A Report Analysis On Marketing Plan of Samsung Galaxy S8

Question: Discuss about the Report for Marketing and Communications (Marketing Plan of Samsung Galaxy S8). Answer: Executive Summary In the recent times Samsung electronics has proved itself to among the most noted brands in selling smart phones. The introduction of new products in the markets such as Galaxy S series for the high end buyers and J series for the budget buyers, it has proved itself to be among the most diverse players in the mobile industry. With the launch of the aforementioned products the company has proved itself to outnumber its competitors and be among the best sellers in the mobile market. With the increasing demand of Samsung J7 and Galaxy S8 Smartphone, it is crucial for the company to frame an effective marketing plan for the launch of Samsung Galaxy S8. The report deals with developing marking and communication blueprints to meet the necessary objectives of the company and the intended planning process. The designing if the marketing plan is focus on developing a strategy which will particularly focus on competing with its major rivals such as Apple. The report shows the extensive analysi s of the potential marketing opportunities which will enhance the launch of the new product Samsung Galaxy S8. Are You Daunted by the Thought of Due Assignments? Avail Our Services and Receive Assignment Help from Experts. Company Overview: Samsung electronics limited was founded by Lee Byung- Chul in the year 1938. The South Korean company with its headquarters in Suwon, South Korea is known for its excellence in the mobile division in the year 2014 (Samsung UK 2016). The electronic division of the company is responsible for generating more than 70% of the revenues for the company. The company was able to crack the 200 millionth mark in terms of increasing of the market share in the year 2015 (Bloomberg.com. 2016). The company is known for leading in several other domains as well such as Samsung Washing machines, Samsung Laptops and Samsung LCD. Due to the success of the various ranges of the electronic products of the company is known for being placed in the third position in the 3rd position for the excellence in the talent development, also known as ATD (Association for Talent Development) awards. The South Korean electronics giant is known for the production of the best Android platform Smartphone and offering several innovative feature such as dust proof, hand gesture finger print reader etc. The company is known to survive the Asian financial crisis in the year 1997. The iconic smart watch launched by the company named as Gear fit 2 and wireless ear buds was a major step toward the mobile innovation which was observed to be one of a kind innovation in the year 2016. In the recent situation the company is facing fierce challenges in keeping the prices of the new products competitive in compare to competitors such as Apple and Google (Bloomberg.com. 2016) Current Marketing, analysis It is highly significant to analyze the internal and external business environment of Samsung for better understanding the current marketing scenarios. This is relevant because current business condition provides opportunities or threats to the business community (Armstrong et al. 2014). Every business organization tries to grasp the available opportunity and face the threats that emerge from the environment of the business. This section, thus, will analyze PESTEL for external business environment and SWOT for investigating internal factors of Samsung. External Factors (PESTEL Analysis): Political factors: There are several political factors impacts revenue and long-term growth prospects of Samsung Electronics in direct and indirect ways such as stable political conditions, government attitude towards the industry, international pressure groups, and risk of military invasion and so on (Samsung Electronics America 2016). It has been found that Samsung has already involved several political scandals in its domestic market in South Korea (Bloomberg.com 2016). However, majority of the markets that Samsung reaches, the political environment is favorable for its operation. On the contrary, political instability and volatile structure of the government in Latin America and African countries impact Samsungs operations. Although it is not a big issue for the company to worry about as the company always puts political instability into its operational strategic calculations. Economic factors: Strong currency of Korea is one of the major economic factors that proved to have detrimental impacts of revenue of Samsung. By opening up many markets in the developing countries, Samsung has been able to expand its worldwide reach or footprint. However, there are several economic crisis impacts the purchasing power of global clients of Samsung in developed countries and this is the reason why the company is looking forward to enter into the new markets elsewhere. Socio-cultural factors: Increasing popularity of mobile devices and an immense usage across the world encourages the consumption of the products offered by Samsung. However, the frequent changes in consumer demand or trend is indeed a biggest operational challenge for the manufacturer. Thus, with the changing social trends, Samsung has ensured its growth and it has tailored its products to fit every culture in the world. Technological factors: Samsung is a prominent and innovative electronic products and service provider company. The company is ahead of its competitors as the company has immense capabilities to exploit the power of technology. Despite the legislative scrutiny by the electronic and copyright institutions, the company has been able to produce great software and applications among other products. Therefore, Samsung has an advantage of using the power of technology which can drive innovation for sustainable business advantages. Legal factors: Samsung finds difficulties to avoid heavy penalties related to the issues of Copyrights (Bloomberg.com 2016). However, the company faced strict wireless communication regulations and follows the legislative requirements for electronic device safety regulations across the world. Environmental factors: By considering the needs of the ethical fashionable consumers, Samsung has successfully maintained the environmental factors. This indicates the company does not compromise the working conditions or the labor laws. Internal Factors (SWOT Analysis): Strengths Unique designs Application of advanced operating system Worldwide brand reputation Highly potential RD department Strong intelligence in marketing capabilities The company already captures a greater than 40 percent of the smart-phone market across the world. Weaknesses Profit margin is low Dependency on other companies for the application of the operating system into their electronic devices ((Bloomberg.com 2016) Too much product diversity Slightly loosing the brand image due to infringement Opportunities Growing market share in developing countries such as India, Bangladesh and many other Asian countries. Sound financial position Acquisition of the new companies High switching consumer preferences to smart phone Threats Large number of competitors such as Apple, HTC and so on Potential Chinese competitors are gaining competitive advantages Frequently changing market trends (Source: Samsung Electronics America 2016) Objectives: The main objective of the company lies in introduction of groundbreaking products such as Samsung Galaxy Note 5, Samsung Galaxy S series, Samsung laptops etc. The company is known for offering wide range of the products availability of both premium range and budget range of the various types of mobile products. The company has already made several innovations in the S7 model of the mobile. The new edge feature in the display allows the users to see the notifications and read messages without turning the screen on. (De Mooij 2013). This is possible due to the round shape of the screen introduced in the new models of the mobile. In the recent times Samsung has taken the policy of aggressive marketing strategy in the premium model its mobile phones i.e. Samsung Galaxy S7. Due to the success of the present model of the device the company is aiming to improve the marketing strategy of the next line of model of S series that is S8. (Levinson 2012). Strategy Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) Strategy and Segmentation: The segmentation strategy by the company puts an augmented focus on the characteristic of the customers present in a particular demographic region. The primary target groups of customers of Samsung are business professionals, middle class strata of people and teenagers. Product development is one of the prominent growth strategies for businesses (Armstrong et al. 2014). In this case, Samsung electronics should use Ansoffs Matrix for lunching Samsung Galaxy S8. (Source: Created by author) Targeting: With the launch of the Samsung galaxy S8 the phone will be targeted for the consumers based on both international and domestic markets. Samsung is responsible for targeting of the consumers belonging to both middle class and high class of the society in order to promote its new product. Here the target groups of the new product of the company are as follows: Target Consumers Age Group Income Group Preference characteristics of proposed products Business professionals, working individuals 22-45 Minimum $400 per month Improved battery service, advanced operating system, huge storage space Students/Youth 16-25 - Advanced applications like free installed apps facilities, Improved camera (Source: Created by author) Positioning: Samsung galaxy S8 promises to meet the several requirements of the loyal buyers in the industry and then loyal customer of Samsung Mobiles. As per the CEO of the company Jong-Kyun Shin has confirms that the new model of the phone will introduce several new features such as 4200 mAh battery, 30 megapixel rear camera having optical image stabilization, geo tagging, face recognition and auto laser focus. Several improvements have been made in the screen of the mobile such as corning gorilla glass, Bluetooth version 5.0, retina eye scanner, wireless charging, mini projector and rapid charging technology. All these new features are unique from the products of competitors. For example, the processor feature in the S8 model is Snapdragon Qualcomm octa-core 3.2 GHz which is also faster than its competitor Apple I-phone 6 (Zhiqiang 2013) The company has further decided to lunch their product by using the aggressive marketing strategy (Dwyer and Priluck 2012). This will help to create competit ive advantages and would position ahead of its competitors by ensuring its availability anywhere in the world. Figure 1: Segmentation Targeting Positioning (Source: Rosenbloom 2012) Tactics Action: As stated by Civi (2013), the strategy of the marketing implementation process is based on adequate planning. The launching of Samsung Galaxy S 8, Samsung should focus on developing of integrated marketing and communication planning for the suitable implementation of the blueprint. In order execute the proper tactics the mangers should be involved in playing the key role in the implementation of marketing and planning process of the company (Leavell and Cooper 2016). The responsibility of the manager would involve the implementation of the 7P of the marketing planning process. Price: The price of the product would be fixed at affordable market price so that affluent consumers along with middle class target audiences can purchase the newly lunched product under the brand of Samsung. Product: Samsung Galaxy S8 is the electronic service provider with unique and improved features such as faster processor (Snapdragon Qualcomm octa-core 3.2 GHz), 4200 mAh battery, 30 megapixel rear camera and so on. Place: Samsung will launch their new products all over the world. Despite the developed countries, all the developing countries are the new marketing destinations for the company. Promotion: Largely integrated and aggressive promotional strategies will be applied for product promotion. People: All middle class working individuals, students and business professionals are the main focused audiences for this new product of Samsung. Process: New product will be lunched in a phased manner. The improved smart phone demands are present all over the world. However, the company has decided to launch their product initially among the Asian countries. Physical environment: The technology-driven business environment is the main inspiration for launching new products of Samsung. On the other hand, a good communication plan will ensure that Samsung is able to build a strong relationship with the customers and inculcate positive brand name which will have a long term impact on the share holder of the company. The primary objective of the company deals with the promotion and marketing of the innovative electronic gadgets and the differentiated product pricing can be well placed before the consumers by having the adequate knowledge about the specs of the devices. The information and knowledge about the various types of the products will ensure that the sale person is able properly demonstrate then features of the products associated with the hardware and the software components of the products. The company should focus in direct communication with the potential customers this will ensure that the consumers are able to know about the several advantages and disadvantages of the new line of products (Mobile 2013) Budget: According to Son et al. (2015), in the budgeting of the various types of the activities the media plays a crucial role in the launching of the new product in the market. It is the responsibility of the marketing managers at Samsung and various other decision makers at Samsung to select then appropriate marketing strategy for the facilitation of the launching and promotion of the product. As the company has rightly invested in the primary marketing modes for introducing new products and placing them in for purchase, the companies also need to focus on the innovative advancements in the future years. Samsung needs to promote its products for promotion in exclusive mobile carrier websites, company websites and retail outlets of the company (Kotler et al. 2015). By taking into consideration of the above stated facts the marketing budget is shown as follows: Budget Plan for Apple Inc. (Figures in Millions of $) Business : Business broadcasts 186 TV commercials 76000 Consumers: Business magazines 5300 Newspaper 1300 Websites 436 Radio 3071 Outdoor expenses 11838 Total estimated cost 113684 Deviation from the year 2016 to 2017 37 % Control: As the company is taking initiative to undertake several type of the strategies it also needs to prepare itself for the controlling the plans in order to ensure that the objectives set by the company are met according to the standards of the present business situation. The marketing managers at Samsung need to make an appointment with the board of directors for the purpose of discussing the present progress of the situation and also employing the action plans for the same. The primary discussion in the meeting should focus on the several types of the strategies which are in line with the launching of Samsung Galaxy S8. Before the meeting each individual involved in the marketing management should hold a meeting in private and know about the newly learned concepts of the marketing process of the company (Son et al. 2015). Based on the present situation at Samsung it is on the verge of emerging as one of the most innovative and resourceful organizations mostly technology oriented and has proved itself to compete with several other companies for the last decade. Hence with the launching of the marketing plan should focus son the uniqueness and adaptability with the technological constraints. The measure of the outcomes of the various marketing strategies should be questioned by the companies in order to understand the importance of the promotion of the newly launched product into the market (Gobble 2013). The company needs to monitor the exchange of the marketing messages towards the targeted segment of the society so that the company is able to understand about the likes and dislikes of a specific segment of the people of the society. The advertising and the communication blueprint framed by the company and needs to be control accordingly so that the customers can act accordingly. The various type of t he other marketing concepts of Galaxy S8 need to provide the adequate impact of the technology based on the buying decisions of the customers from the targeted market (Nergis et al. 2013). Conclusion and recommendation: Thus it can be concluded that the marketing strategies would improve the launching of the Samsung Galaxy S8. Then various types of the strategies will help the company to include then various data needed to make business adjustments. The strategic planning of the company will ensure that the company will be able to generate revenue from both domestic and international market. Samsung is considered as an acceptance of international brand and it has the potential to draw a large number of customers from the international market. Recommendation: The primary objective of the company involves the enhancement in the profit of the business within a short period of time. With the launching of the new Galaxy S8 both the domestic and then global market is expected to get a big growth in the business. The company will be will be able to increasing the base of customer by adaptation of aggressive marketing policies. The organization needs to involve itself into various promotional activities which can be done from various types of the social media platforms, newspaper advertisement, digital media advertisement and word of mouth techniques. It is also crucial for Samsung to consider the post sales activities. This can be done by increasing the service centers across the globe. Utilization of promotional mix theory to decision selection: The various types of the promotional mix strategies needs to be exercised with AIDA model and this will facilitate the promotional effectiveness in a proper manner. AIDA model: Attention: This method deals with the creation of the awareness of the brand value of the product and affiliation of the different types of the products and services. In this process the organization looks to evaluate the potential consumers to make awareness for the various type of the product including Samsung Galaxy S8. The strong image of the company is a key indicator for creating a hype of the products. The company may also look forward to employ the strongest image in understanding the importance of the customer attention. (Kim et al. 2012) Samsung also needs to consider the competitors strategy for the launch of the new product globally. Interest: The potential customer of the new Smartphone needs to know how the new product will facilitate them. This can be done by facilitating the growing interest among the customer both at domestic and international platforms. The new features discussed will be able to draw the interest of several customers (Levinson 2012). Desire: This is considered as the natural extension of the interest. After the process of attracting he customers the organizations need to grow the interest of the Galaxy S8 in the global platform. Then social media has a pivotal role in this regard. Action: The final step involves the implementation of the framed action plan among the customer existing in the society. The company will be able to create the desire for the new product only after drawing the attention from them (Rosenbloom 2012). Figure 2: AIDA Model (Source: Rawal 2013) Identification of Target audience: Samsung is known as a brand of high international recognition which provides service for a large number of electronics products. The suitable audience for Samsung Galaxy S8 would be the people belonging to the age group of 26- 35 in the society. The aggressive pricing strategy would ensure that the Samsung is able to target the business professional belonging to the high class people of the society. The premium design of the product will be able to attract people of all age group in the international market. Storyboard: Intended Image: Action sought: Samsung would be able to enhance the future value of the Smartphone by the introduction Galaxy S8, the premium specs provided in the phone would be able to attract a wide group of customers internationally The company need to promote its products in various social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and other websites. The above stated platforms should ensure that the company is able to enhance the business profitability. Samsung needs to track the key improvement areas in the promotional initiatives for the development of marketing and communications strategies. Message The main message in the promotional activity should speak about the groundbreaking technologies featured in the new range of the products Due to the unique feature in the devices the company will be able to spread the message about the technological advancements References Armstrong, G., Adam, S., Denize, S. and Kotler, P., 2014.Principles of marketing. Pearson Australia. Arora, A. (2015). Samsung Galaxy S8 Info | Specs, Features, Price, and Release Date. [online] Samsung Galaxy S8 Info. Available at: https://galaxys8info.com/ [Accessed 9 Jul. 2016]. Bloomberg.com. (2016). Galaxy S7 Gives Samsung a Boost. [online] Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-07-07/galaxy-s7-gives-samsung-a-boost [Accessed 9 Jul. 2016]. 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