Marketing of Samsung Galaxy Gear (Smart Watch) - Assignment Example

SAMSUNG GALAXY GEAR (SMART WATCH) Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 Current Positioning of Samsung Galaxy Gear in Australia 2 Marketing mix for the Samsung Galaxy Smart Watch 2 Current Product 3 Current Pricing 6 Current Place 7 Current Promotion 7 Brand Positioning Theory for Samsung Galaxy Gear 9 Reference List 10 Introduction Samsung Galaxy Gear is one of the Android based smart watches which are manufactured by the Samsung Electronics. It serves as the apt companion for most of the Samsung Galaxy tablets and smart phones that run on Android 4.3. The Galaxy Gear makes use of Android based operating system with a minimalistic interface as well as gesture based navigation. In order to pair it with any tablet or smart phone, the NFC tag within the charging cradle of Gear is stimulated to trigger the installation of Gear Manager Application, which coordinates the pairing of devices with this Gear over the Bluetooth. Gear Manager is used primarily for adjusting the device settings and installing various applications by means of Samsung Apps. Current Positioning of Samsung Galaxy Gear in Australia Samsung Electronics, Australia announced that the Samsung Galaxy Gear would be available in the country from 18th September 2013. It has been declared as the first wearable mobile technology range which acts as the companion device for the most recent Galaxy Note 3. The product launch has been announced globally on 5th September 2013 in Berlin. The Samsung Galaxy Gear has combined features of stylish design, smart device connectivity and the latest mobile technology presented in the form of a wrist watch. It represents one of the most exciting moves of Samsung in terms of pioneering the innovation which provides the users with high meaningful experience and provides increased freedom while using the mobile technology. According to Tyler McGee, this product offering would be changing the entire mobile technology landscape. The Australians feel satisfied with purchasing this highly innovated product. There is a huge demand of the product in Australia as it operates as the companion device to Galaxy note 3 by means of the advanced Bluetooth technology thereby ensuring the ability of these smart watches to make phone calls, use supported mobile applications and photograph with the Galaxy Gear Camera. Marketing mix for the Samsung Galaxy Smart Watch The 4P’s of marketing provides a set of policies related to the product, price, place and promotion which generally has an impact on the purchasing decision of customers. The policies are made by the management of the organization (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel 2011, 23). The success of a business enterprise includes a long procedure. Firstly, the achievement of success depends on marketing. Secondly, the success associated with marketing depends upon implementation of marketing strategies and lastly, the marketing strategies deal with all the important elements of the marketing mix. Thus, it is very important to implement appropriate strategies in the marketing mix as it is very essential for the attainment of success by the organizations. Marketing mix is the combination of the marketing strategies implemented by the organizations (Belohlavek 2008, 28). Current Product The product or the service strategy of an organization should be planned in such a manner that it attracts the customers very easily (Havaldar 2005, 88). It should be planned effectively in order to satisfy the needs and demands of the customers and also, generate some differential advantage over the product offerings of other competitors (Hobbs 2011, 92; Masterson and Pickton 2010, 43). Describe the physical characteristics of the product. What benefit or (benefits) is the consumer getting when they buy this product? The product specification of Samsung Galaxy Gear has been given below along with the benefits received by the users: Processor 800 MHz Processor Display 1.63 inch Camera 1.9 Megapixel Video Codec- H.264 Format- MP4 HD (720 p) Recording Audio Codec- AAC Format- M4A Featured Apps ‘Atooma’ is one of the contextually responsive horizontal intelligence platforms which make the Samsung Galaxy Gear even smarter. ‘Banjo’ provides the power to analyze what is happening presently at any place of the world. ‘Evernote Watch app’ helps in memorizing moments by capturing the images or memories and then incorporating essential reminders into the Galaxy Gear. ‘Glympse’ help people in easily sharing their locations temporarily and also let the recipients watch the movement on one map. ‘Line’ is one of the global messaging services available in more than 230 countries all over the world. ‘Path’ is one of the personal networks designed for bringing the user closer to the friends and family. ‘Runkeeper’ is a personal trainer that helps the user in tracking the runs, setting the goals and remaining motivated. Samsung Services Samsung Apps Connectivity Bluetooth ® ‘v 4.0 + BLE’ Memory 512 MB (RAM) + 4 GB (Internal Memory) Battery Standard Battery Dimension 73.8 gm, (11.1X56.6X36.8) mm (Source: Samsung Electronics 2013) Are there extra services or products that the consumer gets when purchasing the product? Additional Features In case of an emergency, if a power button is pressed three times consecutively, the information related to the user’s location is immediately transferred to the selected contacts with the specified emergency message. How many makes and models does this product come in? The smart watches are available in the Australian market in a range of six colors. They are namely, Mocha Gray, Jet Black, Wild Orange, Rose Gold, Oatmeal Beige and Lime Green. The product has carefully crafted a balance in between high functionality and premium design. It gives the users the ability of creating, reading and interacting with the mobile contents from their watch on the wrist itself. Who usually uses the product – consumers or businesses? The product is used by the affluent customers to meet the requirements of their luxurious lifestyles. The features offered by the product attract a large range of customers. How much time are consumers willing to spend looking for the product? If they cannot find this product, will they accept a substitute product? The consumers seek detailed information about the product from the online websites. They even go to the retail stores to gather the accurate information about the product and its features. The substitutes of Samsung Galaxy Gear are wall clocks, mobile phones, tablets, laptops and music players. However, it is very difficult to assemble all these features in one product as done effortlessly by Samsung Galaxy Gear. It is due to this reason that it is highly demanded by maximum users. How long has the product been in the market? As already stated above, the product has been available in Australia from September 2013. It would be available in the Samsung electronics stores. Current Pricing Price is one of the important elements in the marketing mix because the pricing strategy always has an impact on the demand, sales, profit and the competitive strength (Czinkota 2012, 19). The impact of wrong pricing strategy might cause severe harm to the efficiency in various functional areas. It is due to this reason that the pricing strategy should be decoded and implemented very carefully. Some of the pricing strategies that should be considered while formulating the pricing strategy include profit maximization, price stability, improvement in the market share condition and adapting to the competitive market. Price is defined as the exchange value of the products and services in monetary terms. What kind of competitive market situation does this product exist in? The Samsung Galaxy Gear has been available for sale from 3rd October 2013 in Australia. It was available at an RRP of $ 369 in Samsung Experience stores of Sydney and Melbourne. It is made available by means of selected Samsung retailing partners or the telecommunication operators. The company does not follow competitive pricing strategy for this product. Rather, it should follow competitive pricing strategy for the product ‘Samsung Galaxy Gear’ in Australia. According to the analysts, the competitors are expected to enter the market with competitive pricing strategy which would stimulate the competitiveness among majority of the technology companies in the market (Business Spectator Pty Ltd 2013). If there is a change in the price of this product what will happen to consumer demand? Is the current price higher than competitors’ prices, lower than competitors’ prices or about the same as competitors’ prices? Samsung had been selling its products at a price higher than the competitor’s price offerings. It is due to this reason that the company has decided to lower down its price to $ 199 so that it looks justified in the eyes of the customers. The analysts suggest that the premium pricing strategy is not the appropriate pricing strategy for Samsung Galaxy Gear. The implementation of competitive pricing strategy would help in driving the uptake of the product and setting the foundation for a thriving application development community. This would help in achieving success in the market by overcoming the competition within next few years. Do consumers base their purchase decision for this product on price or do they base it on the product image, features or quality? Although the customers do not focus only on the price of the products while choosing, it definitely acts as one of the factors which influences their decision making process. In case of Samsung Galaxy Gear, the product quality and the features available in the product increase its demand among the customers. Current Place Place determines the location of any product or service product. The purchasing decision of the customers is also influenced by their availability in the market place (Worsam, 2003). The channels of distribution play an important role in the decision making criteria of the consumers. Can consumers buy the product directly from the business that made it? List at least 4 of the locations where consumers can purchase this product. Describe 2 different locations where consumers can purchase this product. What are some characteristics of the product that influence its distribution? Vodafone is the one and only carrier which offer Galaxy Gear to the customers in Australia. The customers in Australia are up for the $ 75 monthly plan with Galaxy Note 3. They seem to prefer paying $ 13 per month extra for purchasing Galaxy Gear. The other areas where the product is available include retail stores and online stores. The retail stores include Samsung Experience Stores in Sydney and Melbourne. The product range would be available via chosen Samsung retail partners as well as telecommunication operators. Current Promotion What is the theme of the current promotions? Based on the current promotions, what is the business trying to accomplish in its promotion of this product? Promotion can be defined as the effort of an organization for stimulating the product’s demand in its market without implementing much change in the product mix, pricing strategy or the distribution channel. It includes efforts of the marketers by means of providing information to the consumers and persuading them in buying the products (Kumar n.d., 22). Higher importance is given to persuasive communication in the promotional activity. The promotional objectives which are taken into consideration include stimulation of the product’s demand, providing information to the customers and making the other elements in the marketing mix highly meaningful. The important sets of elements that are present in the marketing mix include stakes promotion, advertising, direct marketing and personal selling (Anderson and Dubinsky 2004, 42). Advertising It is the one of the best mediums which helps in communicating with the customers and act as an essential element in the promotional mix. In today’s world, it is very difficult for sellers to reach to the exact target whose needs would require matching with the product offerings. In such situations, the advertisements by means of various media acts as effective ways of providing information related to the products or services to the right people and at the right time. There is broad range of available media which helps in the promotion of the product offerings of an organization. They include newspapers, magazines, radio, television and most definitely, Internet. Advertising plays the most significant role in creating such an image which would grab the attention of the customers immediately. Internet acts as one of the most effective ways of conveying message to the consumers about the product of the organization (Baker 2012, 55-58). In such case, online advertisements as well as promotions by means of social networking channels such as, Facebook and Twitter turn out to be useful to a great extent. Sales Promotion Sales promotion is the activity designed for boosting the sale of a company’s products. In more specific terms, it includes offers with short term incentives in order to stimulate the demands of the customers. It might include increased public relation activities, various advertisement campaigns, attractive price offerings, free sample campaigning, telemarketing and door to door selling. The latest sales promotion that has been done by Samsung Electronics include the availability of Samsung Galaxy Gear and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in Australia at RRP $ 550 with additional bonus application and entertainment package (Samsung 2013). The premium offers would be available from the local partners as well as the international content partners. Brand Positioning Theory for Samsung Galaxy Gear The brand positioning is an important step in any business activities as it is definitely another stepping stone for the achievement of success. It deals with the planning of the new products. The brand positioning always ensures the fact that the brand activity has a definite and common aim that is guided as well as delivered by the reputation of the brand. It includes the procedure by which marketers would be developing an identity or image related to the brand, product and organization for the target customer segment. The successful brand positioning depends upon identification or communication of the differentiation, innovation and uniqueness of the brand. Brand positioning related to the product of an organization includes following steps: 1. Identifying direct competition within the business 2. Considering the brand positioning of other competitors in the market. 3. Recording the present positioning of the organization. 4. Comparing the positioning of the organization with its competitors for identifying the areas of differentiation. 5. Creating a significant position statement in order to communicate effectively with the target customer segment. Samsung Galaxy Gear is one of the most advanced smart watches that have been developed. Thus, it has a unique positioning in the market already. Although there are a large number of competitors in the market, the uniqueness of the company’s products makes it stand out among them. Samsung Electronics generally targets the affluent customers as its target segment. Reference List Anderson, Rolph E., and Anderson Dubinsky. Personal Selling: Achieving Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. Baker, Michael J. The Marketing Book. London: Routledge, 2012. Belohlavek, Peter. Unicist Marketing Mix. Houston: Blue Eagle Group, 2008. Business Spectator Pty Ltd. “Samsung demos the Samsung Galaxy Gear and how it interacts with the Samsung Note 3.” Accessed November 4, 2013. http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/9/27/technology/review-samsung-galaxy-gear Czinkota, Michael R. International Marketing. Connecticut: Cengage Learning, 2012. Havaldar, Krishna K. Industrial Marketing: Text and Cases. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2005. Hobbs, Dennis. Applied Lean Business Transformation: A Complete Project Management Approach. Newcastle: J. Ross Publishing, 2011. Kumar. Mktg Of Hospitality & Tourism Serv. New York: Tata McGraw-Hill Education, No Date. Lamb, Charles W., Hair, Jr., and ‎Carl D. McDaniel. Essentials of Marketing. Connecticut: Cengage Learning, 2011. Masterson, Rosalind., and David Pickton. Marketing: An Introduction. California: SAGE, 2010. Masterson, ‎David Pickton. Samsung Electronics. “Samsung GALAXY Gear to land in Australia.” Accessed November 4, 2013. http://www.samsung.com/au/news/localnews/2013/samsung-galaxy-gear-to-land-in-australia Samsung. “Purchase Samsung GALAXY Note 3 & Gear and receive over $550* worth of value.” Accessed November 4, 2013. http://www.samsung.com/au/promotions/ Read More