The case examines the marketing strategy of Samsung in India.

It provides a detailed account of Samsung's marketing strategies to garner more market share. The case examines Samsung's approach to product, pricing, distribution and promotion. The case also provides insights into the future prospects of the company in light of the increasing competition and the slowdown in the consumer electronics market.
Issues:
The marketing strategies adopted by Samsung to gain market share in the highly competitive Indian consumer electronics market. Analyze the role of the four Ps in Samsung's marketing mix. We are investing aggressively in marketing to transform our company to be truly market driven and to establish our Samsung brand as the most trusted and preferred brand in the market." - Jong Yong Yun, vice-chairman & CEO, Samsung Electronics, in February 2003.1

The "Team Samsung India First" Campaign

In August 2002, India's leading consumer electronics player, Samsung India Electronics Ltd. (Samsung) announced the signing on of seven celebrity cricketers - 'Team Samsung', as its brand ambassadors. In doing this, it aimed to cash in on the popularity of cricket in India. However, the company's hopes of celebrity endorsement received a setback due to anti-ambush marketing clauses2, arising from ICC's agreement with some other companies. In place of the ads featuring the cricketers, Samsung launched its - 'Team Samsung. India First' campaign all over the country in December 2002.
Said Arun Mahajan of Mudra, Samsung's ad agency, "The focus has been to evolve concepts to do with the players, to promote the cause of cricket and patriotism.'' The copy of the print ad read, 'With Team Samsung, It's India First.''

According to Samsung's former vice-president marketing, S.S. Lee: "The Team Samsung theme will be leveraged right through the year, with a concentrated burst in the first quarter to coincide

with the World Cup.''3 Analysts felt that the ad campaign would enable Samsung to effectively leverage the cricket craze in the country, and increase awareness of its brand. In December 2002, Samsung reported a sales turnover of Rs 30 billion with a growth rate of 20% (Refer Table I). Aggressive marketing had clearly contributed to Samsung's success.
Said Rajeev Karwal, chairman and managing director, Electrolux Kelvinator Ltd, "Samsung's success is the result of a variety of factors such as competitive pricing, aggressive advertising and a tightly-run administration."

Background Note
Samsung entered India in December 1995 as a 51:49 joint venture with Reasonable Computer Solutions Pvt Ltd (RCSPL), owned by Venugopal Dhoot of the Videocon group. In 1998, RCSPL diluted its stake in Samsung to 26% and in November 2002, the FIPB4 cleared Samsung's proposal to buy RCSPL's remaining (23%) stake.

With Samsung buying the total stake of RCSPL, it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of its South Korean parent company. Initially, Samsung launched is operations in North India, and then slowly expanded its operations. By January 1998, the company had a presence all over the country. Samsung announced profits of Rs.50 million on a turnover of Rs. 5.40 billion for the calendar year 1998. In 2000, Samsung set up an R&D center for the manufacture of CTVs at Noida (Uttar Pradesh) with a total investment of US$5 million. This center became Samsung's regional hub catering to the design requirements in India, Middle East and South East Asia.
In 2002, Samsung established manufacturing facilities for colour televisions, microwave ovens, washing machines and air conditioners at Noida, Uttar Pradesh. It also had a presence in consumer electronics, information technology products, mobile phones and home appliances. Samsung's flagship businesses were consumer electronics and home appliances, which contributed more than 60% of its revenues.

In September 2002, Samsung won the First Prize in the Consumer Electronics category at the Annual 'Awards for Excellence in Electronics', instituted by the Department of Information Technology, Government of India.

S.S. Lee, Managing Director, Samsung, said, "It is indeed an honor to receive this Award and I am happy that our efforts to make Samsung a top electronics company in India have been recognized and appreciated. Our focus on product planning, product quality, R&D are all geared towards providing our customers technologically advanced products with superior, consumer friendly features."
In 2002, Samsung reported sales of Rs.170 million with 26% growth over the previous year. Its consumer electronics business grew by 29% and contributed 60% to the total sales, and its home appliances division grew by 21%, contributing 40 % of the total sales...

Background Note
Samsung entered India in December 1995 as a 51:49 joint venture with Reasonable Computer Solutions Pvt Ltd (RCSPL), owned by Venugopal Dhoot of the Videocon group. In 1998, RCSPL diluted its stake in Samsung to 26% and in November 2002, the FIPB4 cleared Samsung's proposal to buy RCSPL's remaining (23%) stake.

With Samsung buying the total stake of RCSPL, it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of its South Korean parent company. Initially, Samsung launched is operations in North India, and then slowly expanded its operations. By January 1998, the company had a presence all over the country. Samsung announced profits of Rs.50 million on a turnover of Rs. 5.40 billion for the calendar year 1998. In 2000, Samsung set up an R&D center for the manufacture of CTVs at Noida (Uttar Pradesh) with a total investment of US$5 million. This center became Samsung's regional hub catering to the design requirements in India, Middle East and South East Asia.
In 2002, Samsung established manufacturing facilities for colour televisions, microwave ovens, washing machines and air conditioners at Noida, Uttar Pradesh. It also had a presence in consumer electronics, information technology products, mobile phones and home appliances. Samsung's flagship businesses were consumer electronics and home appliances, which contributed more than 60% of its revenues.

In September 2002, Samsung won the First Prize in the Consumer Electronics category at the Annual 'Awards for Excellence in Electronics', instituted by the Department of Information Technology, Government of India.

S.S. Lee, Managing Director, Samsung, said, "It is indeed an honor to receive this Award and I am happy that our efforts to make Samsung a top electronics company in India have been recognized and appreciated. Our focus on product planning, product quality, R&D are all geared towards providing our customers technologically advanced products with superior, consumer friendly features."
In 2002, Samsung reported sales of Rs.170 million with 26% growth over the previous year. Its consumer electronics business grew by 29% and contributed 60% to the total sales, and its home appliances division grew by 21%, contributing 40 % of the total sales...

Background Note
Samsung entered India in December 1995 as a 51:49 joint venture with Reasonable Computer Solutions Pvt Ltd (RCSPL), owned by Venugopal Dhoot of the Videocon group. In 1998, RCSPL diluted its stake in Samsung to 26% and in November 2002, the FIPB4 cleared Samsung's proposal to buy RCSPL's remaining (23%) stake.

With Samsung buying the total stake of RCSPL, it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of its South Korean parent company. Initially, Samsung launched is operations in North India, and then slowly expanded its operations. By January 1998, the company had a presence all over the country. Samsung announced profits of Rs.50 million on a turnover of Rs. 5.40 billion for the calendar year 1998. In 2000, Samsung set up an R&D center for the manufacture of CTVs at Noida (Uttar Pradesh) with a total investment of US$5 million. This center became Samsung's regional hub catering to the design requirements in India, Middle East and South East Asia.
In 2002, Samsung established manufacturing facilities for colour televisions, microwave ovens, washing machines and air conditioners at Noida, Uttar Pradesh. It also had a presence in consumer electronics, information technology products, mobile phones and home appliances. Samsung's flagship businesses were consumer electronics and home appliances, which contributed more than 60% of its revenues.

In September 2002, Samsung won the First Prize in the Consumer Electronics category at the Annual 'Awards for Excellence in Electronics', instituted by the Department of Information Technology, Government of India.

S.S. Lee, Managing Director, Samsung, said, "It is indeed an honor to receive this Award and I am happy that our efforts to make Samsung a top electronics company in India have been recognized and appreciated. Our focus on product planning, product quality, R&D are all geared towards providing our customers technologically advanced products with superior, consumer friendly features."
In 2002, Samsung reported sales of Rs.170 million with 26% growth over the previous year. Its consumer electronics business grew by 29% and contributed 60% to the total sales, and its home appliances division grew by 21%, contributing 40 % of the total sales...

Product Innovation
Samsung's product range in India included CTVs, audio and video products, information technology products, mobile phones and home appliances (Refer Exhibit I). Its product range covered all the categories in the consumer electronics and home appliances. Analysts felt that the wide product range of Samsung was one of main reasons for its success in the Indian market. Samsung positioned itself on the technology platform...

Pricing

Pricing also seemed to have played a significant role in Samsung's success...

Distribution

Along with the launch of new products, Samsung also consolidated its distribution system. Samsung had 18 state-level distribution offices and a direct dealer interface. The direct dealer interface helped the company get quick feedback from dealers, and enabled it to launch products according to consumer needs...
Advertising and Sales Promotion
In 1995, when Samsung entered India, it realized that Indian consumers were not familiar with the company. So, in order to establish itself in the Indian consumers' mind, Samsung launched corporate advertisements highlighting its technologically superior goods...

Sustaining Growth

At the end of December 2002, Samsung had posted a turnover of Rs. 30 billion - 25% growth from the previous year's Rs. 24 billion.

Analysts appreciated the fact that Samsung had a diversified product range and had implemented holistic brand communications in order to achieve a homogeneous brand image. Analysts also pointed out that Samsung had deployed a unified and consistent brandmarketing program along with an aggressive sports marketing strategy...