Ch. 8 - Segmenting and Targeting Markets

Marketing has various meaning to various people. Market segmentation means that businesses divide their markets into a few sections with similar features, so that they can target different groups of consumers and produce merchandise or service for them. It consist of geographic, demographic, psychographic, benefit and usage rate segmentation. Samsung geographic segmentation is world wide due to their phones being sold in 61 different countries. Slight variations in languages and applications are needed but the physical appearance of their phones is still the same. Samsung's demographic segmentation which is broken down into age, gender, income, ethic background, and family life cycle. The age factor is not really involved in Samsung segmentation but most of their users are young adults and enthusiastic people. Samsung products are beneficial to both male and female. Samsung products are offered with various features to different people based upon their income level. Samsung markets their merchandise to everyone so they don't have a specific ethic segmentation. Lastly, family life cycle is not an specific segmentation in Samsung since the target market hasn't changed. Samsung's psychographic segmentation includes individuals from teens to mid 30's who have a high interest  new technology, tech savvy and can afford to buy it. Samsung's benefit segmentation is what the customers expect when they purchase their products which is unique appearance, new and updated features and reasonably priced. Finally, usage rate segmentation shows that Samsung is keen to the user status of its target consumer in order to better offer its product and therefore they are divided into former users, potential users, first time users, light/regular users, medium users and heavy users. Samsung mostly focuses on the heavy users since they are accountable for a sizable portion of product sales. 

Ch. 11 - Developing and Managing Products

Samsung's research and development department is the heart of everything they do. Their ongoing investment in their collaborative global research network plays a critical role in their ability to innovate products today that will enrich people’s lives tomorrow. The Samsung Galaxy is part of the product life cycle which traces the stages of a product's acceptance from it's introduction to it's decline. The introduction stage of Samsung i7500, also known as the Samsung Galaxy, was released in June 2009. It marked Samsung’s entry into the Android smartphone market. The growth stage of the Galaxy is how unique the features of the phone are offered at a reasonable price, The maturity stage shows how the smartphone market is being heavily populated and majority of the people in the world own one. Lastly, the decline stage of the Galaxy is that it will eventually get replaced by newer and innovated cellular technology in the near future. 

Ch. 12 - Services and Nonprofit Organization Marketing

Samsung strives to improve the quality of people's lives and contribute to a better society. Their efforts prove that they can make a difference by helping to create a greener environment and encouraging people to be better citizens by giving back to their communities. As the world’s largest electronics company, Samsung applies the same innovation, technology and resources that have driven their commercial success to advancing the education and health of children around the world through their global citizenship program, Samsung Hope for Children. Through Samsung Hope for Children, more than 79 subsidiaries and 236,000 employees worldwide partner with leading nonprofit organizations to affect positive change. By supplying Samsung products, lending expertise and providing financial support, they're able to give thousands of children in communities around the world access to education, mentor ship, leadership skills and life saving medical treatment.

Ch. 10 - Product Concepts

Samsung Electronics offers a variety of products from televisions to tablets which would be consider part of their product mix. Samsung's cellphones especially the Galaxy are a large part of their product mix. Each galaxy comes with different and has different features from each other. They never come too distinct from each other since each year a new series is released. Samsung believes that the satisfaction of their customers is the most important factor in the success of their business. The company spends a lot of money to in the design and high quality of their products. The product concept proposes that consumers will prefer products that have better quality, performance and features as opposed to a normal product. 

Ch. 17 - Personal Selling and Sales Management

Samsung Electronics uses advertising of the features, design and price as a way of sales promotion.

They practice traditional personal selling which are the techniques that are used to persuade a buyer to purchase a product or service. For example, Samsung uses this technique with their Galaxy when they launch a new version of it every year, so they are effectively persuading customers to buy their latest product. Samsung is all about making their products affordable so the same goes for the retailers that sell. They offer discounts and plans along with majority of Samsung products. Therefore, Samsung is providing a series of incentives to buyers to achieve the short-term goal raising sales figures amid increased competition with local and foreign rivals. 

Ch. 16 - Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Promotion

Samsung Electronic's advertising activities are designed to provide the public with accurate information on who they are and what they produce through fair and high quality advertisements which  helps customers with their buying decisions. Samsung recognizes that creating a good image through mass media is as important as innovative products. They also are highly aware of the fact that delivering overall company and product information accurately to shareholders is significant for their investment decisions. Samsung Electronics’ advertisement is centered on the empowerment of corporate brand identity and product. The same principle lies at overseas subsidiaries and branches in accordance with Samsung Electronics’ ethical guidelines and global marketing strategies. This also explains how Samsung communicates to the public. Their goal is to provide people everywhere with an abundance of information pertaining to their products allowing them to make the best choices in the end. Samsung Electronics holds different promotional events for current customers and to gain future customers. 

Ch. 14 - Marketing Channels and Retailing

Hennes & Mauritz  (H&M) is a Swedish multinational retail clothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers and children. The full company name Hennes & Mauritz was re-branded to H&M to simplify worldwide perception of the brand. The company owns the two-letter domain hm.com. The domain was registered in the early 1990s, but data on the first registration is lost. In 1998 Hennes & Mauritz was able to buy the domain hm.com from a company called A1 in a non-published domain transaction.

My experience visiting H&M was quite interesting since it was located in the area that I worked. H&M creates sustainable fashion for all, always at the best price. The collections include everything from dazzling party collections to essential basics and functional sportswear for women, men, teenagers and children, and for every season or occasion. In addition to clothes, shoes, bags, jewelry, make up and underwear there is also H&M Home. Customers will always find their clothing needs in h&m.  H&M is divided into 2 sections of male and female. The inside of the store is very much clean and modern looking. The purpose of this is to create the image that by wearing H&M clothes you have a very clean but unique look. H and M does a good Job in that they market equally to males and females. I have been to many different h&ms around the city and they all have the same essence as soon as you walk in. They make sure their products are top shelf and  they even give big promotions throughout the seasons. The prices are definitely affordable and their presentation is something truly unique and modern.

Ch. 6 - Consumer Decision Making

Consumer Decision Making is a process by which consumers identify their needs, collect information, evaluate alternatives, and make the purchase decision. These actions are determined by psychological and economical factors, and are influenced by environmental factors such as cultural, group, and social values. Firms must know how to go about marketing to consumers. Cell phone marketers are well aware of the factors that affect consumer decision making when purchasing mobile phones. Important factors that take into account not only aspects like speed, connectivity, and special features, but psychological characteristics like personality, lifestyle, and brand loyalty. This awareness is exemplified in mobile phone advertisements and commercials, which tend to emphasize style and emotion, showing just how a phone could improve a consumer's lifestyle. 

Samsung Electronics spends majority of their budget on advertisement (as seen above) on television, radio, newspaper, magazine and so on. Consumer research helps to drive advertising efforts, informing companies of what their customers want before they even know they want it. By exploring personality factors in branding, Samsung has seen higher levels of success with its new line of smartphones. Their experience shows how exploring psychological factors of branding has huge pay-off potentials for companies selling cell phones. Samsung's commercials suggest that the level of competence and sophistication Apple users are waiting for has already arrived, and that by switching to Samsung, they don't need to wait to reach that level of sophistication.

Ch. 5 - Developing a Global Vision

Samsung Electronic's vision for the new decade is, "Inspire the World, Create the Future." It is called "Vision 2020". This new vision reflects Samsung Electronics’ commitment to inspiring its communities by leveraging Samsung's three key strengths: “New Technology,” “Innovative Products,” and “Creative Solutions.” It is also promoting new value for Samsung's core networks which are the industry, partners, and employees. Through these efforts, Samsung hopes to contribute to a better world and a richer experience for all. As part of this vision, Samsung has mapped out a specific plan of reaching $400 billion in revenue and becoming one of the world’s top five brands by 2020. Samsung has also established three strategic approaches in its management: creativity, partnership, and talent. While Samsung  builds on from previous accomplishments, they look forward to exploring new territories, including health, medicine, and biotechnology. Samsung is committed to being a creative leader in new markets and becoming a truly No. 1 business going forward.

Ch. 4 - The Marketing Environment

Samsung puts great effort into their products and services so marketing them has to be greater. The electronic market is the biggest market Samsung has. The greatest thing about Samsung is that it is a risk taker. They are not afraid of trying new things. They have a habit of killing the failures and pushing the successes. This basically means that they don't let disappointments bring them down. They get knocked down and come back 10 times stronger. For example, Samsung didn't succeed the first time it entered the smartphone market but that didn't stop them from trying again. Their mindset is what sets them apart from any other company. Samsung is driven by an unyielding passion for excellence and commitment to develop the best products and services on the market.

Ch. 3 - Ethics & Social Responsibility

               Samsung is an global company with approximately 227,000 employees and operations in 75 countries worldwide, Samsung Electronics is fully committed to complying with local laws and regulations as well as applying a strict global code of conduct to all employees. It believes that ethical management is not only a tool for responding to the rapid changes in the global business environment, but also a vehicle for building trust with its various stakeholders including customers, shareholders, employees, business partners, and local communities. Their aim is to become one of the most ethical companies in the world that will still be respected by its stakeholders. Samsung Electronics trains its employees and operates monitoring systems, while still practicing fair and transparent corporate management.
             
               In 2005, Samsung Electronics announced the “Five Samsung Business Principles”. The principles serve as the foundation for its global code of conduct in compliance with legal and ethical standards and the fulfillment of its corporate social responsibilities. It also expresses their commitment to corporate social responsibility.

Five Samsung Business Principles

1. We comply with all laws and ethical standards.
2. We maintain a clean organizational culture.
3. We respect customers, shareholders and employees.
4. We care for the environment, health, and safety.
5. We are a socially responsible corporate citizen.

The global code of conduct sets forth detailed behavioral guidelines and judgmental standards for Samsung Electronics’ employees as members of a world leading company. The code of conduct includes elimination of nationality or gender discrimination, transparent disclosure of business information, customer information protection and partner collaboration. All of Samsung Electronics employees will abide by this code of conduct in their relationship with their peers and customers.

             The first principle "We comply with all laws and ethical standards." shows that Samsung respect the dignity and diversity of individuals while competing in accordance with the law and

business ethics. They also go to great measures to protect the information of individuals and business partners. The second principle "We maintain a clean organizational culture." states that they make a strict distinction between public and private affairs in their duties and maintain the dignity of Samsung Electronics in all external activities. The third principle "We respect customers, shareholders and employees." shows that Samsung puts priority on customer satisfaction in

management activities, pursues management focused on shareholder value, and endeavors to improve their employee's quality of life. The fourth principle "We care for the environment, health, and safety." explains how Samsung believes it's their responsibility to do business in a way that enriches our planet. They are guided by their focus on the "greening" of management, products, processes, workplace and communities. Their green management policy guides and supports the continuous enhancement of greener environment through all of their business activities including product design, manufacturing process and workplace operations. The final principle is "We are a socially responsible corporate citizen." which shows how Samsung sincerely execute their basic responsibilities as an corporate citizen and respects the social and cultural values of local

communities. Samsung also build relationships of co-existence and co-prosperity with their fellow business partners.

Ch. 2 - Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

Samsung is an multinational organization. They do not specialize in one thing. They have a series of products and services that they bring to the table. Their biggest subsidiary is Samsung Electronics. It is the world's largest manufacturer of mobile phones and smartphones fueled by the popularity of its Samsung Galaxy line of devices. The company is also a major vendor of tablet computers which are part of the android powered Samsung Galaxy Tab collection. It is also regarded as pioneering the tablet market through the Samsung Galaxy Note family of devices. Samsung has a lot of competition in their electronic department, but they are better than anybody else at learning from their competitors. They know how to pivot and produce quickly, coming out with a variety of devices. Samsung has a better competitive advantage because it sees what the market responds to, pushes successes, and kills failures. It has differentiated itself from its competition with larger screens, different features, successful marketing, and delivering what consumers want. People love Samsung because they get so much out of it.

Ch. 1 - Overview of Marketing (Brief History and Mission Statement)

HISTORY

Samsung is an South Korean multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul.Samsung was founded by Lee Byung-chul in 1938. Samsung product line includes apparel, chemicals, electronics, electronic components, medical equipment, precision instruments, semiconductors, ships, and telecommunications equipment. Samsung entered the electronics industry in the late 1960's and the construction and shipbuilding industries in the mid-1970's. In 1987, Samsung was separated into four business groups which are Samsung Group, Shinsegae Group, CJ Group and Hansol Group. The globalization of their activities and electronics has been their biggest source of income. Samsung industrial subsidiaries include Samsung Electronics, Samsung Heavy Industries, Samsung Engineering, and Samsung C&T. Due to it's success in their electronics business, Samsung has been identified as a global industry leader in technology.

MISSION STATEMENT

"We will devote our human resources and technology to create superior products and services, thereby contributing to a better global society."