1. The ingredients of SEC’s corporate turnaround strategy: At the beginning, Samsung was established to be a low-cost manufacturer of black and white televisions. They became a semiconductor which produced original equipments to sell to other brand names. After the influence of Asian financial crisis, a new management initiative was launched in order to change and turn Samsung become the global business leader. Samsung would not only produced semiconductor but also invest in innovative, premium products and brand value.
It was the time to take advanced technology to produce innovative electronics goods with their own brand name. Vertical IntergrationSamsung still remained them as a manufacturing company – the core goal from the day of in establishment. In order to lower producing cost, they located their plant outside Korea, in the place with cheap input material and human capital such as in China or India. Samsung emphasized manufacturing as a core competency in its own right.Hardware FocusUnlike Apple or Sony, Samsung did not focus on developing software but focus on hardware and devices. This helped to provide customers to approach more innovative software sources by their products than other compertitors.
Product BreadthWhile other competitors just focused on one single category, Samsung concentrated in production diversification. Having experience in producing cheap home appliances including televisions, microwaves, and VCRs, they wanted to focus on higher-quality products across all categories (in 1997).Digital Product InnovationSamsung changed from analog to digital technology focusing on premium products. Samsung launched four of five new products in any year were designated pillar products. Their products are setting new standards for quality performance and award-winning design, this results based on the speedier decision- making processes and fewer levers of organizational bureaucracy.Digital ConvergenceSamsung would focus on digital convergence, the merging of different technologies into one major product, and multiple technologies linked by one major network.
In 2003, Samsung had already brought their digital convergence into their products, creating groundbreaking innovations in many areas.The implications for marketing:In history, Samsung was the company produced low-end products with the unconsistent brand. In order to become a company focusing high-end premium goods, they need to create a global brand which Samsung did not emphasize. To create a brand, Kim had to head the corporate Global Marketing Operations (GMO) unit in order to developing the corporate marketing program for Samsung brand outside Korea.
He also had to change the way marketing budgets were set. MDC was established in order to reinforce the importance of marketing to the Samsung managers.Through research from MDC, it showed that Samsung brand lacked stature and the brand image lacked emotion and a human face. Then, Samsung developed a new umbrella campaign named “DigitAll-Everyone’s Invited”. The campaign allowed Samsung enhance and empower the Samsung brand through the comarketing campaign with the Warner Brothers blockbuster movie “The Matrix Reloaded”. Samsung also was the sponsor for a lot of Olympic games.
Through the marketing campaign of Samsung, we understand the importance of consistent brand in the market. In order to have a strong effect to the customers and when company wants to target to high-quality, premium products and become one of the most leading companies, it is necessary for them to have a strong brand. Brand marketing plays an important role in spreading the influence of company to the market. 2.
The effect of Samsung nowadays spread all over the world with different level in different market.In South Korea, Samsung was well-known thanks to its widespread presence on home appliances. In the U.S, Samsung is at the turning point which Samsung’s awareness was good and there are some demands for some product categories.
In Europe, Samsung brand is stronger in the south of Europe than the this in the north of Europe. Especially, Samsung developed strongly in emerging countries than developed countries like Russia market. In China market, Samsung gained significant step from the turning-point stage to the advanced stage with estimated 5 million new customers signed up for cellular telephone service each month in 2002.The widespread of Samsung brand in several parts of the world showed the success of brand marketing of Samsung. Samsung is now developing and achieve significant prestige in the high technological section. Actually, Samsung surpassed Sony in television market in 2012.
Samsung in one hand developed technology for smartphone and they still continued focusing producing television. Sony in the competition with Apple and other game producers such as Nintedo, they are too focusing on developing portable gaming machine Play Station to compete with Wii and Nintedo to neglect concentrate in televion section. Then, Samsung jumps to the hole in the television market and becomes a new emerging hero in televsion market.Besides, while Sony just specialized on particular category, Samsung developed themselves as the producer of wide amount of categories. Then, with the sustainable, fast development like today, Samsung will soon surpass Sony in near future. 3.
As the Chief Marketing Officer, Kim plays an important role in the development of Samsung. First, he is the important person who creates and empowers the Samsung brand marketing. To bring Samsung with high- quality products to the world and reinforce the brand in the market. He is the only person who has a high opinion on building brand and understand the essence of brand marketing in spreading the effect of Samsung in the domestic market and international market.Even the executive managers of Samsung have little ideas of developing brand marketing, he launched several campaigns in order to build a consistent, global brand. He changed the notion of Samsung top managers about brand marketing which they did not emphasize before, navigated the Samsung brand in local and international markets and lead Samsung to be one of the emerging companies with high-quality electrical devices.
He built his influence through the changing notion of higher Samsung managers about brand marketing, establishing GMO unit with different teams to develop marketing, changing budgets for marketing and launching several marketing campaigns in order to gain prestige to Samsung.
