Situational Analysis of Samsung - Coursework Example

Running head: Samsung communication plan 2nd May Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Situational analysis 4 Target 6 Demographics 6 Psychographics 6 Geographic 7 Objectives 7 Strategies 8 Pull 8 Push 9 Profile 10 Schedule of action 12 Conclusion 13 References 14 Introduction In the current business atmosphere, companies have embarked on using all the available strategies to put their competitors at bay. While most of them have hired skilled and experienced workforce, others have adopted effective marketing communication that covers all the major issues in the company. Marketing communication refers to the use of different media to engage with an organization audience or stakeholders. Once the communication is done with an appropriate avenue, the audiences are encouraged to give feedback through their attitude and behaviour. For example, when a new brand is advertised in the developing markets, the consumers increase their demand for the commodity resulting to higher sales for the company. As one of the 4 Ps of marketing, communication is intended to have strategic and tactical implications with the former being long term and the latter short term. The reasons for using market communications include encouraging transaction by differentiating the brands, reinforcing, informing the customers, and persuading the potential buyers. Notably, for communication to have positive impact, consumers must be moved through a series of stages. These include creating awareness, creating interest, evaluation, trial and adoption (Kurtz, 2010). During communication, various tools are used such as advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, direct marketing, public relations, exhibition and digital media. Samsung is a South Korea based multinational company with numerous outlets but the headquarters is based in Seoul. Having been founded in 1938 by Lee Byung-Chul, the company is well known for producing quality brands that meet the needs of the consumers. Some of the quality brands that Samsung produce include Samsung Galaxy Tab A LTE, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.0 LTE, and Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 among others. This paper aims at discussing the marketing communication of Samsung in their effort to market a new smartphone which has user friendly features that makes it a competitive brand in the mobile sector. Situational analysis Samsung are developing a phone with a bendable screen. The product, which is expected to enjoy a strong positive relationship with the consumers, is expected to generate a turnover of $25 million in the first 6 months. In order to ensures that the consumers easily access the new brand, Samsung will establish various outlets mostly in the major cities in emerging market such Cape Town in South Africa, Mumbai in India and São Paulo in Brazil. The company logistics system will also involve trucks whose role will be to transport the finished products from the production facility to the outlets. The new smartphone is in the introduction stage and thus it will incur high expenses during the launching (Adcock, Al Halborg, Caroline, 2001). Samsung will face stiff competition from Nokia, Apple, and Google mobile. PESTEL analysis Political factors- Samsung will need to register with the necessary authorities in order to have the support of the government. While it is being introduced in other countries, the new Smartphone will be treated as a foreign company and thus it may be taxed higher by the local authorities. Additional factors that may affect the operations of the new mobile brand are fiscal policies, and trade tariffs that the foreign government may impose. Economic factor- The impact of the economy where the Smartphone will be introduced will have a significant impact on the performance of the brand. For instance, an increment in the inflation rate will have a negative impact on the price an aspect that may make the consumers not to have high purchasing power leading to reduced sales (Kotler and Keller, 2012). Once the new brand is launched, its performance in the market will be affected by factors such as the exchange rates, the disposable income of the consumers and economic growth of the countries. Social-Social factors are vital since they are used to scrutinize the social environment where the new brand will be operating from. Notably, Samsung will need to use holiday seasons in the emerging and developed markets such as US since the demand for the products is very high. Samsung new product will be health consciousness to meet the needs of the consumers. Technology-With the increased need for innovation, Samsung has noted that mobile customers are now focused at new brands regardless of their prices. Thus, the innovative new brand which has bendable screen will be used as a way of attracting customers who are loyal to the competitors (Dev and Don, 2005). As the company progress in the market, more innovation will be done thus, making the company to effectively deal with the cut-throat competition in the mobile industry. Environmental-Once Samsung parts condition deteriorate due to longer usage, the company will recall the outdated phones to recycle them instead on being thrown in the environment. In this way, the company will regulate the amount of carbon emitted in the atmosphere. Legal-Samsung will adopt the consumers’ rights and laws while advertising and labelling while at the same time it will ensure product safety. While entry in the mobile market is free, companies must adhere to the communication commissions’ authorities for them to be allowed to operate. With the increased demand for mobile phones locally and globally, due to increased number of consumers, Samsung will produce the brand on continuous basis. In this way, it will ensure that the possibility of shortage is significantly reduced. Target Demographics Samsung targets individuals aged between 18 to 50 years. Recently, the demand for the mobile phones especially for college and university students has risen. The Smartphones have internet that has high speed and therefore they are used to visit social media sites by the young consumers. The new Samsung brand will thus target these groups of people and that is why it has installed unique screen thus attracting the attention of the young consumers. Additionally, the new product will target the old consumers aged around 45 to 50 years since most of them have now turned to use of Smartphone to read about political development and investment portfolios. As the globalization takes effect, many countries and organization have turned into posting their activities in the internet. This implies that Samsung will have an opportunity to inform the public about its activities and brands. This implies that by producing the new brand, the company will still be advertising its other brands even though the aim is to capture the attention of the targeted consumers (Mulhern, 2009). One of the causes of low demand for some products is lack of financial strength especially among the low and middle social classes. Samsung aims at providing a brand that meet the needs of its customers regardless of the socio-economic group. In this regard, the company new brand’s price will be low thus making it affordable by all consumers. Psychographics Another aspect that will be considered by the new brand will be based on the Psychographics aspect of the consumers. Psychographic refers to the study of opinions, interests, personality and lifestyles of the potential consumers (McCarthy, 1964). By using this type of segmentation, Samsung assumes that the brand will reflect the consumer’s pattern of living and their characteristics. The first example of psychographic factor that Samsung will consider is social class. This entails dividing the consumers based on the occupation. For example, individuals in higher managerial position, intermediate managerial and supervisory positions are company director, middle managers and bank clerk respectively. Such individuals have a higher income and thus they are potential consumers for Samsung new brand. On the other hand, skilled manual workers, unskilled workers and persons with no income can be plumber, labourer and unemployed respectively. Such people may not have adequate income to purchase the new brand. Thus, Samsung can modify the new product to lower its price for these people to acquire it. Alternatively, the company can come up with a strategy where low income earners will purchase the brand on a hire purchase. Lifestyle is another factor that Samsung will adopt while identifying its target. This entails classifying individuals according to their values and interests among other aspects. With the improved technology worldwide, individuals have high interest in use of Smartphone especially from Samsung Company due to their high quality. Thus, Samsung new brand will enjoy high demand from the consumers who belief that their day to day activities can be improved by use of Samsung products. Geographic Based on the expansive size of the markets, firms should ensure that they effectively distribute their products to avoid delays or lack of customer’s trust. Samsung will first target the customer located within the cities in South Korea and rural areas and then focus on developing and developed countries. Based on the high demand in the urban areas, the company will enjoy high sales and revenue that will assist it in expanding locally and globally. Objectives The first objective for Samsung is to increase its market size by 25% in the first 6 months The company aims at increasing the number of customers by 50% in the first one year through the use of more promotion and advertising Samsung aims at expanding its size by 50% in the first 1 year The company objective is to increase the number of sales executives for the new brand by 45% in the next 2 years to ensure effective distribution of the products Samsung aims at creating strong awareness of its new brand in the next 2 years through the use of television advertisements and digital methods of marketing Samsung is focused at creating strong interest among the potential customers in the first 3 months by providing a 15% discount on the new brand and giving free orientation to the customers on how the brand works and its benefits Strategies Pull For any company to be successful there is need to cater for the needs of the consumers while dealing with them and after sale. Samsung will use the pull strategy that will focus on the interest of its customers in the market. First, the company will provide a quality product that has all the features common in most of the smartphones. In this way, it will create a strong positive customer-brand relationship that lead to high sales and increased revenue. Additionally, the company will initially sell the new brand in low prices to create an immediate impact and attract the attention of the customer who are loyal to the competitors (Flew, 2008). Given the stiff competition that Samsung will experience from Nokia and other firms, the penetrative pricing will be appropriate for the company at the launching time. The prices can be increased later by a certain percentage in order to avoid making losses as well as to increase revenue to be used for further expansion. Once the product is introduced in the market, the company will give a 15% discount for the brand thus making its demand to increase significantly. Even though the company will offer low priced brand, the quality will not be compromised. This will ensure that it remains competitive in the market. The orientation that Samsung sales executive will offer to the customer will be an important opportunity to ensure that they are able to use it to undertake their day to day activities. Push Companies that have effective distribution channels are in a better position to access the market. This implies that there it is imperative for firms to maintain positive relationship with their partners in the distribution chain. On its part, Samsung aims at emulating the Maslow theory of motivation where it looks at the personal needs of the parties. For example, motivating retailers by providing them with commissions depending with the units of products they sell. Based on the fact that the company aims at expanding ate the rate of 50% within the first year, it implies that it needs to have strong distribution system. Once the products are released from the production facility, they will be transported to the wholesalers located in various towns. For the wholesaler to feel part and parcel of the company, they will be provided with storage benefits and allowances beside the monthly salaries. In this way, their level of motivation will increase leading to improved performance and increased company revenue. On their part, the employees within the production facility will play an important role since they will be under obligation to make the product according to the actual design. This means that they will require extensive training which acts as a form, of motivation for the already experienced and skilled workers (Rajagopal, 2007). Additionally, the workers who are the producer will be provided with allowances such as annual bonuses and part time free courses among others. Besides the commissions that final outlets will get, the company will be providing them with information that they will pass to the end users. In this way, the relationship between the retailers and the consumers will greatly improve resulting to more sales for the company. Profile The success of a firm regardless of their size depends on public and other stakeholders’ perception among other issues. Samsung is international brand that has for a long time enjoyed public support due to quality brands it produces. This implies that once it launches the new brand, the public who still value the company will ultimately increase their demand for the product (Kotler and Kevin, 2009). Even though some of Samsung Galaxy brands are expensive, the company has affordable brands which can be found in developed as well as developing countries. As competition becomes stiff in the global market, some companies have used various illegal methods to increase their profits. However, for Samsung, the public is an important part of the company since it contains the potential customers. For example, the company established Samsung Securities’ Volunteer group ‘NANUM’ in 1995 with the aim of providing free social activities as a way of giving hope to the local societies. In this way, the image Samsung has continued to improve. To cater for the needs of the youth, Samsung Securities’ flagship program was established in 2005. The aim of the program is to help teenagers and children to have a better future and have reasonable decision making ability. The company is also focused at working in a clean environment and reduce carbon emissions. For instance, in the areas of alternative energy and water, the company established Samsung Global Alternative Energy Fund and Samsung Global Water Fund respectively. All these strategies have improved the perception of all stakeholders, an aspect that has benefited Samsung in terms of sales and employees motivation. This means that the new Smartphone is been launched by a company that has very strong public support. For Samsung bendable screen to effectively enter the market, the company needs to utilize communication tools. Communication plays a significant role in the transaction since the company will be able to inform and persuade the customers about the new Samsung bendable screen. Additionally, after creating awareness of the bendable screen the customers can differentiate the normal screen and the new entrant bendable screen. It is obvious that Samsung has to create awareness for the new bendable screen to be accepted in the market. Communication tools Advertising as a communication tool will play a significant role in ensuring that Samsung new brand has entered the market. The tool is non-personal and has a high degree of control over design and delivery, and many consumers are going to be aware of the screen. Through advertising, mass communication to the customers is achieved though it is costly (Espejo, 2010). The use of sales promotion can be used to create awareness of Samsung product since after advertising, fliers with the drawing of the bendable screen and sample of the screen should be shown to the customers (Ryan and Jones, 2009). The tool for communication can target particular individuals since seminars, and other gatherings can be held to create awareness of the Samsung new product. The tool is low cost since one only needs to pay the sales person. Direct marketing is the best communication tool that can make it effective for Samsung to inform the customers about the new upcoming Samsung new product. It is based on the fact that it is a personalized communication tool that does not require intermediaries and thus the company itself will go to the ground to market the product. Direct marketing creates a good relationship with the customers since it does not involve intermediaries to market the new product. The next important communication tool that can be used by Samsung to inform customers about the new bendable screen is having a good public relationship (Carter and Brooks, 2007). Public relationship, if utilized properly, will be very influential since Samsung have good reputations to the society. Good public relationship implies that Samsung will obtain a strategy that will be credible and thus making the product to generate high profit when it will enter the market. The use of digital media plays a significant role in ensuring that awareness of new entrant product in the market is achieved. For example, the company can use channels like the Google, YouTube, Facebook and television among others (Carroll, 2010). Digital media makes it possible to create awareness within the shortest time possible. The use of liking and sharing of Samsung new brand will play a significant role in informing the customers about the upcoming new screen. It is based on the fact that many people use Facebook and other social media tools to communicate (Flynn, 2009). The last communication tool is exhibitions which involve trade shows and expositions. An exhibition creates awareness and thus Samsung should come up with exhibitions showing how the new bendable screen is better than the other screens. The communication tool mostly works best in business to business or where there are channels of intermediaries. Schedule of action 1st month 2nd month 3rd month 4th month 5th month 6th month Advertising Exhibitions Digital media Public relations Direct marketing Promotions Advertising will be used to inform the customers about a new Samsung product with bendable screen. When the customers are aware of the innovative screen, then the next step to engage in are exhibitions that will explain how the Samsung brand functions and can be customized to cater for the emerging customer needs. Digital media will play a significant role in creating awareness both for the young and older generations. Though costly, it will induce strong awareness of the screen to the young individuals who like the Smartphone brands. Samsung is known for the production of high-quality electronic devices, and thus customers have trust with it (Perkins, 2008). The good reputation of the company has been created due to public relations with the clients, and thus management has to go to the ground to convince the customers. The staffs and the entire stakeholders will need to use direct marketing to convince the consumers about the new product. This implies that intermediaries who will act as brokers will be eliminated and thus the screen will not be costly to the customers. The last schedule of action is the promotion, which involves coming up with the screen to the customers and showing them how it will function while undertaking competition that will see some customer winning free phones. Conclusion Samsung Company has a wide range of brands in the international market. With the stiff competition in the mobile industry, Samsung has embarked on production of quality Samsung Galaxy such as Galaxy Tab S6 among others that are highly demanded in the market. In its effort to diversify the product portfolio, the company has now intended to launch a new Smartphone with bendable screen. Thus, as discussed in the paper marketing communication tools becomes a priority for the company. Taking into consideration that the company will focus on developing markets, the first strategy that management will have to emulate is PESTEL analysis. This is due to the fact that political, economic, social, technology and legal factors will have an impact on the performance of the company. As indicated, Samsung new brand will target its customer depending with three aspects which includes demographics, psychographics and geographic. The company major objectives are to create interest, strong awareness and expansion of its size. All these will be achieved by the use of effective communication in the market. Additionally, the use of strategies including pull, push and profile will create strong linkage among all the stakeholders including customers, chain members and public. Some of the communication tool that Samsung applies and will be utilised by the new brand include advertising through television and other media, exhibitions, digital media, public relations, direct marketing and promotions. All these tools are effective in creating strong awareness once the product is launched. Based on this paper, it is clear that without clear communication, new brands may fail in the market regardless of the firm’s size. It is vital to note that even companies like Samsung and Nokia are competitors but they do not violate laws by engaging in unethical behaviours. Their focus is quality improvement and good public relations. References Adcock, D, Al Halborg and Caroline, 2001. Introduction. Marketing: principles and practice. London: Sage. Carroll, N. 2010. The communication problem solver simple tools and techniques for busy managers. New York: American Management Association. Carter, B. & Brooks, G. 2007. Digital Marketing for Dummies. New York: John Wiley & Sons Dev, C and Don E. 2005. In the Mix: A Customer-Focused Approach Can Bring the Current Marketing Mix into the 21st Century. Marketing Management 4 (2). Espejo, R. 2010. Advertising. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. Flew, T. 2008. New Media: an introduction. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Flynn, N. 2009. 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