1.

Marketing Plan

The market for consumer electronics, electronic components and high-tech
gadgets has always been rapidly evolving and growing. With the advent of
technologies, the modern world has forever changed and shaped the way people
lived their lives. The growth of technological advancements has pushed
electronic manufacturers to engage in tight competition offering different variety
of products that addresses consumers wants and needs. With more
manufacturers investing into research and development for a class leading
innovation and technological breakthroughs, more manufacturers are also being
displaced from the market. Many companies vanished in the market due to
incompetence and failure to stay in the competition. Everywhere we go, we
always see the existence of high-end technologies and technical innovations
around us. This proves that the market for consumer electronics is among the
largest product market in the world. A market as large as this will never be too
easy to penetrate because of the existence of large manufactures with years of
expertise and experience. So far, Samsungs marketing strategies has put them
into the top leading provider in the market and gaining the largest market share
in the business today.

Current Situation and Trends

Growth and development of the electronics market has always been serious and
rapid. This is fueled by the changes in the consumer behavior with regard to
their attachment with technologies. Consumers have never been contented with
previous technology offerings by electronic manufacturers. This has pushed
electronic manufacturing companies to be aggressive in developing technological
advancements and class-leading innovations which will cater accordingly to the
consumer wants and needs in terms of technology. Current trends in the market
today involves electronic products which offers ease of use, environmental
safety, accessibility and availability altogether at a reasonable price. Innovations
that set the taste and feel of the people are also accounted currently. Samsung
Electronics has never failed in performing what has been the trend nowadays.
They even have innovations that are becoming essential part of everyday living
such as the smartphones. They didnt just provide the needs of the people; they
literally create the need for the people.

Their rough start and background clearly speaks for their determination to
succeed in this business. From being a manufacturing company offering low-cost
electronic products, they have developed into a high-end manufacturer of
electronic products providing exquisite design and usability. The companys
diverse heritage and background on manufacturing consumer electronics and
electronic components has made them excel in the market today. Furthermore,
investing a lot of the companys capital into research and development for
innovations was a brilliant and smart move for them. As of now, the company
continues to stay on top of the market offering an ecosystem of electronic
products.

Performance Review
Samsung Electronics built their foundation way back in the 1970s; offering cheap
12-inch television sets under the Sanyo label. The company then realized that by
remaining in this manner and situation, they would never excel in the market. By
mainly relying on price as their competitive advantage, they have foreseen the
disaster coming on their way. Waking up from this realization, Samsungs top
managers made a bold move by changing the companys image into a much
classier and design-focused manufacturer of electronic products. Technical
innovation and research and development are a crucial stage for the company
because it can be a make or break strategy; but Samsungs determination and
hard work played a vital role in pursuing this strategy. New product
development and design offerings made an impact on the consumers taste and
preference. Moreover, their design language offers functions and benefits which
made people realize that their worth the price.

Key Issues

The main issues faced by Samsung Electronics were the ever growing demand
and changing consumer taste and preference on technologies. Adding up to the
pile, was the Asian financial crisis in 1997 making a major strategic shift
essential for survival. Also by mainly relying on the price as their competitive
edge, the company foresaw the challenge from the Chinese manufacturers along
the Asian market. Samsung Electronics has been wise enough to have developed
and implemented key actions not only to prevent the threats from happening but
also to avoid them from cutting through the companys capital. Listed below are
the key actions developed by the company.

Key actions
Making a bold move by changing companys structure in line with its
strategic campaign change everything except your spouse and children
Build an image of the company as a stylish, high-quality brand
commanding a premium price
The use of technical innovation and design to appeal to younger and
relatively upscale customer segments around the world
Head start on technical innovation, research and development
New product development and design
Build the Samsung brand through competitive marketing programs

In addition, success attained by the company can diminish in time when not
taken proper control. Few actions can also be implemented in order to sustain
current operation. Listed below are few key actions to secure steady operation.

Control its own technical destiny and not just copy others
Control its growth and development
Monitor current improvements and technical innovations to secure
genuine products



Objectives
Samsung Electronics objective was to build its image and brand to suit
consumers taste and preference also benefiting their wants and needs.
Moreover, they also aim to make technological advancements and class leading
innovations to provide an image of premium look and feel all throughout their
product offerings. Here are some objectives that need to be considered.

Maintain positively controlled growth and development
Generate marketing programs that aims to penetrate other markets
Maintain the increased brand awareness through promotions and
sponsorships
Develop strategies that will address customer feedback on their products

Marketing Strategy

Samsung Electronics made a very good marketing strategy, which positioned
them as the leading manufacturer of consumer electronics and electronic
components in the market today. It is evident that a good marketing strategy
would really determine a companys success provided that proper
implementation is carefully monitored all throughout the operation of the
business. Samsung Electronics started everything with the market strategy of
changing everything in the company to be more competitive and advanced. From
being a cost-driven company they completely changed their structure into a
much more solid manufacturing company.

Their first move was to aim a new competitive strategy at developing and
marketing technically superior products while building an image of Samsung as a
stylish, high-quality brand commanding a premium price. The idea was to create
an impression of a unique way of penetrating the market by offering technical
innovation and design to captivate younger consumers as well as the relatively
upscale customer segments.

Furthermore, investing in research and development and technical innovation,
the company has managed to achieveclass leading electronic products that have
set trends in the market. It also enabled them to control its own technical destiny
and not just copy others. With much focus on core technologies common to other
group of company, such as semi-conductors, large LCDs, display drivers, chipsets
and mobile telephony, they have become pioneer manufacturers in the digital
world, which they sought out would require new skills and innovations.

In addition, the company did not settle with just cutting-edge innovation alone to
gain advantage in the market. They developed technologies which has taste and
functionality adding up aesthetics and good ergonomics; connecting fairly well
on the feelings and emotions of the consumers. Providing these set of product
design and functionality, they also considered the price of having this product.
They make sure that the customers get what they paid for. In order to achieve
this idea, they involve a team of product designers who collaborate closely with
their engineers, manufacturing people, marketers and market researchers. They
also involved into outsourcing to stay in touch with customers in different
countries. This includes immersing their product designers into seven design
centers in cities like London, Tokyo, Shanghai and San Francisco. Moreover,
constant monitoring and evaluation of the feedback from customers enables
them to ascertain consumer taste and preference.

Lastly, they made huge efforts of developing marketing programs to build up the
Samsung brand around the world. They have sought out that there is a need for
them to develop strong and aggressive brand awareness for customers to have
sufficient information on their products.

Action plans

Samsung Electronics started with an image of being a low-class manufacturer of
electronic products. Diversifying into a high-end manufacturer they had become
the leading industry in the digital world today. Their marketing programs and
strategies are very good and well implemented throughout the firm. My concern
would be that if Samsung did not wait for many years to have decided this
change, they might have gone more and better from what they are today. I think
that with strong brand awareness for people to know their product would also
be an option for their success.

With the success they have achieved today, we could easily say that they are as
hard as rock when it comes to competition. But the company should not be too
complacent with what they have now. Listed below are some action plans that
Samsung Electronics should consider for years to come.

Invest on research and development concerned with problems regarding
environmental safety. They should not only focus on providing the needs
and wants of the customers in terms of technology. They must also be
concerned with the ecosystem where their customers reside and develop
products which help preserve the environment for the future generations.
Invest on research and development concerned with current issues which
will pose a big threat for the company in the future. There are a lot of
things to be considered here, such as raw materials being used for
production, network of branches for much tighter connection with
potential customers, security of trade secrets etc.
Proper control and monitoring of production. They should not over-
produce or oversell products because it would incur loss.
Expansion of business into other parts of the world to reach more people
who will be aware of the products.
Penetrate other markets rather than just the consumer electronics and
electronic components.








2. TOWS Matrix

Based on SWOT analysis and the subsequent SFAS matrix, below is the TOWS
Matrix for Samsung that recommends strategies that it should leverage to ensure
present and future growth

Internal factors

Strengths Weaknesses
External
Factors
Opportunities SO Strategies
Investment in research
and development
Acquisitions for growth
Leverage brand for
growth and expansion
in emerging markets
WO Strategies
New markets for increasing
profitability
Higher margin innovative
products to drive profitability
Acquisition of new technology
for innovation
Threats ST Strategies
Leverage brand to
differentiate
Focus on innovation
for higher margins
WT Strategies
Differentiation to avoid
commoditization
Diversification into new
emerging markets
Invest in branding and
customer loyalty programs

As can be seen from the above TOWS matrix, Samsung should pursue
growth, expansion in emerging markets, invest in innovation and
research and go for a differentiation strategy as its future strategy.
Discussed below are the recommended strategy based on the TOWS
matrix
1. Growth Based on its strength of market capitalization, access to
funds and a very strong brand, Samsung should aggressively
pursue growth through various means such as international
expansion, regional expansion and expansion through acquisition
to ensure that it comes out f the current tough economic
conditions as a dominant entity on the world level and as the
strongest player in each of the geographies that it operates in.
2. Differentiation In order to move away from profitability
pressures and ensure that it is not competing at the lower end of
the market, Samsung should strengthen its investment in research
and developments and also possible try to capture additional value
or access to new and cutting edge technology through acquisitions.
This will ensure that it has better profitability and also that it is
catering to the higher value added market that has good demand
and also very good profitability.
3. Information technology focus To ensure better targeted
positioning and also products that meet the customer needs,
Samsung should heavily leverage information technology to
ensure that it is able to satisfy customer needs the best. This would
leverage on its strength of huge market presence and customer
know how to prevent lower profitability and ensure better
satisfaction.
4. Branding and customer loyalty - In order to ensure that it fights off
competition and enjoys a premium positioning that can allow it to
get better margins, Samsung should invest more in branding and
customer loyalty programs that ensure that Samsung is the first
choice when consumers want to purchase anything. Also customer
loyalty would play a very important role in tough economic
conditions such as this and would help customers choose Samsung
over other competitors.