Brand Management of Samsung Electronics: A Comprehensive Analysis

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Brand Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................2
Task 1 – Building and managing brand over time.....................................................................3
Task 2 - Brand portfolio and hierarchy management...............................................................8
Analyse the organisation’s brand portfolio strategy............................................................8
Illustration of the hierarchy management of brands within organisations portfolio.........10
Analyse strategies used for managing the equity of the brands within the organisation's
portfolio..............................................................................................................................12
Task 3- Brand extension and leverage....................................................................................14
Strengths of the brand that can be leveraged....................................................................14
Weaknesses that may need attention by providing some possible suggestions................15
Collaborative and partnership agreements........................................................................16
Task 4- Measuring and managing brand value.......................................................................17
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................... 20
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 21
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Table of Figures
Figure 1 Keller’s brand equity model........................................................................................5
Figure 2 brand portfolio of Samsung electronics....................................................................10
Figure 3 Samsung's Subsidiaries.............................................................................................11
Figure 4 Best Global Brands 2017...........................................................................................18
Figure 5 Brand value of Samsung...........................................................................................20
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INTRODUCTION
The assignment focuses on highlighting the insights and understanding of brand
management. It considers Samsung and other organizations as an example to understand
the development and management of a brand over time (Kapferer, 2012). Different tools
have been included which are employed by the organization to enhance the brand values. It
also depicts the strategies used by the organization to manage the brand portfolio and
hierarchy. At last, techniques are evaluated which are used by the organizations to
measures as well as manage the brand value.
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TASK 1 – BUILDING AND MANAGING BRAND OVERTIME
Brand is Power
INTRODUCTION
Brand and brand equity
The solid brand is the foundation to build a successful business. Leo Burnett, the creator of
legendary advertising icons, stated that brand is a symbol that leaves the mental picture of
the identity of the brand. Branding is referred to those methods and techniques used to
establish the image of the company in eyes of customers (Jung, 2014). Branding aims to
helps the customer understand the offers of the company and its distinctiveness from
others in an easy and simple manner. It not only just include USP (unique selling
proposition), it also combines all the ways of communication to communicate what the
company stands for (Jung, 2014). There are several examples of branding such as Apple,
Virgin Group, Coca-Cola, Calvin Klein, McDonald's, Samsung, JetBlue, and Subway and so on.
The brand equity is a marketing term that represents the value of the brand and includes
three major components, that are, perception of the consumers, negative or positive effects
and the resulting value (Jung, 2014).
Stages to build a successful brand
The brand equity model developed by Kevin Keller is also referred to as the CBBE model
with the simple concept to build a strong brand based on the customers. It is actually a
brand equity pyramid that helps in building brand equity by understanding the customers
and then implements the strategies accordingly (Mosavi and Kenarehfard, 2013). The
companies can use the CBBE model to identify the strategies to be implemented so as to
provide the right experiences to the audiences creating a wow factor.
The major focus of Nike and Adidas is on sports and it took huge efforts of years for them to
target and branded them in this category and builds solid brand equity. Similarly, continuous
focus by Audi and BMW resulted in high brand equity in the luxury sports car category.
The brand equity triangle answers four basic questions to build the brand equity starting
from the base of the pyramid:
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Figure 1 Kell
er’s brand equity model
Source: Kakati and Choudhury, 2013
Brand identity: it answers the question- who you are? It aims to create brand salience or
awareness. Acquiring correct brand identity is essential to ensure the customer can not only
aware of the brand but also distinguish it from others. For example, flicker strives to
become the best online photo and video management application as it wants its users to
make their photos available to their respective people (Kakati and Choudhury, 2013).
YouTube provided a platform for people to discover, watch and share originally created
videos and is a forum for connecting plus distribution the original content and
advertisement. These brands are aware of the customers and their unique needs which
results in their success.
Brand meaning: it answers- what you are? It includes two building blocks performance and
imagery. Performance means an overall ranking of the brand on the 5 parameters such as
price, service effectiveness, primary characteristics and features, product durability and
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serviceability, style and design with regards to the customers’ expectations (Kakati and
Choudhury, 2013). Imagery means the ability of the brand in providing social and
psychological satisfaction to the customers. TripAdvisor is the largest travel website that has
a unique partnership with KIVA, microlending platform, which connects the travellers
around the world for their review.
Brand responses: it answers- what do I feel or think about you? It identifies the judgement
and feeling of the customers about the brand. Judgement means the opinions of the
customer regarding brand on 4 parameters including quality, superiority, credibility and
consideration (Kakati and Choudhury, 2013). Feelings determine the emotional reactions of
the consumer towards the brands on six parameters including security, warmth, fun,
excitement, social approval and self-respect. Cadbury dairy milk has positioned them
through emotional branding as it urges customers to think about it at the time of any happy
moment.
Brand relationships: it answers on what type and extent of connection the brand would like
to have with customers. Brand resonance means the in-depth psychological bond of the
customers with the brand (Kakati and Choudhury, 2013). The four categories of resonance
are behavioural loyalty, sense of community, attitudinal attachment and active engagement.
Harley Davidson brand is an epitome of the brand resonance in this model due to the high
connectivity of customers with the brand.
Role of the marketing department in creating brand equity
Marketing programs and strategies are at the core to build brand equity. The activities
carried out by the marketing department knitted around the pricing, product and
distribution channel thus increases brand awareness and create a brand image (Pappu and
Quester, 2016). The revolutionary change due to the advanced technology helps in
understanding the perceptive of the consumers and the company which makes easy for
them to serve efficiently (Pappu and Quester, 2016).
For example, Dell designs and assembles the products, ordered by the customers, in the
warehouse of the company and sends it to the customers. The marketing department of the
company develops the marketing programs considering the price, product and distribution
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networks, customer and company experiences and perceptive, direct or indirect marketing
channels to build strong brand equity based on consumers.
MAIN BODY
Quality products and services, competitive analysis, consistent brand image and feedbacks
from the consumers are some of the strategies that can help the company to strengthen the
brand equity (Jing et al., 2014). For example, the perception of customers towards Starbucks
is positive as the customer relates the brand with value, quality and experience to relate
with the people in a comfortable space. Wegmans is an American supermarket chain that
has such strong brand equity that when it opens a new store in new territories; it results in
uncontrollable crowd generation leading police to direct the traffics and out-of-store
parking lost due to its brand reputation.
Another example is of Coca-Cola who created the drink that tasted similar to Pepsi and
faced an epic fail in 1985, however, recovered quickly by getting a distinct taste in a couple
of weeks (Jing et al., 2014). The brand loyalty towards the Apple products needs no
explanation as it is clear from the long lines of its diehard fans camping outside the
company’s shops during the launch of new iPhone in the market (Dissanayake and
Amarasuriya, 2015).
Brand extension is a marketing strategy to introduce new products under the existing brand
name. One of the best examples of brand extension is Dettol that offers soap, sanitizer,
antiseptic cream, relief spray, bandage, liquid hand wash and so on (Dissanayake and
Amarasuriya, 2015). Amul introduced condensed milk, an extension of milk. Variety
shampoos are launched by Pantene to cater different hairs and different sizes of juice
packages are offered by Tropicana. Samsung introduced diverse products such as washing
machines refrigerator, mobiles and so on.
Brand reinforcement and revitalisation are the marketing strategies adopted to revive and
manage the brand equity of the brand among the consumers in the market. For example,
Mountain dew launched by Pepsi eventually declined after flourishing till 1990 in the
market. It was again repositioned with the changed packaging and tagline to target young
people who perform adventures sports thus leading to a 5th position in the beverage
industry. The Dabur brand was repositioned and restructured through line extension in 2003
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with the new tagline ‘Celebrate Life' to make it more alive and bright (Djatmiko and
Pradana, 2016).
There is a various occasion when the company suffered from issues that harmed their brand
equity however they put their efforts to over those crisis. There are some of the examples of
negative brand equity as well (Djatmiko and Pradana, 2016). The food poisoning crisis in
2015 caused Chipotles to erode years of its favourable brand equity. On the other hand, the
diesel emission scandal of Volkswagen in 2015 considered to be the largest products recall
that is about 11 million cars in the US and seriously damaged the brand equity (Djatmiko
and Pradana, 2016).
CONCLUSION
Thus branding is not only getting the target market to select you over the rivals but also
getting the prospects to consider as the sole provider of their needs. Branding helps in
creating customer preference for the product or services through intense marketing. It sets
the perception of the people about the brand and also increases the business values by
generating new customers and creates trusts within the market place (Kapferer, 2012). The
good brand work inspires loyalty by improving customer perception through promotional
activities.
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TASK 2 - BRAND PORTFOLIO AND HIERARCHY MANAGEMENT
Analyse the organisation’s brand portfolio strategy
The aim of Samsung like any other organization is to build a strong brand which requires an
effective brand strategy. The company Samsung uses the branded house model as their
brand strategies as Samsung serves as a primary brand and the product it offers are the
subset of the primary brand (Dissanayake and Amarasuriya, 2015). The primary brand
undermines or overshadows the subset brands. Samsung has developed itself as the brand
which offers the products and services as its subsets. It helps the company to share similar
budget, customer segments and market position in all its product or services.
The major benefit to Samsung in using Branded house strategy is the efficiency, acceptance
and evolution however the potential issue sot be consider includes reputation, limitation
and ambiguity (Song and Lee, 2014). It makes it easier for the consumer to recognise the
products and service offered by Samsung and increase brand awareness. This helps
Samsung in focusing brand marketing on single brand strategy as well as brand image. It
drives the decision making for the growth and structure of the company.
It aligns the organization internally as well as externally. The purchase of the products and
services by consumer rely on attributes of the company rather than product attributes. If
any crisis occurs in any subset that is the products and service of Samsung, the whole brand
suffers since any negativity related to a product and services is attributed to the brand (Song
and Lee, 2014). It may result in a lot of ambiguity since the market offerings become too
broad to be determined by the consumers.
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Figure 2 brand portfolio of Samsung electronics
Source: Song and Lee, 2014
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Illustration of the hierarchy management of brands within organisations
portfolio
Samsung is a multinational conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South
Korea by Lee Byung-Chul in 1938. There are numbers of businesses affiliated under the
Samsung brand that serves the different areas that are textile, electronics, food processing,
securities and retail. Samsung electronics founded in 1969 manages over 200 subsidiaries
across the world (Samsung, 2018). The product line of Samsung includes consumer products
and business products. The consumer goods include mobile phones, televisions, audio/
video devices and accessories, cameras and camcorders, computers and peripherals and
printers and multifunction (Samsung, 2018). The business products include the IT business
products, professional displays, hospitality solution, telecommunications, semiconductors,
LCD panels, set-top boxes, storage, fibre optics, CCTV and compressors.
Figure 3 Samsung's Subsidiaries
Source: Author’s Work, 2019
The brand hierarchy management is the most efficient way to manage the product portfolio
of organizations like Samsung. The brand hierarchy model adopted by Samsung is the
branded house in which it expresses its value proposition in a single and unified voice. The
corporate name and brand identity of Samsung are same (Jamali and Khan, 2018). The
businesses and divisions of the company such as Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T
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SAMSUNG
Samsung
Electronics
Samsung
C&T
Corporatio
n
Samsung
Fire &
Marine
Insurance
Samsung
Heavy
Industries
Samsung
Engineerin
g
Samsung
SDS
Samsung
Life
Insurance
Cheil
Worldwide