea,
Samsung has grown to become one of the leading electronics
companies of our planet, specialising in a wide range of digital
applications. Today Samsung's innovative and top quality products and
processes are world recognised. Let us see how Samsung managed to
get up there. Let us have a journey through time.
Samsungs Beginnings (1938-1969)
On March 1, 1938, founding chairman Byung-Chull Lee started a
business in Taegu, Korea, with 30,000 won
Diversifying in Industries and Electronics (1970-1979)
In the 1970s, Samsung laid the strategic foundations for its future
growth by investing in the heavy, chemical and petrochemical
industries
Entering the Global Marketplace (1980-1989)
Samsung's core technology businesses diversified and expanded
globally during the late 1970s and early 1980s
Competing in a Changing Tech World (1990-1993)
The early 1990s presented tremendous challenges for high-tech
businesses

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Becoming a Global Force (1994-1996)
In the mid-1990s, Samsung revolutionised its business through a
dedication to making world-class products, providing total customer
satisfaction and being a good corporate citizen all under the vision
of 'quality first.'
Advancing the Digital Frontier (1997-1999)
Despite the 1997 financial crisis that affected nearly all Korean
businesses, Samsung was one of few companies that continued
growing, thanks to its leadership in digital and network technologies
and its steady concentration on electronics, finances and related
services
Pioneering the Digital Age (2000-Present)
The digital age has brought revolutionary change and opportunity
to global business and Samsung has responded with advanced
technologies, competitive products and constant innovation








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Below are some of the statistics about the phones produced back then
in regard to the ones from today through Infographics.




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[ 2 ] Initial positioning and subsequent repositioning
It does not require the genius of a rocket scientist to recognize that
branding is the lifeblood of any corporation. Samsungs association
with the Olympics helped the company increase its brand visibility and
brand recall among its consumers worldwide. The company was ranked
as the fastest-growing brand in the world by Interbrand.
Samsungs approach is holistic reaching the world customer. It created
its branding in multiple ways, ranging from traditional adds to
billboards, racing, Olympic games, cricket matches, marathons. In
short, wherever it saw the crowd, it communicated Samsung message
by presenting itself as a leader of innovation with affordable price.
Successful branding is all about establishing a long-term vision and
crafting the companys operations to meet that objective. The words
Samsung Electronics were written in English so that it would be easy
to read and remember worldwide. The logo was shaped elliptical
representing a moving world symbolizing advancement and change. It
was this sort of huge investment where millions saw the Samsungs
message. Their brand remained in the forefront of millions of people
giving them an edge over its competitors. It is no surprise that
Samsungs brand building strategy overtook its competitors in less
than the expected time.


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Strategies Adopted
Changing Brand image
Tacking brand repositioning cost as long term investment
Proactive measures from reactions from competitors
Renewed pricing strategies
Focus on R&D and innovation
Extensive market study and Data Analysis
Positioning attributes
1. Preferred good internet access
2. Long battery life
3. Ease of user
4. Camera and touchscreen
5. Fast and good speakers
Brand Communications
Mass media advertising, multidimensional event sponsorships, product
placement and the Samsung experience Gallery
Positioning Statement
To cater mobile professionals who need to be always turned with the
ever changing technology and style, Samsung is the ultimate solution
that gives you user friendly, cost effective, stylish and innovative
products to stay connected with the fast moving world.



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Vision 2020 of Samsung
As part of this vision, Samsung has already mapped out a plan for
reaching $400 billion in revenue and becoming one of the worlds top
five brands by the year 2020. To this end, Samsung has also
established three strategic approaches in its managements :
CREATIVITY
PARTNERSHIP
TALENT
Brand Association


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[ 3 ] Advertising, sales promotion and segmentation
strategy followed by the brand
Advertising is intrinsic to a product whereas Sales Promotion is not.
Samsung carried out a vast plethora of advertising and sales
promotion by taking up the following initiatives:
Launch of Team Samsung campaign. Also brought about the
Samsung Cup to showcase the biggest cricketing spectacle
involving India and Pakistan in 2004
Apart from cricket, Samsung sponsored the Indian contingent for
both the Olympics and the Asian games. It also ran training
programs for a lot of Indian upcoming athletes under the Olympic
Ratna banner.
Samsung helped in bringing the Olympic torch relay to India, an
initiative for the first time
The World Cyber Games, regarded as the Olympics of the cyber
world, is also brought about by Samsung, a yearly event
Considering a series of innovative below the line activities,
Samsung collaborated with noted painter Satish Gujral, for his
paintings to be available as downloads on Samsung mobile
phones.
Product placement was carried out in popular television soaps
like Jassi where Samsung products were set in lifestyle
environments

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Samsung ran a Kitchen On Wheels program where
demonstrations were carried out with regards to microwave
cooking and its advantages
Samsung branded its products as superior technology and
environment friendly ones specially after their launch of Bio
range of products and Silver Nano Health System for electronic
appliances like refrigerators and air-conditioners
Launched a marketing campaign for Flat televisions, Duniya Hain
Gol, TV Flat along with attractive exchange offers
Product Customization for India
Keeping into account the Indian market, Samsung took a few steps in
further customizing their products. They are as follows:
Samsung set up a usability lab at the Indian Institute of
Technology in Delhi, to customize some of their products to meet
the specific needs of Indian consumers. This industry-institute
partnership is helping Samsung to analyze and study customer
response in aspects of product design, including aesthetics,
ergonomics and interface.
Through its research done on consumer preferences in India,
Samsung concluded that Indian consumers want more sound
oriented products. Thus, Samsung televisions in India have a
higher sound capacity than their foreign counterparts
For the semi- automatic segment of Samsung washing machines,
Samsung introduced a feature called Super Dry, an initiative for

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the first time in India. This probably took into account the general
humidity levels of the Indian subcontinent
They also have a memory restart that takes care of the
frequent power failures in India

Promotion Tools
The main consumer promotion tools are as follows

Samples
They are offers of a trial amount of a product. It consists of
inviting prospective purchasers to try the product without cost or at a
lower cost in the hope that they will buy the product. Samples may be
free or discounted.

Coupons
Coupons are certificates that give buyers a saving when they purchase
a specified product. Coupons can be mailed, placed in advertisements
or included with other products

Rebate
Rebate is also known as cash refund offers. Rebates are offers to
refund part of the purchase price of a product to its customers
who send a proof of purchase to the manufacturer. These are like
coupons except that the price reduction occurs after the purchase and
not at the point of sale.



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Price packs
Cents-off deals or price packs offer consumers savings by way of
reducing prices that are marked by the producer directly on the
package.
Premiums
These are the goods offered either free or at a low cost as an incentive
to buy a product. Premiums may be in-pack or on-pack (outside the
pack).
Prizes
They are offers of chance to win something such as cash, trips or
goods by luck or through extra efforts. Contests of talent and
sweepstakes or draws the most popular prize offering promotions.
Tie-in promotions
Tie-in promotions involve two or more brands or companies that team
upon coupons, refunds or contests to increase their pulling powers.
Cross promotions
Cross promotions involve using one brand to advertise non-competing
brand.
Advertising Specialities
These are useful articles imprinted with an advertisers name, given as
gifts to consumers



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Patronage Rewards
They are cash or other awards for the regular use of companys
products or services. They are values (in cash otherwise) that are
proportional to ones patronage of a certain vendor or a group of
vendors. They aim at building brand loyalty.
PoP Promotions
Point of purchase (PoP) includes displays and demonstrations that take
place at the point of purchase or sale.













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[ 4 ] Analysis of product and generic competition to the
brand
Samsung Mobile Phones SWOT Analysis 2013
STRENGTHES
1. Hardware integration with many open source OS and
software
2. Ability to market the brand through Innovation, Design and
multiple Sponsorships
3. High Market Share in mobile phones and its continual
Growth ( 2nd place in smartphones sales )
4. Excellence in Engineering and producing hardware parts
and consumer electronics
5. Well Diversified and Differentiated product line to meet
changing customer needs
6. Practice the Good Leadership Theory

WEAKNESS
1. Patent infringement
2. Too low profit margin
3. Main competitors are also largest buyers




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OPPORTUNITIES
1. Growing Indias smartphone market
2. Growing mobile advertising industry
3. Growing demand for quality application processors
4. Growth of tablets market
5. Product variation in existing product line
6. User friendly technology

THREATS
1. Rapid technological change
2. Price wars
3. Saturated smartphone markets in developed countries
4. Declining margins on hardware production
5. Macroeconomic issues
6. Low cost competitors in the great China ( Emulation mobile
phones )
7. Legal war with Apple, Nokia






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[ 5 ] Strategies adopted over time by the brand to tackle
competition or prime market expansion

The Generic competitors of Samsung mobile phone are Sony, Nokia, LG
etc.

In 2009, the market share of Samsung was 14%.But in 2012,it was
26%.So It increased by 12 percentage point whereas Nokia had almost
70% share in 2009.But in 2012.it was 23% only.

Samsungs Key Issues
Though Samsung has continued its success in the mobile phone
business, it faces a number of challenges to keep the growth
momentum in the future. First, competition in the mobile phone market
will become more intense. Lower entry barriers will bring in more

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competitors to the market, and the digital convergence will
accelerate the competition even further.
Second, the sustainability of Samsungs high-end strategy, which was
attributed to Samsungs brand building, may be in question. Samsung
has achieved high profit margin, which is comparable to that of Nokia,
mainly based on its high price, while Nokia has done so based on its
cost dynamics.
Third, Samsung is highly dependent on foreign companies for core
technologies and modules. For example, it sources core CDMA base-
band chips from Qualcomm and sophisticated camera-phone modules
from Japanese firms.
Fourth, Samsung needs to strengthen its product portfolio in next
generation phones

Strategies Adopted over time by Samsung to tackle competition
The launch of Galaxy 3 smartphone is based on the success of the
Galaxy S II which contributed significantly to Samsung global sales and
making them the largest Smartphone producer today. Samsung made
the best Android phones on the market. From the screen to the
camera to battery life, the Galaxy S3 bested its competitors before
even getting to the litany of software features and customizations.
Samsung's impossibly powerful marketing arm then took those
advantages and trumpeted them on every surface and airwave
possible, and the phone took over the industry. The point to note is the
impact of consumer marketing approach used and an effective tactical

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move to penetrate the mass market with (by right) and very much
niche market of smartphone. The company has significantly changed
the platform of competition in smartphone market, which has been
earlier dominated by Apple and HTC, not to forget the historical
Windows phone like Dopod, HP, Palm, O2 and some others like Nokia,
Sony, Motorola, etc. Samsung crafted their own path which lead to the
indisputable No.1 in smartphone.
They have combined the niche and the mass to formulate the hybrid of
segments which are so resilient in consuming a phone, or perhaps a
tablet. Yes, it is the intelligent and prospector approach in taking such
risk to offer various models as compared to the strategic competitors:
Apple and HTC. This has given the options for consumer to compare
and find the best model to suit their needs and wants. As such, this has
also transformed into a threat to the competitors, not because they
have more models for the consumers, but the delay of purchasing the
competitors' products.
Normally, consumer will have to go through 5 simple stages in
purchasing decision.
1. Identifying the need
2. Searching for information
3. Evaluate the products
4. Purchase decision and lastly
5. Post-purchase evaluation
Samsung strategy is to mainly speculate stage (2), and (3) consumer
purchase decision. Changing Consumer Attitude; the more models with

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similar specifications there are in the market, consumer tends to take
longer time to evaluate the products, due to more information provided
by the producers. If you realize, most models will have pros and cons in
comparing to each other. That way, consumer will try to identify the
'Just-noticeable-differentiation' (JND) of each of the interested
products. Consumer will then notice that many products from different
brands in the market trends to have some form of weaknesses. Brand
will also be associated with such weaknesses or vice versa (similar to
strengths as it would reflect the uniqueness of a particular brand).
When Samsung provide so many models and each tends to show little
differences in terms of specification, consumer would then identify the
JND within the brand, and not towards other brands (because it is
enough for a consumer to read and play with each models within the
Galaxy family). Subsequently, consumer will unconsciously compare the
various Galaxy models and not with other brand.
Recently Samsung seems to have adopted a trend of offering numerous
side models to accompany a new release, such as the Mini, Active, and
Google Edition Galaxy S4s. But what if I told you that the company was
about to take this even further? Samsung Electronics is gearing up for
a change in its smartphone marketing strategy. The technology giant is
actually planning to sell even more models than it currently does, in a
bid to appeal to a broader consumer base. So, the rumours that weve
heard about four, or possibly eight, different versions of the upcoming
Galaxy Note 3 appears to be the first of many future ranges which will
offer consumers a broader choice of options within each product line.
But is this really such a good idea considering that the smartphone
market is already ultra-competitive? Do we really need any more

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choice? Samsung certainly seems to think so. Well thats actually the
point, according to Samsung. The smartphone market is already so
heavily saturated with products, smartphone penetration has already
surpassed 70% in North America, Europe and East Asia, that
manufacturers need to look further afield in order to find new business
opportunities. Emerging markets like South America and Africa are
areas which Samsung would love to break into, but the company
currently cant compete with the price point of cheaper products
coming from China. To combat this growing problem, Samsung
supposedly intends to attract budget orientate consumers through
product diversification and customized services. In other words,
Samsung wants to offer consumers more choice, and products that fit
with the particular type of market. Their strategy is to maximize the
market share with a number of small hit models, not one single mega
hit model.
Thus Samsung has communicated to the mass that smartphone is not
only for the niche. Now, everyone can be 'Smart', as long as you are
within Samsung "Galaxy".

Samsungs competitive advantage over its competitors
Technology driven niche products
Strong infrastructure
High investment for Research & Development
Wide range of products
High brand value

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Higher economic scale and scope
Horizontal and vertical integration
Higher yields than most competitors
R&D facility at one single location thus exercising absolute quality
control
Untraditional human resource practices based on meritocracy
and not on seniority
Attractive organizational hierarchy in terms of pay scale,
bonuses and incentives yielding better output
Financially strong, large resources at disposal













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[ 6 ] Distribution strategy followed by the brand
Samsung is so much more than a smartphone-maker. It is a
conglomerate, a manufacturer, and the world's largest chip-maker.
It makes many of the components that go into its smartphones giving it
a cost advantage and allowing it to be much more flexible in terms of
what it produces and when.

There exist various Samsung Enterprise Alliance Distributor programs
that offers
Assistance in training sub channel partners
Provision of sales and marketing collaterals
Technical support and training
Logo for accreditation as Samsung Authorized Sales Partner
(subject to meeting criteria)
Assistance in developing business plans and joint go-to-market
strategies (subject to Samsung subsidiary)

Distribution Channels
Samsung have state-level distribution offices and direct dealer
interfaces which helps the company to launch products as per
consumers needs or wants.
Efficient, optimized supply chain partners armed at the right time
with right information adding to the total yield
Samsung has sales and services network all over India and has
more than 650 service points

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Samsung uses innovative logistics solution GLONETS ( Global
Logistics Network Systems ) coupled with ERP systems resulting in
shorter business cycles, reduced inventory levels, low waste and
hence reduces cost
Samsung uses JIT( Just in Time ) approach with 4 RDC( Regional
Dispatch Centre ) installed at India
Samsung has many exclusive showrooms, Shop-in-shops as well as
online purchasing options





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[ 7 ] Conclusions regarding the future directions for the brand
Although Samsung has captured the highest market share in Indian
market, the company had to face a lot of problems. An example in
this case would be the Apple Samsung conflict where Apple accused
Samsung of copying their designs and features. This blame damaged
the reputation of the brand all over the world but still Samsung is
Indias favourite brand whether it is electronic consumer goods or
smartphones. It means despite of problems, Samsung has
successfully positioned itself as a quality brand in the mind of their
consumers.
So what is Samsungs Future?
To survive in the market she needs
1. Time
2. Resources
Apple and Samsung are involved in ongoing copyright disputes in 10
countries, as competitions in the smartphone sectors grows even
more intense.
If the injunction of Samsung products could not be lifted, it may create
a significant impact on its earnings.





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[ 8 ] Bibliography
http://www.google.co.in
http://www.scribd.com/doc/29594373/Project-on-Samsung
http://www.scribd.com/doc/36506933/Final-Report-Samsung-
Mobiles
http://www.slideshare.net/vvikaschauhan/marketing-strategy-
of-samsung-in-india
http://www.slideshare.net/vvikaschauhan/marketing-strategy-
of-samsung-in-india
http://www.varindia.com/Jan_BrandBuilding.htm
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120528005124/e
n/Research-Markets-Analysis-Samsungs-Competitiveness-2012
http://www.slideshare.net/gaurav127/samsung-mobile-
competitor-s-analysis
http://www.slideshare.net/zesale/samsung-re-positioning-
strategy
http://www.samsung.com/uk/aboutsamsung/corporateprofile/
history.html
http://www.slideshare.net/tiniljoseph/samsung-mobiles-and-
its-history


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