Samsung Galaxy - Final Paper

Running head: Samsung in a Galaxy Far Far Away 1
Samsung in a Galaxy Far Far Away:
A Research-Based Marketing Plan for Samsung Galaxy Smartphones
Kate Kielkopf, Tim Nahach, Fatima Rehan
Truman State University

SAMSUNG IN A GALAXY FAR FAR AWAY 2
Table of Contents
Introduction 4
Market Situation/External Analysis 5
Market Introduction 5
SWOT Analysis 7
Strengths. 7
Weaknesses. 9
Opportunities. 10
Threats. 10
Major Changes and Trends in the Last 5-10 Years 11
Key Success Factors for the Industry 12
Marketing Strategies 14
Growth Strategies 14
Segmentation Strategy 17
Potential Segmentation Dimensions. 17
Targeting Strategy for Samsung. 24
Positioning for Samsung Galaxy. 26
Market Mix Strategy 28
Product Strategy 28
Pricing Strategy 28
Promotion Strategy 31
Push vs. Pull Strategy. 34
Types of Media Used in Advertising. 34
Type of Media Scheduling. 35
Distribution Strategy 36
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Firm’s Marketing Strategy 38
Major Marketing Problem 42
Forecasting Market Trends 43
Conclusion 47
References 48
Introduction
First came the flip phone. Then came those with sliding keyboard. Then came the touch
screens and Blackberries. Quickly, a device whose only capabilities were to make phone calls
from nearly anywhere became the smartphones that are bigger on the inside than the outside.
Due to the smartphone, society has transformed from one in the nineteen-fifties to one
out of science-fiction at the speed of light. A look at the market shows how much. The market
situation analysis shows how much of an impact the smartphone has had with the current market
size and growth potential in the smartphone industry and market share of the major corporations
in the smartphone industry. One such corporation responsible for the jump to the future is
Samsung with their Galaxy smartphones. We can take a closer look at Samsung with an analysis
of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the smartphone industry. From there,
an overview of major changes or trends in the past five to ten years and a look at what made
corporations successful in the industry, illustrate the steps taken to transform society with
technological leaps. A glimpse at Samsung shows strategies that can better target the areas
needed in order for growth of the corporation: product strategy, pricing strategy, promotion
strategy, and distribution strategy. A look at all the strengths and weaknesses of the current
strategy can allow for a recommendation on how to better the future. Factoring in the major
marketing problem facing Samsung can provide forecasts of how society is going to continue to
blast into the future due to the smartphone.
Market Situation/External Analysis
Market Introduction
● United States is one the largest smartphone markets in the world with one of the
highest smartphone penetration rates worldwide (Gordon, n.d.).

● There is a significant increase from the 2012 figure, when the country’s
penetration rate stood at almost 40 percent (Gordon, n.d.).
● Samsung and Apple are the two main vendors in the U.S. smartphone market. In
the first quarter of 2018, Apple and Samsung accounted for more than 60 percent
of U.S. smartphones sales (Gordon, n.d.).
● Almost 75 percent of smartphone subscribers in the United States use either an
Apple or Samsung smartphone as of April 2018 (Gordon, n.d.).
● The graph below shows the main smartphone manufacturers that have the greatest
share in the smartphone industry over a period of the last 5 years. Apple accounts
for the largest share, around almost 40%, followed very closely by Samsung with
around 30%. Although both have had their shares increase over the period
(Manufacturers' market share, 2018)
.
● The graph below represents the primary brands of smartphones customers choose
to use in the U.S. market, which shows a similar story to the former graph. Given
the potential in the U.S. smartphone market and the status Samsung smartphones
have in the local market, it seems likely to believe that Samsung still has room to
grow from its place in the growing domestic market (Popular smartphone brands
in the U.S. 2018). Samsung’s share has been growing throughout, as stated above.
The graph below highlights that the share is the second largest, but still there is
room for growth. In the market there is currently room for Samsung to expand it’s
share. Over the years, their share has increased but the growth rate seems to
decrease. Since Samsung is still far behind Apple, as the graph below shows, they
need to work on that front and put in greater efforts to expand their market share.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths.
● Samsung as a company is a market leader with 32% of the sales in the U.S.
smartphone market (Popular smartphone brands, 2018).
● Samsung has been making continuous improvements, such as making an
innovative battery to go with the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (Chen, 2018). Another
product modification is software improvements, which has contributed to
allowing Samsung to remain competitive with Apple (Eadicicco, 2017).
● Samsung has a strong brand image as a pioneer in the smartphone industry, which
came about due to creation of the Note, has allowed them to only be able to be
directly challenged by other pioneers such as Apple (McCracken, 2018).
● Samsung offers a wider range of products than competitors (Pratap, 2018).
● Samsung has a loyal customer base, as indicated by the lack of fleeing to Apple
among some Samsung customers during the incident with the battery fires during
the Note 7 (Tsukayama, 2018).
● “If Samsung stays the course, it might be the first to execute, since it has the
added advantage of being the maker of the OLED display that make bendable
screens possible” (Villas-Boas, 2018, para. 4). As the first one to execute this
technology Samsung is likely to reap great benefits from sales for launching
something revolutionary.
● Samsung is all set to soon launch two Samsung Galaxy S10 models with a
“ultrasonic fingerprint scanner built into the display” that Apple has given up on,
which can give them new users (Leswing, 2018, para. 3).
● “Samsung announced a new smartwatch, called the Galaxy Watch, that can
connect to cellular networks without a phone, similar to the latest Apple Watch”
(Tsukayama, 2018, para. 10). This is opportunity for Samsung to stay at par with
Apple and not let Apple be able to drive away its customers.
● Samsung is venturing into new products with “the Galaxy Home, a voice-
controlled speaker that houses its Bixby assistant” (Tsukayama, 2018, para. 10).
This shall increase its product range in competition to Apple which has not been
able to launch any such product.
● “Many Samsung Galaxy Note 9 features and specs trump iPhone, including the
battery; the headphone port; a fast charger is included; internal storage starts at
128 GB; and there is a fingerprint scanner and an Iris scanner” (Im, 2018, para.
10). Given Samsung’s biggest competitor is Apple, this is a great opportunity for
Samsung to up its game further and drive at least some of Apple’s market away to
its side.
● “Galaxy has really very few in the market that can match it except iPhone. Galaxy
provides one of the best experiences in the entire smartphone category” (Pratap,
2018, para. 2). Thus this decreased level of direct matchable competition allows
Samsung to bring in innovation but under lesser competition, apart from Apple.
Weaknesses.
● Samsung R&D demands are causing an increase in prices and Samsung is unable
to keep the prices low. In the face of increased market competition and increasing
competition this is “drawing market resistance” making price control Samsung’s
weakness (Gallagher, 2018, para. 4).

● Samsung does not have a cloud service like Apple’s iCloud and iMessage (Im,
2018).
● Samsung has tried to keep up with the innovative technologies its competitors like
Apple have introduced, but it hasn’t been able to successfully achieve the level of
sophistication that Apple has, such as with face ID technology. (McCracken,
2018).
● Samsung has taken longer than others to advance its battery size thus as a
company this is its weakness in terms of innovation. “Several smartphones —
including some Samsung sells in China — already have a battery as large as the
Note9′s or even larger” (Tsukayama, 2018).
Opportunities.
● The market’s biggest opportunity is the ever-increasing demand for smartphones
with the U.S. smartphone users is estimated to grow to more than 230 million in
2018 (Gordon, n.d.). Samsung as a market leader is likely to benefit from this
magnifying demand.
● International market demand for smartphones has also remained relatively high
hence that is an opportunity for smartphone companies like Samsung to expand
into international markets.
Threats.
● Market competition has led to all competitors keeping up with market trends and
customer expectations like “more powerful processors, sharper cameras, and
better screens have become routine annual updates… and, most importantly, the
new edge-to-edge design on the iPhone X, Galaxy S8, and Google Pixel XL”
(Eadicicco, 2017, para. 3). This aggressive competition that Samsung
faces is a threat for the company.
● Market competition is not only a problem for Samsung in terms of competing for
sales but the way customers are likely to compare its products with Apple, such as
Galaxy S8’s with iPhone X or Google Pixel 2 XL (Eadicicco, 2017, para. 3).
● Increased international competition from Chinese brands is a threat to United
States smartphone companies including Samsung despite it being a market leader
(Gallagher, 2018).
Major Changes and Trends in the Last 5-10 Years
● Apple might make billions on the sale of its smartphones every year, but Samsung still
reigns supreme in sales with around 22 percent of the market share compared to Apple’s
15 percent. This basically means that Samsung is continually getting more and more
customers. (Reisinger, 2018).
● Samsung shipped more than 310 million units during 2017 while the iPhone had sales in
excess of 200 million (Reisinger, 2018).
● The United States is one of the largest smartphone markets in the world with one of the
highest smartphone penetration rates worldwide. In 2017, 68.4 percent of the U.S.
population owned a smartphone which is a significant increase of about 40 percent in
2012. This is impacting Samsung Galaxy especially as these phones are generally
cheaper, prompting easier entry for new smartphone users. (Popular smartphone brands
in the U.S. 2018, 2018).

● A recent survey of 72 percent of 480 consumers surveyed by WalletHub in August said
that they would not buy the iPhone this year. This means people are generally looking for
different smartphone brands like Google or Samsung brands. (Im, 2018).
● Overall, the devices have become more expensive, but offer exponentially more power
and functionality. From 2014-2018, customers could purchase a new iPhone for $199,
with entry-level iPhone prices increasing sharply with the launch of the iPhone 6S
(McKane, 2017).
● Customers now hold onto phones for way longer than they used to. Now, customers hold
onto phones for 34-35 months before upgrading. Just a few years ago, every person
would upgrade within two years. (Dano, 2018)
● Another recent trend that has occurred is that the price for premium smartphones has
increased greatly. Between 2014 and 2018, the price of premium smartphones has went
from around $650 to $1000 . This also coincides with the increase in length of holding
onto your phone. (Dano, 2018)
Key Success Factors for the Industry
● Innovation has been a highlight in the industry. Companies like Samsung and
others are constantly modifying their previous models and persistently upgrading
them based on R&D and customer demands (Chen, 2018).
● Organization have been learning from their failed experiences or their
shortcomings. Companies like Samsung have used their failures of the past, such
as Samsung’s problem with Note 7, which has allowed for it to work on it’s weak
points and bring in improvements that meet people’s requirements. Thus these
companies have shown to be valuing customer feedback which is vital for them
too maximize customer satisfaction (Tsukayama, 2018).
● Companies who are pioneers in their work have established a strong market
position/ Through long term bonds with customers that maximize customer
lifetime value, companies with a large market share have benefited greatly. This
has allowed them to have a more influential position in the market as compared to
others (Popular smartphone brands, 2018).
● The industry has focused majorly on expanding upon the variety of products it has
to offer. Most of the major companies in the smartphone industry have been
trying to constantly increase their product range and work on their brand
portfolio. This has not only allowed them to retain customers in the face of
immense competition but also give customers a wider range of options in terms of
types and categories of products. Thus both giving customers more choices to
pick from and more products to consider using that belong to the same company
(Pratap, 2018).
● For the industry to succeed it is important that it keep progressing and advancing
itself. Especially in competition to each other, all competitors need to ensure they
keep up with the latest developments any rival company is introducing. Most
companies in the industry keep an eye on what competitors introduce in the
market and try to continue meeting that level and not let rival companies drive
away customers (Im, 2018).

Marketing Strategies
Growth Strategies
Samsung Galaxy uses a variety of general growth strategies, from market penetration,
market development, product development, and diversification. First, let’s discuss the different
types of market penetration used. Market penetration involves expanding the market share,
increasing the frequency of purchase, increasing the use per occasion, and the new uses
available. Samsung Galaxy finds these new markets by incorporating price drops on their
products to entice users to change from iphone. Gareth Beavis, a writer for an established tech
website said that:
“If you’re in the market for a new phone, you could do a lot, lot worse than the phone of
2017. Yes, you might argue that it’s a little bit older, but with a little age comes an
incredible price drop: the midnight black 64GB version of the Galaxy S8 is down to just
500 dollars, a massive savings” (Beavis, 2018, para. 1 and 2).
A market penetration strategy like this helps increase the frequency of purchase by underselling
the competition, something that Samsung Galaxy does fairly often.
Samsung also uses market development in their growth strategies. Market development is
adding new market segments, and expanding your target audience. You can see Samsung trying
to tap into different markets with a recent ad campaign they have undergone. In a sixty second ad
they debuted at the Oscars this year, they wanted to tap into the Gen Z market. George Slefo, an
accomplished writer for AdAge, said regarding this new ad, “A brand must stay current to stay
relevant, and this is Samsung’s way of embracing today’s undercurrent and shining a ray of
hope” (Slefo, 2018, para. 8). Samsung Galaxy is trying to show people they are still relevant by
expanding their target audience from the generally older college age demographic, to the early
high school and middle-school demographic. This market development and change in target
market should pay off in the long-run because people normally stick with the phone company
they had when they were younger. Therefore, Samsung is playing into the expectation that if the
parents see these ads and get a Samsung Galaxy for the child as the first phone, the child will be
more prone to be loyal with the Galaxy line and Samsung overall.
Samsung is also trying to access different geographic markets in their market
development. One country they are targeting is Saudi Arabia. Marissa Delisle, a blogger for
Digital Turbine said, “The Galaxy has a highly anticipated release in Saudi Arabia, and with this
they are trying to continue in their quest to excel in redefining both their global image and
customer satisfaction in 2017” (Delisle, 2017, para. 2). While a little older, this shows that
Samsung is not just trying to settle in having their phones in the bigger countries. They are trying
to hit smaller markets and countries to increase their global brand.
Samsung has also incorporated the growth strategy of product development very well too.
Product development can be a product modification, line extensions, and new products in the
same category. You can see Samsung’s use of product development in their continuing
development of the “foldable phone”. Antonio Villas Boas, a writer for Business Insider, said
about it that, “The Galaxy X will have a 7-inch display when unfolded made up of two 3.5-inch
displays. It will also have a third display on the outside for quick access” (Villas-Boas, 2018,
para. 4 ). This is a new product in the same category. The Villas-Boas article also mentions that
Samsung will probably be able to be the first company to produce a phone like this due to their
technical prowess. Another phone that is going to have interesting product development is the
Galaxy S10. Not only will it be bigger, it will also a new triple camera (Kelly, 2018). All of these
will be key product developments that can separate Samsung Galaxy from other major phone
manufacturers, and give them the upper hand in an increasing world dominated by the
technological innovations happening in the macroenvironment.
Samsung has also incorporated a number of modification to their Galaxy phones as well.
A user who worked for CNBC wrote regarding the new Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and its features:
“The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 was being praised by CNBC’s tech product editor Todd
Haselton and by sites from CNet to Tech Radar for its more exciting features, like the improved
S Pen, which now has remote control capabilities via bluetooth; flaw-detect camera; and fun tech
innovations like the video display, which allows you to play a video display rather than using a
photo” (Im, 2018, para. 8).
These product modifications help expand their products, and are major innovations to an
already existing design. Modifications like these are pertinent when keeping customers as to not
leave the upgrade to each phone stale.
The last growth strategy that Samsung is incorporating to expand their company is
diversification. Diversification is the act of creating a new product category for a different
market. It is normally something that is very different from something the company normally
does. Samsung has started to notice that the television market has gone untapped in recent years.
Edwin Yapp, a blogger for Digital News Asia said, “Reuters also noted that Samsung is beefing
up its software that will combine the mobile phone with Samsung’s strength, the television,
which the company claimed has barely evolved in the past decade” (Yapp, 2013, para. 20). This
is a sign of concentric diversification, which uses a lot of synergy, as smartphones and smart
televisions are fairly related. Granted, Smart TV;s have been around for a couple years now, but
Samsung was the first to develop them, and they are the main maker you think of when you think
of Smart TV’s. Diversification can be key into hitting previous unthinkable markets even when
using market development well. Even though the Yapp article was from a couple years ago,
something like this still has untapped potential. Diversification like this can help a company gain
positive notoriety.
Samsung also uses some vertical integration when it comes to their diversification.
Vertical integration is the process of expanding one’s business by adding new products
complementary to their existing products. Samsung being known for making many of the
individual in their phones is a process that helps mitigate some supply chain risks. Hillary Tuttle,
a writer for an established website, said regarding this vertical integration, “This approach may
help mitigate some traditional supply chain risks, but it also creates significant exposure to less
obvious risks inherent to vertical management itself, making the crisis a valuable case study for
entities in other sectors as well” (Tuttle, 2016, para. 9). Something like the older Galaxy Note 7
having issues causing some of the phones to catch fire is one of the risks you take with vertical
integration. Vertical integration though helps them cut their manufacturing costs on their phones,
helping them lower the prices sold, which is a key component of their market penetration
strategy.
Segmentation Strategy
Potential Segmentation Dimensions.
Companies cannot design products to suit every person in the world. Additionally, they
cannot market products to attract the attention of every person in the world with the same
commercial. Therefore, industries divide the market up into segments for companies to be able to
position their products towards their targeted segment or segments, depending on the targeting
strategy selected.
One type of segmentation is geographic segmentation. With geographic segmentation, the
technology industry looks to divide the market into different geographic units. These different
geographic units can include nations, regions, states, counties, or cities. One example of
geographic segmentation can be rural consumers versus urban consumers. Between the two
geographic segments, the usage between smartphones users have great differentiation in their
needs and wants. As of early 2018, 83% of urban residents own a smartphone while 65% of rural
residents own a smartphone. Rural consumers are less likely than urban consumers to use the
internet, with 78% rural residents using the internet compared to 92% of urban residents
(Anderson, 2018). Rural residents are half as likely to be smartphone dependent compared to
urban consumers as of 2018 (Mobile Fact Sheet, 2018). That indicates that rural consumers are
less likely to be using their smartphones as opposed to rural consumers. Therefore, the needs of
urban consumers could include a longer battery life while rural consumers probably just want
something dependable that will not break. Urban consumers also probably value technology
advancements more than rural consumers.
Another example of geographic segmentation can be between countries. In developed
countries, smartphone ownership is much more common than in developing countries. In
developed countries, 72% of people report owning a smartphone. In emerging and developing
countries, that number dropped to 42% (Poushter, Bishop, Chwe, 2018). However, smartphone
usage remains fairly consistent across developing and developed natures as seen in the numbers
from the Customer Barometer with Google. Based on the statistics, it can be concluded that the
primary need of consumers in developing countries is access to smartphones. For example,
Africa is the second largest mobile market while also being the least penetrated. By 2022, it is
predicted smartphone numbers would have tripled from 2017 (Shapshak, 2017).
In developed companies, people do not need more access to smartphones, rather that need
has been fulfilled. Therefore, in developed countries, consumers are more picky about the
features offered so the industry always need to be developing new features in order for
consumers to continue purchasing smartphones. An example is in India, where smartphone users
spend an average of over three hours a day on their smartphones. Video consumption on mobile
devices is also on the rise (India Has Higher Smartphone, 2014).
Another type of segmentation is demographic segmentation. One example of
demographic segmentation is based on age. Younger people such as young adults are
significantly more likely than older people such as senior citizens to own a smartphones. Of the
age group 18 to 29 years old, 94% of people own a smartphone. With the age group 30 to 49
years old, that number slightly drops to 89%. With the age group to 50 to 64, that number drops
to 73% of people owning a smartphone. With the age group of everyone over 65 years old, that
number dramatically drops to 46% of people who own a smartphone (Mobile Fact Sheet, 2018).
When it comes to multiple phone ownership, younger people are also more likely to own
multiple devices. 51% of 18 to 19 years old adults live in households containing three or more
smartphones. That is greater than the 39% of 30 to 49 years old adults, 29% of 50 to 64 years old
adults, and 11% of adults greater than 65 years old (A third of Americans, 2017).
The needs of younger smartphones consumers differ greatly from the needs of older
smartphones consumers. Children could use phones that are more durable than adults as they are
more likely to drop them. Younger users are more likely than older users to need more storage
for applications such as social networking features, video consumption, and music/podcast
features. (Smith, 2015).

Older users are more likely to be purchasing their first smartphone, and have no point of
reference. Older users probably want something user-friendly that will be around for a while.
Younger users are more likely to have owned a smartphone, and when they buy a new one they
want one that offers features more advanced than their previous model.
Another example of demographic segmentation is based on income. People in lower
income brackets prioritize affordable smartphones over technological advancements, while
people in higher income brackets are able to pay a thousand dollars for the latest in smartphone
technology. Therefore, different types of smartphones should be made in order to cater to the
needs of people in different income brackets and keep smartphones profitable.
The third type of segmentation is psychographic segmentation. Psychographic
segmentation separates the market in segments based on variables such as social class, lifestyle,
or personality characteristics. One example for psychographic segmentation lies with dividing up
based on lifestyle. One study used such segmentation on the smartphone market separating the
smartphone market into seven distinct groups based on how they used their smartphones in their
lives. They were prodigy, tribal, personal, pragmatic, browser, and talker. Each of these groups
had different needs for their phones. Members of the prodigy group probably need a longer
battery life, as 57% of them say they need to be connected all day. Members of the tribal group
probably need more storage as they are heavy in their social media use. Pragmatists probably
want their phone to be easy to use for day-to-day activities, while browsers need their phone to
be user-friendly (Profiling 7 Segments, 2014).
Another example of psychographic segmentation would lie with segmenting based on
people’s activities. The needs of people who use their phones when working out greatly
differentiate than the needs of people who use their phones to keep up with social media. While
someone who uses their phone for social media probably wants lots of storage for photos and
social media apps and decent photo editing technology, someone who uses their phone for
working out probably does not care about that. They want heart-rate tracker, tracker, or a timer
depending on how serious an athlete they are. They also want the ability to listen to music.
The final type of segmentation is behavioral segmentation. With behavioral
segmentation, the market is divided based on variables such as occasions, benefits, user status,
usage rate, and loyalty status. Behavioral segmentation is very similar to psychographic
segmentation but behavioral segmentation focuses more on the consumer knowledge, attitudes,
use cases for a product, or how consumers respond to a product. The first example of behavioral
segmentation involves segmentation based on usage rate. Those who use their phone for hours
throughout the day have different product requirements than those who only use their phones for
emergencies. For people who use their phone throughout the day, they require a long battery life
so that they can use their phone throughout the day. They also prefer a quicker charge, so they
can go back to using their phone. Because they are always on their phones, they probably require
a higher quality screen. People who only use their phones periodically or when they have to, they
do not care as much about those features. By not being on their phones, they do not drain the
battery so they probably do not care as much.
The second example of behavioral segmentation is segmentation based on user status.
Advertising to people who currently use smartphones compared to advertising to people who do
not use smartphones pose different challenges. People who currently use smartphones need to be
convinced to purchase a new one, through new technology or deals. People who do not use
smartphones do not necessarily need to be convinced to buy a new smartphone because of new
technology or because they can get a new deal. Rather, they should be convinced that the
smartphone is easy to use or would make their lives easier.
Targeting Strategy for Samsung.
The targeting strategy chosen by Samsung is multi-segment. This is evident by the
advertising they produce. Samsung targets the cohorts of millenials and Gen Z, specifically
people who are thirty and under. This segment comes from the demographic segmentation.
Many of the commercials they produce are targeted towards those demographic
segments. Commercials showcasing the new camera on the S9 show the values and culture of
millennials. If they were trying to target members of Generation Y, the cohort directly older than
millennials, they would showcase the camera being used in family situations. Instead, the camera
is shown in clubs or pool parties which indicates a desire to appeal of younger people (Samsung
US, 2018).
Another commercial directly targets millennials through their experiences growing up
and out of the house. Many millennials are at the stage of their life where they are doing many of
the things featured in the commercials: moving out, getting phone numbers, and watching
movies on their phones on dates. By using those experiences, Samsung is trying to tap into their
feelings of growing up to tell them that Samsung is the grown-up phone compared to their
competitors. In the case of this commercial, Apple (Samsung US, 2017).
The final commercial discussed directly targets teenagers in Generation Z. Rather than
using their lifestage, this commercial uses the interests of teenagers. The two spokespeople
features in the commercial were Travis Scott and Ninja. Travis Scott is an up-and-coming rapper
who is dating Kylie Jenner, a social media entrepreneur and sister to the Kardassians. Ninja
streams video games. Both are celebrities that millennials might now, but any of the cohorts
probably would not. That is in line with their targeting strategy. Another feature of the
commercial in line with the targeting strategy is the use of Fortnight throughout the commercial.
Fortnight is a popular video game among teenagers and young adults. Additionally, the
commercial focuses on a teenage gamer (Samsung US, 2018).
While the commercials are seen by everyone, they do not make the assumption that
everyone is the same. One commercial for a Galaxy smartphone is aimed at someone whose
psychographic segment is a heavy camera user (Samsung US, 2018). Another commercial is
aimed at someone whose psychographic segment as a gamer with games such as Fortnight
(Samsung US, 2018). The differences between the two commercials show that Samsung does not
have an undifferentiated targeting strategy. The differences also show that Samsung does not
practice concentrated targeting strategy. The commercials may differentiate slightly among
demographic segments, targeting the millennials as one segment and Gen Z as another. However,
they clearly show that Samsung is trying to target many different psychographic segments with
their variety of commercials. That also shows Samsung is not using a micro-marketing strategy.
Positioning for Samsung Galaxy.
Based on commercials produced by Samsung to advertise their latest products in the
Galaxy line, their positioning statement seems to be: to help everyone have the latest in
technological advancements, Samsung Galaxy provides smartphones with quality operating
systems with innovative hardware. In order to best highlight against their Galaxy smartphones,
Samsung has targeted three aspects of the phones with their advertisement campaigns by
positioning through competition.

With a commercial for their Note 9, they highlighted their first aspect: a pen. With this
aspect, they are positioning themselves away from the iPhone, as with the pen the phone has
more use cases. The pen can be used as a remote control, useful for tasks that range from taking
photos to changing slides for a presentation. It is the major differentiating aspect, even between
other Samsung devices (Chen, 2018). iPhones lack this pen, or any ability to create something
that comes with the phone that has as many use cases as the pen. As a result, this attribute does
provide the Note series with a competitive advantage among people who find a pen useful when
conducting tasks on their phone.
The second attribute is the camera found on the recently released S9. With the camera,
Samsung is being competitive against the camera offered in the iPhone product line by
positioning themselves indirectly against a specific competitor. Samsung differentiates their
camera by using dual-aperture shutters that allows users to take photos in darker rooms without
the photos being blurry. Another important attribute of the camera is the slow-motion mode,
which is now able to shoot more frames per second (McCracken, 2018). In a commercial
advertising this, the new camera was easily demonstrated with various models taking various
pictures with the new camera, and using the slow-motion feature. The ease of use, as well as the
quality of products, is Samsung demonstrating that their camera is just-as-good-as, if not better
than, what Apple has to offer (Samsung US, 2018).
The third attribute is the headphone jack. Apple, with their iPhone 7, removed their
headphone jack. In their advertising for the headphone jack, Samsung is positioning themselves
directly and indirectly against a specific competitor. For a cost, iPhone users of models iPhone 7
or later can continue to use headphones. However, Samsung never removed the headphone jack.
As it cost even more to charge and listen to music with headphones on iPhones 7 or later,
Samsung used a commercial to point out to Apple users that if they do not like the new business
model then they can just switch to Samsung (Samsung Leaks, 2018). In Samsung’s official
introduction of the S9, they also took a moment to remind people that they still had a quality
headphone jack, alongside a quality smartphone. Taking the time while latching the latest model
of a smartphone shows just how important this attribute in the eyes of Samsung (Samsung,
2018).
Market Mix Strategy
Product Strategy
The characteristics of Samsung Galaxy smartphones include an edge-to-edge screen
design with colors that will appear more eye-catching and striking; an operating system which
allows for the use of applications found in the various app stores offered to the user, Internet, and
receiving of text messages and calls alongside other uses; a battery that can last throughout an
entire day; a camera with Portrait Mode; biometric security which includes facial recognition,
iris scanning, and fingerprint detection (Eadicicco, 2017).
The Samsung Galaxy product would best be classified as a shopping product.
Smartphones are not a frequent purchase with much planning and shopping effort. There is also
comparisons between brands on price, quality, and style for smartphones. All of those are typical
customer buying behavior for shopping products. The high price and distribution to select
resellers are typical to the price and distribution marketing considerations for shopping products.
Recent new product development for Samsung the fitness smart watches such as the Gear
Fit 2 which was released in 2016, and wireless earbuds such as the Gear Icon X which was
released in 2016 (Burris, 2018). Recent new product development that they are working on
launching soon is the foldable smartphone (Villas-Boas, 2018). Recent new product development
for Galaxy smartphones are the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9. Besides the new products that
were developed recently, Samsung has other various types of electronics and appliances. They
have televisions, Galaxy smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, virtual reality headsets, wireless
speakers, soundbars, Blu-ray players, home theatre systems, laptops, desktops, all-in-one PCs,
monitors, printers, solid state drives, portable SSD, USB flash drives, memory cards, washers,
dryers, refrigerators, microwaves, dishwashers, ranges, wall ovens, cooktops and hoods, vacuum,
and various smart home devices such as kits, hubs, sensors, and outlets (Electronics &
Appliances, n.d.).
The branding strategy used by Samsung is a family branding strategy. Samsung uses the
national brand strategy to keep the Samsung name on all the various products. This allows the
products to all contribute to the reputation towards the Samsung brand and benefit from the
Samsung brand. However, by keeping everything under the Samsung brand, Samsung does risk
Galaxy sales dropping due to problems in another area of the company such as with
smartwatches or appliances. Additionally, by linking all the Galaxy smartphones together under
a single Galaxy brand, Samsung does lump all Galaxy smartphones into one box. That can cause
problems with sales. If one series, like the Note, have problems then it could affect the other
Galaxy smartphones like the S series launched around the same year.
Samsung used the four dimensions to develop their brand equity. Samsung created brand
awareness by partnering with wireless carriers. The wireless carriers offer deals on latest
smartphones including Samsung Galaxy phones. The wireless carriers air the commercials nad
Samsung makes people aware of their Galaxy products. Additionally, there are the commercials
and other promotional efforts Samsung produces themselves. Samsung used brand associations
with images and symbols associated to the brand. The logo Samsung has stamped on the back of
the phone is how it associates the brand name with the Galaxy products. However, unlike Apple,
Samsung Galaxy smartphones do not really have any strong design images associated with it as
it is the generic non-Apple smartphone design. However, edge-to-edge screens could be
something Samsung is developing as an image of Galaxy smartphones. Samsung used brand
loyalty through the creation of a loyalty program (Samsung Rewards, n.d.). Even without
extensive promotional effort on the reward system, there is already strong brand loyalty between
smartphones brands, including with Samsung Galaxy, due to operating system preferences or a
familiar connection. Brand loyalty is important because people are unlikely to own multiple
smartphones by different brands, or switch between brands, because of differences in operating
systems and system incompatibilities. Samsung create perceived quality through various
techniques. One technique is a quality product which has developed a strong reputation for
Galaxy phones which equates them to Apple phones (Jansen, 2018). Another technique are high-
profile commercials showing off high-end design and innovations such as the new commercials
about the innovated camera (Samsung, n.d.). The final technique used are reviews of products
from reputable sources such as the New York Times with the review from Chen, Time Magazine
with the review from Eadicicco, CNBC with the review from Im and Fast Company with the
reviews from McCracken.
Packaging of Samsung Galaxy phones is pretty standard for across the smartphone
industry. Packaging of the phones are typically not a priority across the industry, as customers
rarely look at the boxes while decided whether or not the phone is worth the money or not. The
packaging does do its primary function of the package of holding and protecting the smart
devices. The boxes holding the phones have photos of the phones as well as the logo of
corporation in order to local the store. They are not over packaged, or poorly designed. However,
the packaging is not excessively innovative.
Unlike Apple with their Genius Bar, customer service is not really done in house for
Samsung. Customer service can come through an 1-800 number, remote support, or emailing
them through the company website (Contact Us, n.d.). There is also the typical customer service
provided through wireless carriers that carry Samsung Galaxy smartphones.
Pricing Strategy
A key part of Samsung Galaxy’s marketing plan is implementing a very worthwhile
pricing strategy. That is one of the key differences between them and the other major phone
companies: the vast differences in prices. They seek this competitive pricing strategy to ensure a
competitive edge over their competition. In their pricing strategy they undertake two key
components, these being skimming pricing and the other being competitive pricing.
Skimming pricing is used when a product, which is new in the market or just launched, is
sold at a relatively high price because of its uniqueness, benefits to customers, or its wow factor.
It is mostly used for technological products where the product demand is inconsistent. The
typical product which is launched with a skimming price strategy is unique to the market, has
customers who are ready to pay a premium for the product, and is far ahead of the competition.
A perfect example of a product which would undergo a skimming pricing would be the new
foldable phone called the Samsung Galaxy X. We talked about it earlier in the growth strategies,
and it would most certainly have a high price tag, but its uniqueness and distinguishability from
other products out on the market lets it get away with it (Bhasin, 2017).
One of the more recent Samsung Galaxy phones, the S8, came out in early 2017 and was
regarded as the best phone of last year. That’s hardly surprising considering this device features a
stunning 5.8-inch curved dual display, great 12-megapixel camera and a 2.3GHz fast processor.
When this innovative phone first launched it cost over 750 dollars but, with new devices
including the Galaxy S9 now superseding it, prices are plummeting. Things have gotten very
cheap. Amazon is now selling the S8 in Orchid Grey for just 450 dollars, a saving of around 300
dollars. This is a great example of the way Samsung Galaxy is directly pricing against their
competitors. Start the price at a fairly high price tag of around 750 dollars, but have price cuts
happen sooner rather than later to compete directly with other phone manufacturers (Snelling,
2018).
Simply using the highest price to maximize revenue cannot be done by Apple. Samsung’s
flagship phone from last year, the Galaxy S8, has many of the features that Apple seems to be
planning, and it has a suggested retail price of 725 dollars. Samsung allows discounting, unlike
Apple, meaning that the S8 can be had for 100 dollars less than the retail price. This is a perfect
example of the competition based pricing strategy used by Samsung Galaxy. Basically, the
newest phone by Samsung is the same price as the old iPhone 7, showing how competitive the
pricing strategy for the Samsung Galaxy is (Rash, 2017).
The smartphone industry is relatively inelastic overall. Given we can spend several hours
a day on our phone, we don’t become as price sensitive, so our demand for phones is quite
inelastic. This means, if we feel like one phone has better features, the price isn’t as important.
What this means though, is if both phones are of the same quality, then the consumer will want
to choose the cheaper option. Samsung Galaxy has improved their quality of phone closer to
iPhone. When iPhones first came out, they were a clear market leader and so for anyone wishing
to get the ‘best phone’ they were the most obvious choice. Product developments mean Samsung
users have a wider choice, and Apple is losing their marketing position (Pettinger, 2017).
Samsung Galaxy also participates in having huge sales and deals. Samsung participates in
the whole black friday craze, and they always have price cuts and deals. Deals this black friday
include dropping 100 plus dollars on their phones, and getting special deals for trading in
phones. Verizon includes a deal taking 400 dollars of the Galaxy S9. Huge price adjustment
deals like these help attract new consumers who may see these deals and switch to the Galaxy.
Actively participating in Black Friday is also of utmost importance as most people are buying
gifts for their family, and a new phone is always a popular choice. (Dolcourt, 2018).
Samsung Galaxy also uses discount pricing strategies when it comes to their price
adjustments. Samsung allows discounting for their new phones, upto $100, which is something
that Apple does not do. This is an example of how their price-adjustment strategies also
contribute to their competition-based pricing. These two strategies intertwine in Samsung
Galaxy’s marketing plan of competitive based pricing, and price adjustment strategies like huge
price-cuts and deals are key components of staying competitive in the smartphone race (Rash,
2017).
Promotion Strategy
Typically each product undergoes all the stages of the product life cycle, introduction,
growth, maturity and decline. Samsung Galaxy is an overall brand of the Samsung smartphones,
wherein a new smartphone is launched almost every year. Thus to think of Samsung Galaxy as a
sub-brand of Samsung, the parent company, the brand itself is in its growth stage, where sales
occur rapidly, early adopters continue to purchase the product, and laggards follow their lead.
Since Samsung launches a new smartphone, integrated with consistently upgrading
technology, under its Galaxy series label every year, each one of its products experiences all the
stages of the product life cycle. The changes in prices of the product overtime as the products
move from the introduction to the decline stage are an evidence of this fact.
In general we believe Samsung Galaxy smartphones are in the growth stage of the
product life cycle. Sales speed up at an incredibly incremental high rate, give soaring profits,
thus welcoming new competitors into the market. Due to increased competition, the brand
invests a great deal in promoting the products. Samsung has been partnering with leading
telecom brands in United States such as Verizon and Sprint in order to encourage people to buy
the telecom connection and smartphone in conjunction with each other, often accompanied by
discounts too (Yang, 2018). Samsung has been using this strategy globally, cashing upon the
profits that come with partnering with mainstream telecom brands. As part of its marketing
strategy, Samsung has also partnered with the makers of Fortnite, based on the immense
popularity that it is garnering. Therefore, it is likely to help in promoting Samsung Galaxy
phones more too.
As a product at this stage, Samsung Galaxy phones continue to launch latest high-end
features, in order to compete against its competitors. Pricing is competitive at this level. This is
evident by the fact that most Samsung Galaxy smartphones, at least the high-end ones, have
prices similar to Samsung’s biggest competitor, Apple (Gallagher, 2018).
Samsung’s distribution network is a multichannel distribution system as Samsung sells
their phones to both consumers and wireless companies. The wireless companies then go around
and sell them to consumers. Since Samsung also sells other products, their distribution channels
for other products are also vital for Samsung Galaxy, in order to market it easily and quickly
without additional hassle.

Samsung does make use of advertisements and traditional forms of marketing in order to
promote its brand. Samsung Galaxy products are not only sold through the company but other
ways too including sales promotion. The company benefits greatly.
Samsung Galaxy series has a wide range of products with numerous line extensions too
which help Samsing to make use of mass marketing strategies instead of focusing on only one
sector of the consumers. Samsung has its own Samsung Rewards system in place, Samsung is
able to maintain a brand loyalty program (Samsung Rewards, n.d.). Samsung customers are
pretty loyal to the brand and the increasingly high sales with the launch of every new Samsung
Galaxy Smartphone it’s evident that these customers are ready to explore all that the company
has to offer them.
Though Samsung does operate through various distribution channels, Samsung also
makes use of intermediaries and retailers. This reduces the burden on the parent company itself
and also allows it to reach more people in a much more efficient way that just using a direction
interaction between the customer and sales representative.
Samsung takes advantage of all forms of advertising, including print, electronic and
digital media in order to advertise its latest Samsung Galaxy products, reaching out to a wide
group of potential customers, competing with other big brands in terms of sales. In 2016,
Samsung spent $10 billion to promote and advertise its products across the globe (Rutnik, 2017).
Samsung Galaxy does not make use of any publicity strategies in particular but it does make use
of sales promotion strategies such as holiday gifts or black friday deals which are advertised on
the Samsung website itself (Samsung, n.d.).

Samsung’s direct marketing promotional strategy includes sales through its own website
and others such as Amazon or Best Buy. Samsung does not make use of telemarketing or mail
marketing strategies. Samsung is present on major social media websites, and through those it
does make use of major social media services to promote Samsung Galaxy products. Even
products that are not launched yet are usually hyped up about on social media sites, increasing
people’s curiosity in order to encourage them to try out the new Samsung Galaxy smartphone as
soon as it is officially launched within the market.
Push vs. Pull Strategy.
In a pull system, production is triggered by demand of the product and mass media
promotion strategies are used in order to incline the customer to purchase the product. Whereas
in a push system, store promotional activities and trained store staff enable customers to make
purchases. Samsung generally follows the pull strategy where products are advertised a great
deal, and customers are intrigued to research more about products that are just launched or about
to be launched. Most eager customers have already used the mass media advertising services to
learn more about the product and thus make purchases based on that. On the other hand in-store
promotional activities can also entice customers to purchase the product, but most customers that
intend to buy a Samsung Galaxy smartphone are ones affected by the pull strategy and have
already made up their minds regarding which product they intend to purchase and why.
Types of Media Used in Advertising.
Samsung Galaxy makes major use of four different types of advertising media mainly:
print, digital, online and social media. Generally a common advantage of all of which is that they
are able to target maximum number of people by using a variety of types. With digital media the
biggest advantage is that it allows Samsung to reach out to people globally easily as most places
are equipped with television sets and cable channel connections, whether or not the person
access the other two is limited by their personal choice. Print media seems to be at advantage for
the reason that large images of latest Samsung Galaxy products posted in newspapers instantly
grasp our attention whether or not we intend to learn more about the product. The drawback with
print media is of course that customer’s buying habits are changing over time and print
advertisements are definitely not what they are looking for. With online media, the biggest
advantage is mobility and customer reach. Customer may receive advertisements based on their
searches, enabling Samsung to target potentially interested customers. On the other hand
advertisements that show up regardless of whether the customer is interested or not, help expand
the potential customer base, in terms of attracting new or even first time buyers of the company.
With social media marketing, Samsung Galaxy not only has the advantage of reaching out to
many customers, but in a relatively inexpensive way as compared to others.
Samsung like all other companies may make use of other strategies too sometimes
including direct mail, such advertising allows Samsung to reach to customers directly. This helps
in the customer viewing the advertisement piece whether or not they are interested, this could
potentially trigger interest. But since it is an individual form of marketing, this can be relatively
expensive.
Type of Media Scheduling.
Samsung Galaxy’s media scheduling strategy for its product promotion falls
closest to the the pulsing strategy rather than the continuous or fighting one, as it is a
combination of both. Samsung usually promotes it product vigorously sometime before their
launch and then during and after their launch. Advertisements are still used throughout the year,
whether in the form of Samsung’s own advertisements or promotional sales in conjunction with
other companies, especially telecom ones. During certain time periods such as close to product
launches, sales and promotions surge. This allows Samsung Galaxy to cover a variety of market
situations given its pulsing media scheduling strategy of product promotion.
Distribution Strategy
Most companies normally use two types of strategies when it comes to their distribution,
these being a direct and indirect approach. A direct distribution channel is organized and
managed by the firm itself. An indirect distribution channel relies on intermediaries to perform
most or all distribution functions, otherwise known as wholesale distribution. Samsung Galaxy
uses a mixture of direct and indirect distribution. With indirect distribution, you can either sell to
wholesalers or retailers. Retailers are licensed to resell products to consumers for consumption.
This is generally the final stop between the manufacturer and the market. With wholesalers,
retailers are the customer as wholesalers buy from various manufacturers, and then sell these
items to the retailers.
Samsung sells their product anywhere they want as long as retailers are willing to take
stock. In addition Samsung also has an existing distribution network from their existing
businesses. This is important because Samsung does not need much in the way of resources to
bring their phones and tablets to new markets. These existing businesses, like them being known
for their tv’s and other technology, help make it a whole lot easier for the Samsung Galaxy
phone to go to a greater number of markets and retailers, and this is because they are a well-
known brand (Dilger, 2018).

Although a bit old, Vertex Wireless has been acknowledged as Samsung’s leading
distributor for unlocked mobile devices in North America based on the number of units sold for
2016. This outstanding accomplishment was acknowledged during the January Consumer
Electronics Show (Vertex Wireless Acknowledged, 2017).
Samsung Galaxy operates under the conventional distribution channel. A conventional
distribution channel is a channel consisting of one or more independent retailers, producers, or
wholesalers. Each of these are a seperate business seeking to maximize its own profits, perhaps
even at the expense of profits for the system as a whole. Samsung has a unique distribution
scheme with a single distributor in a city who further caters to all the retailers of the area like in
Mumbai Samsung has the SSK distributors as the sole distributor for all its products. Doing a
distribution strategy like this helps eliminate the number of channels involved, therefore
decreasing channel conflict. Samsung primarily uses sales and services dealers, and modern
retail distributors. These retailers sell products through chains of supermarkets clearly
concentrating on the demand and opportunities to expand their in-store share (Ganjoo, 2018).
A key component of a good functional strategy is to have a good channel captain.
Samsung Galaxy itself, the manufacturer, is the channel captain in its distribution strategy. A
channel captain is the organization responsible for managing a particular distribution channel and
overseeing channel partnerships. Obviously, Samsung Galaxy is the channel captain as things
begin there, and they oversee which retailers and wholesalers they want their products to go to.
The fact that Samsung itself is the captain is great because they get the first say in most if not all
of where they do and don’t want their items distributed. This gives them the utmost control in
where they do and don’t want their Samsung Galaxy phones distributed.
Samsung Galaxy, and really the smartphone industry in general, has a selective intensity
in distribution. This means that they use a limited number of outlets in a geographical area to sell
a product. This allows Samsung to have a lot of say in where they want their products sold.
Samsung Galaxy phones are sold in a number of stores, but not everywhere like soft drinks or
crackers. Samsung Galaxy primarily sells their phones at phone stores like Verizon Wireless, as
well as bigger retailers like Target. This allows them to gain more marketing control and
coverage for less cost than if they used an intensive marketing strategy.
Samsung Galaxy has had some channel conflict, specifically when their new Galaxy Note
7 had reports of multiple melting, and thus complicating a massive recall, and slowing confusion
among retailers. AT&T, a key carrier of Samsung Galaxy phones and a channel that Samsung
Galaxy goes through, said that you can exchange the Note 7 for any other phone, and they ended
up dropping the Note 7 entirely. This whole fiasco of the phones melting also led to some other
key retailers dropping it as well. This could be seen as a hindrance to Samsung Galaxy, as they
were directly responsible for making most of the parts for their phones, hence why their prices
are lower, but they have learned from their mistake (Wells, 2016).
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Firm’s Marketing Strategy
Based on the facts presented previously, there were some things in all areas that
showcased Samsung’s strengths in the market. There were also some things that were
weaknesses, some of which led to a major marketing concern.
The first growth strategies strength was the frequent price drops on phones in market
penetration. The second growth strategies strength is the frequent product development. There
were also two weaknesses that stood out. The first growth strategies weakness was that
sometimes consumers think that they are not as good as Apple because of the price drops. The
second growth strategies weakness was the reliance on Apple designs. Both of these weaknesses
showcase the pressing marketing concern of constantly being compared to Apple.
The first segmentation strength is how they are growing in developing countries, which
comes from geographic segmentation. The second segmentation strengths shows how they are
using demographic segmentation by making phones of various prices in order to use different
income brackets. The first segmentation weakness is how the industry is focused more on urban
consumers as opposed to rural consumers, segments that come from geographic segmentation.
This could be improved through an advertising campaign showing rural smartphone users using
the phones, or partnering with wireless carriers to have the phone be cheaper with unlimited data
plans since rural smartphone users do not always have internet access. The second weakness is
how they do not focus enough on demographics outside of millennials and Gen Z. This is also a
targeting and positioning weakness. This can be improved through advertising towards the uses
of phones for older people, such as voice-to-text capabilities and being able to look up knitting
patterns or recipies using the phones. Baby boomers are the richest generation in history,
therefore they have lots of disposable income and can increase the market share of Samsung.
Another weakness for targeting and positioning is the similarities between their
positioning statement and that of Apple regarding smartphones. They are nearly identical, which
can make it hard to differentiate the smartphones. A way to improve this would be to narrow the
focus a bit for Galaxy smartphones, maybe creating a new brand line for budget smartphones or
for a different brand line for different age demographics. A strength for targeting and position
though is that the targeting strategy, while not focused on groups with high disposable income, it
does focus on a growing group with a growing disposable income by focusing on millennials and
Gen Z.
A strength of the smartphones themself with that it has lots of use cases, and a lot of
characteristics. That means that the smartphones can be used for lots of different things, and have
lots of technology to showcase during advertising. A weakness is the generic packaging and the
fact that there is not a lot about the product to make it standout from iPhones, meaning that the
advertising to differentiate the product from iPhones need to showcase what does make the
product even slightly different. Creative packaging would improve the generic packaging. A
product completely different from anything Apple has put out would make the product stand out
from iPhones, slightly improving that problem Samsung has with their Galaxy smartphones.
The pricing strategy they have chosen is strong in using competitive pricing against their
competitors and is strong in the use of price adjustment strategies. This helps Samsung stand out
among its competitors much more than its product does. The fact that their not as expensive as
iPhones can make the phone seem like it is cheap and that they may not make as good of a profit
could be considered a weakness, however the strengths in the pricing strategy is so strong that
reversing the weaknesses would not be an improvement. However, changing the promotion on
the pricing strategy could would be an improvement towards the weaknesses. Incorporating the
product and the pricing would make both seem better, and not undercut the strengths from the
pricing strategy.
With their promotion strategy, the multi-channel approach is a strength which enhances
local and global sales. The fact they are diverse in their promotion by using almost all forms of
promotion is a strength as it can allow Samsung to reach maximum number of potential
customers. However, a weakness in their current promotion strategy is that their commercials are
less of a spectuale than Apple. By trying to adapt to the standard set by Apple, it only hurts
Samsung. Instead, Samsung should do something completely different from what Apple would
try to do. It would make Samsung stand out more from their primary competitor.
Finally, there is Samsung’s distribution strategy. The strengths of their distribution
strategy is the fact that they develop a lot of things in-house with not a lost of reliance on outside
sources. That, and the fact that Samsung does not use a lot of channels, makes the flow of
information a whole lot less confusing. It also allows for Samsung to have more control over the
product itself. A weakness in their distribution strategy is the fact that they do not distribute to
many countries, however Samsung is currently working on improving that. They could work on
expanding to developing markets where they do not have many competitors like they did with
India, such as Africa.
Overall, Apple is a recurring weakness for Samsung, making their closeness a major
marketing concern as Apple is the market leader in the eyes of the United States market. We
believe a new marketing campaign is necessary to improving the market share.
Major Marketing Problem
Samsung is one of the market leaders in the smartphone industry and given the industry
represents oligopolistic competition, the competitors produce differentiated products which are
likely to be compared against each other. Apple is the main market leader in the smartphone
industry, while Samsung is the second biggest company in it. Thus comparison between these
two main market leaders that together represent around 70% of the entire smartphone industry is
practically inevitable (Manufacturers' market share, 2018). The comparison of Samsung Galaxy
S9 which was launched earlier this year with Apple’s iPhone X that was launched last year
signifies how Samsung’s late introduction of same or similar technologies and features places it
in direct competition with Apple (Hall, 2018). Comparison by customers or prospective buyers is
likely to affect product sales and the growth rate of Samsung’s market share in the smartphone
industry. Given by the time Samsung catches up with Apple, Apple starts to focus on a newer
aspect of improvement also negatively affects Samsung’s image. But beyond that Samsung has
also run into legal trouble for this matter earlier this year too (Samsung told to pay, 2018).
Samsung should to focus its marketing strategy more to counter the problem of running
into constant comparison with Apple, and instead establishing its own brand image and position.
Samsung needs to adopt a similar marketing strategy to the Domino's campaign where they were
honest about the quality of their old pizza (Siede, 2017). Samsung needs where it becomes more
upfront about having features that are a replica of what Apple has to offer. Based on this
campaign not only do we believe Samsung should be more transparent to its customers with
regards to mere comparison with Apple, but what also sets it apart from Apple, despite the
constant comparison.
In the past, Samsung has run several campaigns as a mock to Apple and its technology
such as the Next Big Thing Campaign (Gilbert, 2017). Growing from that idea, Samsung should
be revamp the mocking only playing to their strengths such as their lower prices, stronger online
distribution channels, and their camera. This campaign would also continue their targeting
strategy of targeting millennials and Generation Z.
Forecasting Market Trends
The smartphone industry is indeed a promising one that has generated a major share of
the revenues for the world economy, and the United States economy in particular. The industry
has been it it’s growth phase for quite some time now. Forecasting sales figures and the history
of sales in the market only indicate that the market share of smartphone industry will remain
relatively stable (Global smartphone shipments, n.d.).
Over the past decade the sales climbed at an incremental rate, but over the course of the
past five years the sales have been relatively stable. 2019 onwards the forecast indicates that the
sales will increase relative to the ongoing year and then reach another level of stability in the
following two years and ahead. The small increment in the shipments from 2018 to 2019 cannot
be associated to any breakthrough reasons. But the changes in the communication industry which
is dominated by smartphone sales majorly relative to the sales of the other mobile phones can be
attributed to this, as more people, especially the laggards begin to adopt the new technology.
Since prices contribute majorly as a factor affecting sales it is vital to look at how they
change overtime to understand how the sales can change overtime based on changing demands.
Average prices for smartphones have remained within a similar range since 2013, both
globally in the graph on top titled “Smartphone average selling price worldwide 2016-2021” and
in United States as illustrated with the graph on the bottom titled “Smartphone average price in
the US 2013-2022”. Therefore, price is not likely to affect the demand or sales of smartphones.
Thus this helps us conclude further that the market seems to indicate a trend of a stabilizing level
of sales. As mentioned earlier, the smartphone industry is undergoing changes and innovation
seems to be a driving source. Thus the stable sales may make it seem such that the growth stage
is over for the smartphone market and is on the verge of entering the maturity stage where
stagnant sales will eventually be followed by decreasing numbers eventually.
Lastly for us it is important to understand where Samsung stands in the market with
respect to its competitors. Samsung has maintained its status of being a market leader in the
industry. Samsung seems to be maintaining that status ahead too. Samsung Galaxy in particular
has been known for its unique screen size and focus on larger screen size phones, including
namely Samsung Galaxy Note series. Sales for larger screen sizes are increasing, a feature
Samsung focused upon majorly. and other companies have followed Samsung on that (Global
smartphone shipments by screen size 2018-2022, n.d.)
.
Conclusion
Samsung Galaxy has a lot of strengths, which makes them a very good company. Things
like loyal customers and a good brand image are some of these strengths. Other strengths include
the Samsung growth strategies, like targeting the Gen Z and millennial markets and having
product modifications on their Galaxy phones like their innovated camera. Additionally, they are
starting to try to come out with some innovative items like the Galaxy X. A big aspect of their
marketing mix is their pricing strategy, which normally involves competition based pricing. With
their promotion strategy, they use multiple forms advertising that allow them to reach a vast
amount of potential customers. That allows Samsung to have strong brand recognition. Their
distribution strategy is indirect, normally involving Samsung sending their phones to distributors,
who then give it to the customers. Together, all these things allow for Samsung to be the
company it is today, a market leader.
The future of the market shows that everyone wants a smartphone. However, a major
weakness for Samsung Galaxy across the board has been their association with the iPhone brand,
as they are seen as a lesser phone than Galaxy. Our market recommendations for Samsung are to
disassociate themselves from iPhones. We suggest they advertise how good their phones and
how much less they cost. People see the cheaper price and think that it is of lower quality when it
is not. Some slogans we have thought of have been things like “don’t go into debt, go into
Galaxy”, and “as good a phone, much lower price”. They play into the strengths of Samsung, not
the strengths of Apple. We also had a social media angle for the campaign through the camera.
Samsung Galaxy has the tools to take control of the smartphone market, it just comes down to if
they utilize them.

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Running head: Samsung in a Galaxy Far Far Away 1

Samsung in a Galaxy Far Far Away:

A Research-Based Marketing Plan for Samsung Galaxy Smartphones

Kate Kielkopf, Tim Nahach, Fatima Rehan

Truman State University

Market Situation/External Analysis 5

Major Changes and Trends in the Last 5-10 Years 11

Key Success Factors for the Industry 12

Potential Segmentation Dimensions. 17

Targeting Strategy for Samsung. 24

Positioning for Samsung Galaxy. 26

Market Mix Strategy 28

Push vs. Pull Strategy. 34

Types of Media Used in Advertising. 34

Type of Media Scheduling. 35

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Firm’s Marketing Strategy 38

Major Marketing Problem 42

Forecasting Market Trends 43

blast into the future due to the smartphone.

Market Situation/External Analysis

highest smartphone penetration rates worldwide (Gordon, n.d.).

penetration rate stood at almost 40 percent (Gordon, n.d.).

of U.S. smartphones sales (Gordon, n.d.).

● Almost 75 percent of smartphone subscribers in the United States use either an

Apple or Samsung smartphone as of April 2018 (Gordon, n.d.).

(Manufacturers' market share, 2018)

smartphone market (Popular smartphone brands, 2018).

● Samsung has been making continuous improvements, such as making an

product modification is software improvements, which has contributed to

allowing Samsung to remain competitive with Apple (Eadicicco, 2017).

directly challenged by other pioneers such as Apple (McCracken, 2018).

● Samsung offers a wider range of products than competitors (Pratap, 2018).

the Note 7 (Tsukayama, 2018).

able to launch any such product.

competition this is “drawing market resistance” making price control Samsung’s

weakness (Gallagher, 2018, para. 4).

sophistication that Apple has, such as with face ID technology. (McCracken,

company this is its weakness in terms of innovation. “Several smartphones —

Note9′s or even larger” (Tsukayama, 2018).

● The market’s biggest opportunity is the ever-increasing demand for smartphones

hence that is an opportunity for smartphone companies like Samsung to expand

into international markets.

customer expectations like “more powerful processors, sharper cameras, and

(Eadicicco, 2017, para. 3). This aggressive competition that Samsung

faces is a threat for the company.

● Increased international competition from Chinese brands is a threat to United

States smartphone companies including Samsung despite it being a market leader

Major Changes and Trends in the Last 5-10 Years

customers. (Reisinger, 2018).

excess of 200 million (Reisinger, 2018).

population owned a smartphone which is a significant increase of about 40 percent in

in the U.S. 2018, 2018).

● A recent survey of 72 percent of 480 consumers surveyed by WalletHub in August said

different smartphone brands like Google or Samsung brands. (Im, 2018).

would upgrade within two years. (Dano, 2018)

onto your phone. (Dano, 2018)

Key Success Factors for the Industry

them based on R&D and customer demands (Chen, 2018).

● Organization have been learning from their failed experiences or their

too maximize customer satisfaction (Tsukayama, 2018).

others (Popular smartphone brands, 2018).

companies in the industry keep an eye on what competitors introduce in the

away customers (Im, 2018).

website said that: