Download smartphones positioning on samsung example

7th International Scientific and Expert Conference TEAM 2015
Technique, Education, Agriculture & Management
Belgrade, October 15-16, 2015
SMARTPHONES POSITIONING ON SAMSUNG
EXAMPLE
First A. Katolik Kovačević1*, Second V. Vučemilović2 and Third M. Aračić3
1College
of Slavonski Brod, Slavonski Brod, Croatia
on College of Slavonski Brod, Slavonski Brod, Croatia
3Former student of College of Slavonski Brod, Slavonski Brod, Croatia
* Corresponding author e-mail: [email protected]
2Associate
segmentation but also product/service positioning
in a mind of a final consumer.
Abstract
Product positioning is related to creating an image
about product in a mind of final consumer. That is
the major difference between positioning and
differentiation which is related to real product
features and segmentation which is focused on
market and final consumers. Product positioning
and repositioning are two product strategies which
are most commonly used.
The aim of this paper is to show and emphasize
importance between market success of product
and company as a producer, and product
positioning according to final consumers’ needs
and desires which are partly real but mostly
created by producers marketing activities.
Product positioning starts with product/service but
image which final consumer has regarding
product/service defines positioning.
Samsung is a company which started as a
producer of no name products. Today it is one of
strongest and well-known brands all over the
world. They distinguished themselves on the
smartphones market through innovation and with
each new product they worked on satisfying needs
and desires of final consumers. With this policy
they gained better market position today then their
major competitors which were far ahead of them at
the start of mobile phones market.
2. Product positioning
This paper is based on market research conducted
this year on student population regarding their
opinion about Samsung smartphones and other
smartphone producers. Market research was
conducted in April this year online through internet
by e-mail and social networks.
Keywords:
Product
positioning,
smartphones, Samsung
product
strategies,
1. Introduction
Today, so many products and services exist on the
market. Final consumers are getting information
regarding products/services on every day basis
through different information channels. Mass
marketing cannot be effective today as it was in
previous period. It is very difficult for producers to
gain satisfying market position for their
products/services and attract final consumer’s
attention.
Target marketing is far more appropriate for
today’s market conditions. Marketing experts must
create for each product/service marketing mix and
special attention must be taken regarding not only
product/service
differentiation
and
market
Product positioning is one of the product strategies
used together with product repositioning, scale of
products strategy, product creating strategy and
new product strategy.
Product repositioning is a process of revision
actual product/service position and marketing mix.
Through this process company is looking for new
position on the market which would be more
appropriate for the product/service. This activities
can be directed to actual or new consumers and to
new ways of product/service consumption.
Scale of products strategy is related to product
portfolio company produce. It can be one product
strategy, multiproduct strategy with complementary
products and product portfolio strategy which is
created according to needs and desires of final
consumers.
Product creating strategy is based on the product
standardization
level.
Product
can
be
standardized, adapted and standard product with
certain modifications.
New product strategy consists of all operations
related to creating new product and putting it on
the market regarding existing product line. There
First A. Katolik Kovačević, Second V. Vučemilović and Third M. Aračić
1
7th International Scientific and Expert Conference TEAM 2015
Technique, Education, Agriculture & Management
Belgrade, October 15-16, 2015
are three basic ways for this process which are
modification of existing product, product imitation
and product innovation.
According to Kotler product position is how product
defined by final consumer is related to important
product attributes – place taken by product in
relation to competition products. [1]
Product positioning is not something connected to
product features it is image of concrete product in
a mind of final consumer. It means that product
positioning means creating product image in a
mind of final consumer on specific way. [2]
Product positioning as a term was first time
mentioned and defined in articles written by
advertising directors Al Ries and Jack Trout in late
sixties. Their definitions of product positioning are
still today in all marketing textbooks.
Product positioning starts with establishing
differences in terms of product, service and image
related to products produced by competition. Next
step is establishing criteria for selection the most
important differences relevant to final consumer. At
the end, selected differences relevant to final
consumer must be communicated to targeted
market segment through promotional activities.
It is important to select wright differences which will
be pointed out.
According to Kotler difference must be important,
distinctive, superior, communicable, preemptive,
affordable and profitable. [1]
Positioning can be applied on company image,
specific product or product line. Positioning as a
process has steps showed in next table.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Table 1.Positioning process steps
Identification of competitors productsbrands
Identification of criteria/attributes relevant
for positioning
Present market situation analysis
Positioning strategy selection
Market launch of selected positioning
strategy
Measuring positioning strategy efficiency
The most common mistakes in positioning process
are under positioning when final consumers do not
know anything particular about the certain product
brand, over positioning when final consumers
image about the product brand is too narrow,
mixed positioning which occurs due to often
position changes of certain product brand and
2
suspicious positioning when final consumers have
doubts regarding promoted attributes of product
brand. [2]
Positioning is connected with differentiation and
segmentation but differs from this two processes.
Nevertheless, this three different processes are
often mistaken. Basic difference between this three
processes comes from their definition. While
positioning is related to final consumer’s product
image, differentiation is connected with product
itself and product characteristics that differ certain
product from similar competitors’ products.
Market segmentation is a process through which
company selects different market segments to
which creates appropriate marketing mix. This
process often includes product differentiation
which means that for each market segment is
created specific product that suits the best to
expectations of final consumers in certain market
segment. Market segmentation is focused on final
customers and differentiation is focused on
product/service.
3. Market research results
Market research was conducted this year on
student population regarding their opinion about
Samsung smartphones and other smartphones
producers. It was conducted in April this year
online through internet by e-mail and social
networks. Research covered student population
and included VUSB students, other faculty
students and employed persons. Total number of
respondents was 222. Majority of respondents is
between 20-25 years old which shows figure 1.
200
150
100
50
0
15-20
20-25
25-30
30-40
40+
Figure 1. Age of respondents
Majority of participants, 185 or 83% owned
Samsung smartphone. They are satisfied with
product but their opinion is that improvements can
still be done to improve the product. That is shown
in table 2.
Smartphones positioning on Samsung example
7th International Scientific and Expert Conference TEAM 2015
Technique, Education, Agriculture & Management
Belgrade, October 15-16, 2015
Table 2.Are respondents satisfied with their
Samsung Smartphone?
Yes, they
are
perfect.
I'm satisfied
with
Samsung.
35
92
Not bad,
but
Samsung
can better.
70
I don't
like it.
25
Participants answered on question regarding
Samsung smartphones quality and price ratio.
Majority of participants wants to have this
smartphones but they cannot afford it. They mostly
wait for price reduction and regard price as higher
than it should be
Table 3.Quality vs. price
Samsung smartphones design market research
participants characterize as attractive and modern.
Only 11 participants answered that they don’t like
design.
Samsung phones
are attractive .
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Price
is
proportiona
l to quality,
but I still
can not buy
their mobile
phones
They cost a
fortune
.
The price is
not
reasonable
.
25
60
The design is
modern, but could
be better .
I like design of
Iphone more than
Samsug's.
I don't like it.
Figure 2.Design of Samsung smartphones
After-sales activities especially guaranty, delivered
by the company Samsung, are rated with average
mark. Some had rather bad experience but others
had no problem with solving problems with product
or time needed for that.
140
120
100
After-sales
activities are
bad. I have a
bad
experience.
80
60
40
20
Samsung
servis take my
smartphone
and failure is
removed in a
given time. It's
good.
I'm
waiting
for
discount
s
on
products
because
I want to
buy highquality
mobile
phones
at
a
lower
price.
112
Price of
Samsun
g
mobile
phones
is
not
problem
for me.
The
price is
okay.
25
Quality is major factor which determines
purchasing decision. It is more important than
image or range of products produced by the
certain company. Nevertheless, majority of our
participants believe that well known producers
guaranty better quality. It is shown in table 4.
Table 4. The importance of corporate image
I
have
more
confidenc
e
in
companie
s that are
stable
and well
know on
the
market
40
No,
important
to me is
the design
of
the
phone .
20
Most
important
to me is
the
quality of
the
product ,
no matter
who
produces
it .
111
No, I think
„no name“
products
can be as
good as
the
products
of famous
companie
s.
51
Marketing activities are stated as important and
participants consider Samsung as company with
good marketing concept. They also emphasized
innovation as an important factor.
0
Figure 3.After-sales activities
First A. Katolik Kovačević, Second V. Vučemilović and Third M. Aračić
3
7th International Scientific and Expert Conference TEAM 2015
Technique, Education, Agriculture & Management
Belgrade, October 15-16, 2015
Table 5. Samsung marketing activities ratings
Marketing
does a good
job
.
Samsung
smartphones
are
very
advertised
and
very
popular.
Marketing Marketing Marketing
is one of is good.
is
the
key
the
elements
weakest
of
the
part of
company
the
Samsung
company
.
.
Marketing
is
very
important.
82
120
15
5
Participants in our survey consider price reduction
of Samsung smartphones to be the most efficient
strategy to increase the sales figures. They also
see quality improvement as second area for
company’s development
100
50
0
I phone
Nokia
HTC
Figure 5. The best mobile phone company today
Product Galaxy S4 is Samsung smartphone
regarded as the best smartphone on the market
today. Second place is taken by another Samsung
smartphone, Galaxy S5.
100
90
Increase
quality.
80
70
60
Prise
reduction.
50
40
30
It could not be
better
20
10
Missing much.
0
Figure 4. Opportunities for advancement in
company's business
Participants in our market research selected
Samsung to be a leading smartphones producer
today. Very popular Iphone took second place and
HTC third. Nokia took fourth place and it is hard to
believe that it was a leading company on the very
beginning of the mobile phones market. It is
interesting that no one mentioned Sony as a
producer of smartphones. Figure 5 shows how our
respondents
rated
major
producers
of
smartphones today.
4
Figure 6.The best Samsung smartphone on the
market
4. Samsung smartphone positioning
Samsung Galaxy S4 is smartphone regarded as
one of the best on the market today by participants
of our market research. Introduction of this product
on the market created interest on the global
market. High technology features and quality
improvement created great interest among final
consumers.
Galaxy S4 is smartphone from product line Galaxy.
Previous model Galaxy S3 was very popular due
to high quality and new model from that product
line Galaxy S4, only continued good sales figures.
Each and every new model in this product line was
well accepted on the market because of quality
improvements and new technological features.
All functions of this product are focused on final
costumer’s needs and desires. Sales are
supported with marketing activities and image of
Samsung as a company strongly support all
products from this product line.
Product design of Samsung smartphones is
related to customers’ needs so Galaxy S4 has
larger screen and it is lighter than previous model.
Corners are slightly rounded which improves
handling the product such as typing.
After-sales activities such as servicing the product
and guaranty are mostly, in reasonable time. Price
of Samsung Galaxy S4 is slightly lower than same
products from competitors.
Smartphones positioning on Samsung example
7th International Scientific and Expert Conference TEAM 2015
Technique, Education, Agriculture & Management
Belgrade, October 15-16, 2015
Distribution of Samsung smartphones is excellent
so their products can be bought almost
everywhere and anytime.
Marketing activities were focused on raising
demand even before the product was placed on
the market. Therefore Galaxy S4 was well
accepted from the beginning it was introduced.
Advertising included internet, social networks,
press and television and product presentations on
sales points.6. Aim and Scope of the conference
Transfer of knowledge and dissemination of
achievements
mobility
of
teachers
and
international cooperation interdisciplinary approach
on development
5. Conclusion
Every company once when defines its market
position must work on achieving goals set by the
company management. Positioning is not just
wishful thinking or well-designed marketing
advertising massages, it is whole process of
designing products/services according final
costumers expectations and desires.
Samsung example showed us how they worked
with each new product on improving their products
characteristics in terms of features but also in
creating better image regarding not only products
but company as a whole.
Their smartphones are today very popular and well
accepted, especially among younger population.
On the very start of introducing mobile phones
market Samsung was far behind market leaders
such as Nokia and Motorola.
Today, our participants in market research are
pleased with Samsung smartphones in terms of
quality,
market
presentation
and
other
characteristics covered with research. Most of
them own Samsung smartphone and in future will
stay loyal to this brand. That is the best indicator
which shows how well Samsung positioned their
smartphones on the market today.
Note: This paper is result of a final thesis of former
student at the College of Slavonski Brod
6. References
[1] Kotler, Ph.,Wong, V., Saunders, J., Armstrong,
G., Osnove marketinga, Mate, ZŠEM, Zagreb,
2006.
[2] Renko, N., Strategije marketinga, Naklada
Ljevak, Zagreb, 2009.
[3] Ries, A.,Trout, J., Positioning;The Battle for
Your Mind, Warner Books, New Yourk, 1982.
[4] Harrington A., Quelch J. Samsung Electronics
Company: Global Marketing Operations
[5] Hiroyuki, J. (1987) Mobilizing Invisible Assets,
Harvard University Press, Cambridge
[6]http://www.samsung.com/hr/aboutsamsung/corp
orateprofile/history06.html [Accessed: 05-April2015]
[7]http://www.samsung.com/hr/aboutsamsung/sam
sung/history_07.html [Accessed: 05-April-2015]
[8]http://www.samsung.com/hr/aboutsamsung/corp
orateprofile/history03.html [Accessed: 06-April2015].
[9]http://www.samsung.com/hr/aboutsamsung/corp
orateprofile/history02.html [Accessed: 05-April2015].
[10]http://www.samsung.com/hr/aboutsamsung/cor
porateprofile/history01.html [Accessed: 07-April2015].
[11]http://www.samsung.com/hr/aboutsamsung/cor
porateprofile/history.html
[Accessed:
07-April2015].
[12]http://www.samsung.com/hr/aboutsamsung/sa
msung/history_02.html [Accessed: 07-April-2015].
[13]http://www.samsung.com/hr/aboutsamsung/sa
msung/history.html [Accessed: 08-April-2015].
[14]
Pilić
L.
Samsung
Galaxy
S4
http://samsung.mobil.hr/Galaxy_S_4
[Accessed:
08-April-2015].
[15] Blažev K., Recenzija: Samsung Galaxy S4
http://mob.hr/recenzija-samsung-galaxy-s4/
[Accessed: 07-April-2015].
First A. Katolik Kovačević, Second V. Vučemilović and Third M. Aračić
5