Samsung Electronics Company (SEC) was founded in 1969, as a low-cost manufacturer of black and white televisions.
Throughout the 1980s, SEC supplied massive quantities such as televisions, VCRs, and microwaves ovens. The company sold their product to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that later on will be resold under their big brand name in the industry. In 1993, the company’s chairman, Lee, was initiated to make “ new management initiative”. In order to reconstruct the company from a “cheap OEM” to a “high value-added products provider”, a strong brand power has to be developed.
In effort to reposition its market to a premium brand, the company must increase the emphasis on marketing.The first effort that the company did was recruiting a Korean-born general manager, Eric Kim, as executive vice president of global marketing in 1999. Kim’s mission was to develop a strong corporate brand image in over 200 countries and SEC’s 17 product-focused business units worldwide. Kim stressed the importance of viewing the brand as a core strategic asset, “one that needs to be thought of strategically and built over time.” The main purpose was to create a global brand; the Korean origin of the brand was not emphasized.
Segmenting and Targetting Samsung Electronics operates in one of the most competitive markets of the world. Samsung traditionally had a conservative image that focused on low-price products for the lower end of the market. With low prices it was able to compete in the lower-market whereas in the upper market it had lesser penetration. To penetrate the upper-market Samsung had to focus on innovation and perceiving a higher brand value and gave up their lower-market position. The following is the ST analysis of Samsung products:Segmentation One of the fundamental principles of marketing is the segmentation of the market. Segmentation means the splitting of the market into groups of end users who are:1.
Maximum similarity within each group2. Maximum difference between groups.Based on recent Marketing definitions, Behavioral and Psychographic Segmentation are the definitions that best represent Samsung’s current Segmentation Strategy.Samsung has reached the segment for rural areas as well as urban areas.
Samsung is one of the largest electronic manufacturers and it has a big market shares around the world competing with Apple. It has something for everyone.On the demographic segmentation, as Samsung Electronics Company is the company which handles various electronic products from iron to refrigerator, Samsung has various strategies for every generation and sex as well. For example, they manufacture various colors of cell phone for both genders and they put specific function for specific gender or age. Samsung Electronics also considers social classes. They launch many various events for those who cannot afford to buy their products and sell some products at lower price.
When graduation day or admission day, Samsung Electronics sells their products at lower price than original price. Nowadays, they started to produce cheap smart phones, which include basic function but not fancy design.Samsung products are available for those customers too who have their choice based on their lifestyle. Samsung came with innovative and various design that aimed for a vast target market, from business people, to young spirited person.
