MBA404 Case Study: Marketing Strategies for Samsung Galaxy S10+

This case study examines the marketing strategies and consumer behavior associated with the Samsung Galaxy S10+. It begins with an executive summary highlighting Samsung's position in the smartphone market and the importance of understanding consumer behavior. The study then provides a service overview, detailing Samsung's innovations and its main competitors. A critical analysis follows, assessing consumer attitudes and the impact of marketing on buyer behavior, including the influence of brand reputation and ethical practices. The marketing strategy section focuses on the value proposition, niche marketing, and the product-centric approach adopted by Samsung, including premium pricing and features like on-screen fingerprint sensors and 5G capabilities. The communication mix, including advertising, sales promotions, and viral marketing, is also discussed. The study concludes with strategic recommendations to improve the performance of the Samsung Galaxy S10+.

Running head: CASE STUDY: SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 +
Case Study: Samsung Galaxy S10 +
Name of the Student
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Author Notes:

1CASE STUDY: SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 +
Executive Summary
Samsung has been recognised as one of the major players in the smartphone market that
currently exists. As a result of the same they have been subject to mixed reactions from the
consumer community. Samsung Galaxy S10 + is the recent flagship product that has been carried
out by the company. Consumer behaviour is an important consideration that must be catered to
by companies before the operate in a market. Thus, the aim of the paper is to critically analyse
marketing strategies and the communication mix for the Samsung Galaxy S10 +. Finally,
strategic recommendations have been made to help improve the already impressive performance
of the Samsung Galaxy S10 +.

2CASE STUDY: SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 +
Table of Contents
Service Overview.............................................................................................................................3
Critical Analysis..............................................................................................................................3
Marketing Strategy......................................................................................................................4
Communication mix....................................................................................................................6
Strategic Recommendations............................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

3CASE STUDY: SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 +
Service Overview
Samsung has been recognised as one of the top companies in the world who produce
smartphones. The Samsung galaxy line of smartphones has been one of the most popular
smartphones and the company is one of the biggest reasons behind the acceptance that the
company has been subject to (Kim and Mauborgne 2014). The main competitors of the company
are in the form of Google, Apple, One Plus and others (Cecere, Corrocher and Battaglia 2015).
These companies have been carrying out innovations that have been carrying out innovation in
the market that they operate in. Apple was the first company to carry out the initiatives of the
company in the form of the iPhone (Vogelstein 2013). After the incident, series of innovations
have been carried out by various companies out of which the Samsung was one of the companies
who had the most noticeable performances. Since, then the company has been carrying out
innovations as a result of which the consumer community has been subject to various innovative
smartphones that they have derived utility from (Carrillo et al. 2019). Furthermore, the company
has been able to carry out innovation and constantly updates the technology paired with updates
that has been responsible for the acceptance that the company received the consumers in all the
markets that they have been operating in. The Samsung Galaxy S10 + is the latest innovation
that has been carried out by the company and the aim of the paper is to identify the marketing
strategy that has been employed by the company along with the communication mix of the
company that would be coupled with strategic recommendations. Considering the service
overview, it is evident that the company is able to influence the behaviours of the customers with
the improved innovative solutions such as S10+. 13 out of 15 responses confirmed the fact that
they are influenced with the incorporation of the innovation in the mentioned product.

4CASE STUDY: SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 +
Critical Analysis
The attitude of the consumer community towards a certain brand is as a result of the
behaviour that the consumers showcase. Hence, it is crucial for companies to stay up to date with
the perception and the behaviour of the consumers. Consumer behaviour must be identified and
adjudged by companies in order to gain an upper hand in terms of satiating the needs of the
consumers that the product or service of the company will be subject to (Rani 2014). Consumer
behaviour has a dynamic scope and refers to the behaviouristic patterns that the consumers show.
The same can be identified by the help of market research that can help the companies in terms
of identifying the opinions of the consumers (Schütte and Ciarlante 2016). Identifying the
opinions of the consumers help companies in designing products and services that help the
companies in satisfying the needs of the consumers. The latter is the ultimate goal of the
companies as gaining acceptance from the consumers will help the company in satiating the
needs of the diverse groups of stakeholders of the company and also helps to contribute to the
long-term sustainability of a company (Bilan 2013). Samsung have been studying the
perceptions and behaviour of the companies as a result of which they have been able to identify
the needs of the consumers of their products. It can be said that identification of the behaviour of
the consumers should not be limited to the current base of the company. The motives of a
rational company are characterised by the aim to maximise their profits while catering to the
needs of the consumers adequately. By studying the perception and the behaviour of the
consumers across various segments, the company has been able to identify the mist effective
strategies to cater to the needs of the consumers in the smartphone industry who are deemed to
be rational not loyal.

5CASE STUDY: SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 +
From the previous analysis, it is evident that the products of the selected company are
able to meet the diverse demands of the features of the customers. However, the decrement in the
positive responses of the customers regarding features of the Samsung 10+ from the Samsung 10
is pretty prominent. The business researchers have stated it to be a drawback of the company’s
current marketing strategy with the claims that the marketing department of the company are
unable to communicate the modern features of their latest products in an efficient manner. On the
other hand, some of the business researchers highlighted the incapability of the designers to be
the main reason for decrement. However, with a percentage of 80, the capability of the company
in influencing the buyer behaviours is pretty significant. As the reputation of the company or the
brands play a major role in the influencing the purchase intention of the buyers, the ethical
practices from the part of the companies is of great significance. However, the mentioned
company is seen to be bit different with their Galaxy S10+ product. Several studies have
confirmed that the cultural values and ethical beliefs are unable to influence the purchase
intention of the customers in an efficient manner and that is petty prominent with an intermediate
response of 53% strongly believing.
Marketing Strategy
The marketing strategy that has been adopted by the company has been based on value
proposition. The aim of the company is to the needs of the consumer community by
communicating the value proposition of the company in the market that they are operating in.
Furthermore, it is the aim of the company is to cater to the needs of the diverse groups of
consumers of the company. The marketing strategy that the company has taken is a niche
marketing strategy (Toften and Hammervoll 2013). The Samsung Galaxy S 10+ is a product that
is the current best product that is included in the product line of the company. Hence, Samsung

6CASE STUDY: SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 +
Galaxy S 10+ is the flagship device that the company is offering in the market. Furthermore, the
quality of the product that the company is offering in the market is of the highest possible
quality. The market conditions have been carefully analysed by the company as a result of which
they have been able to take steps to make their products better than every other smartphone
company in the market that they are operating in. Niche pricing strategy is a strategy that is
applied by companies in order to attract the niche or the crème customers in the market that they
are operating in (Hoejmose, Brammer and Millington 2013). At inches, the screen size that has
been offered by the comoany is one of the biggest screen sizes on any premium smartphone. One
of the biggest trends in the smartphone market has been associated with notches on smartphones
after it was introduced by Apple in their iPhone X. Since then, the notch on the smartphones have
been subject to mixed responses from the consumer community. As a result of which they have
been able to identify the issue and strategiclally shift the position of front camera of the device to
the top right corner. Thus, the company have listened to the needs of the consumers of the
community as a result of which they have been subject to appreciation from the consumer
community.
The strategy that has been adopted by the company is a price and product centric
strategy (Kindström and Kowalkowski 2014). It can be said that the best way to increase
revenue is to attract the price insensitive customers through niche pricing strategy. The company
believes that the best way to attract customers is through the value proposition that is offered by
the company. Hence, the company has carried out great deal of innovation and studied the trends
in the market and have come up with the best device that will help in satisfying the needs of the
niche consumers. Thus, development of the product has been identified as the strategy that has
been catered to the company by catering to the needs of the consumers. Moreover, it is seen that

7CASE STUDY: SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 +
the customers of the organization are significantly influenced with the application of the
premium pricing for the product as it forces them to check the pricing if the product in repetitive
manner before purchasing.
On screen fingerprint sensors are in the current trend as a result of which the company
has catered to the same and thus, they have been able to incorporate the same in the framework
of the product that is the Samsung Galaxy S 10+. One of the most considerable features that the
company has included in their product is long battery life and the transferable battery capacity.
Furthermore, it was found that the cameras in the company are subject to constant upgradation of
the camera as a result of which the same has been done for the case of the Samsung Galaxy S
10+.
Furthermore, the product has been developed with a future perspective which has been
responsible for the inclusion of 5G capabilities in the smartphones. Moreover, it has been
recognised as one of the first flagship devices to include 5G capabilities in the smartphones.
Communication mix
Some of the most important components of the marketing mix are carried out by
Samsung with the aim of pitching the Samsung Galaxy S10 + in the markets that they are
operating in. The company has been carrying out advertising for all the products that are offered
in their product line. Since the Samsung Galaxy S10 + is one of the flagship devices that the
company is promoting the company has invested rigorously in advertising the product. Apart
from commercials on TV and on social networks, the company has been incorporated print
media ads on mediums such as newspapers, e-magazines and billboards. The company has also
been successful in carrying out viral marketing before the release of the product. Viral
marketing is a method that is used by companies to create a buzz or anticipation before the

8CASE STUDY: SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 +
launch of a product that (Schulze, Schöler and Skiera 2014). This results in creation of word of
mouth which is yet another way to generate goodwill in favour of the company, thus, giving the
company an opportunity to maximise the sales of their product before the actual release. Apart
from advertisement, there are various sales promotional activities that has been incorporated
by the company in the communication mix of the company. The company has been success in
engaging the target customers with the help of reward programs, POSP or point of sales
promotion, and special offers that are associated with the partnering telecom operators or the
tele carriers of the company. Thus, by carrying out the aforementioned marketing strategy and
the communication mix, the company has been able to gain 42.5% market share in the market
that they are operating in (Mosavi and Kenarehfard 2013). Hence, the aim of the company is to
carry out the initiatives of the company by catering to the needs of the diverse groups of
customers by carrying out the strategies effectively, the company will be able to sustain
initiatives of similar nature in the past along with provision of adequate generation of capital for
the satiation of the stakeholders of the company.
Strategic Recommendations
Following are the strategic recommendations that will help the Samsung Galaxy S10 + in
increasing the viability of the success of their products in the markets that they are operating in;
1. Complementary Products: It is found that even though the main products that are
offered by a company are not enough to satiate the needs of the rational consumer (Ohe
and Kurih 2013). Providing high quality earphones with the smartphone itself will help
the consumer in getting that extra satisfaction that can turn the customer from a one-time
customer to a returning or loyal customer, such is the viability of consumer behaviour.
Wireless chargers, earphones and data cable along with the main products could help in

9CASE STUDY: SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 +
even satisfying the niche customers. It can be said that regardless the segments that a
customer belongs to, they appreciate value. Hence, carrying out the same might turn out
to be profitable for the company.
2. Collaborative Associations: Collaborative associations are partnerships or ventures or
networking that are taken up by companies in order to gain productivity in terms of
operations of the company, through which both the parties associated in the association
are subject to profitability and value creation individually (Garber et al. 2018). By
forming exclusive tie-ups with telecom operators or facilities that are accessible just
through the Samsung Galaxy S10 + will increase the Niche factor of the Samsung
Galaxy S10 + and thus, the Samsung Galaxy S10 + will be able to help the company in
terms of generation of increased amount of revenue. Similar strategies where carried out
by Sony as a result of which the company was one the receiving end of favourable
experiences.
3. Celebrity endorsements: It has been found out that companies or products can become
instantly more popular, if the are associated with famous personalities such as movie
stars, artists, sports personalities or any relevant celebrities (Wei and Lu 2013). Samsung
carried out the latter in the past with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as their brand
ambassadors. Same can be carried out again in order to increase awareness and visibility
of the product in the market that the company are operating in. This can help the
company in generation of increased amount of recognition from the consumers
community, increase the niche factor of the products and help in increasing the brand
value which would ultimately lead to generation of increased amount of revenue in

10CASE STUDY: SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 +
favour of the company. Thus can be achieved by communication of the company’s goal
to the consumer community through the brand ambassadors.

11CASE STUDY: SAMSUNG GALAXY S10 +
REFERENCES
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smartphone industry: Is there a dominant design?. Telecommunications Policy, 39(3-4), pp.162-
175.
Garber, A.J., Abrahamson, M.J., Barzilay, J.I., Blonde, L., Bloomgarden, Z.T., Bush, M.A.,
Dagogo-Jack, S., DeFronzo, R.A., Einhorn, D., Fonseca, V.A. and Garber, J.R., 2018. Consensus
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summary. Endocrine practice, 24(1), pp.91-120.
Hoejmose, S., Brammer, S. and Millington, A., 2013. An empirical examination of the
relationship between business strategy and socially responsible supply chain
management. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 33(5), pp.589-
621.
Kim, W.C. and Mauborgne, R.A., 2014. Blue ocean strategy, expanded edition: How to create
uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant. Harvard business review Press.