Marketing Essentials: Marketing Concepts & Internal Relations Report

This report, submitted by a student at the University of Sunderland, Hong Kong, examines fundamental marketing concepts and internal relations within a business context, focusing on Samsung Electronics and its B2C sales model. It delves into current and future trends in marketing, including the production, product, selling, marketing, and societal marketing concepts. The report outlines the marketing process, emphasizing situation analysis, strategy development, marketing mix decisions, and implementation/control. It details the roles and responsibilities of a marketing manager at Samsung and explores the interconnection between marketing and other functional units like finance, R&D, sales, and operations. The report also compares Samsung's marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion) with that of its major competitor, Apple, highlighting differences in pricing strategies, distribution channels, and promotional activities. The document is available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools and resources for students.

MARKETING ESSENTIALS 1
2019
UNIVERSITY OF SUNDERLAND HONG KONG
Marketing Essentials
LEUNG SIN KI
(Student No.189130103)

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Task 1: Marketing Concepts and Internal Relations
Introduction
According to studies, marketing is referred to as the processes or set of activities aimed
for developing, communicating, delivering and exchanging products to meet the desires and
preferences of the consumer. The basic purpose of marketing is to gain and retain clients while
making profits (West et al., 2015, p. 29). This report will focus on a company called Samsung
Electronics which utilizes a B2C sales model. The firm has manages to obtain high revenues due
to being customer oriented approach in the contemporary market.
Current and Future Trends in Marketing Concepts
The concepts of marketing is a belief that companies have to review the needs of
customers and make cogent decisions to attain competitive advantage as they meet those needs.
Figure 1: Marketing concepts
The production concept is the most critical model of marketing which focus on
fulfillment of purpose that consumers will prefer high-quality products with affordable pricing.

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Though it’s not possible for companies to lower the cost and bring high efficiency in production.
For the product concept, it is assumed that the consumer will prefer a product having innovative
features (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010, p. 32). The managers will focus on developing products of
high-quality and then ensure improvements over time. It is necessary for the managers to
continue improve the quality of products if there is success in the sales for the same. Another
idea is the selling concept. Organizations have to concentrate on serious advertisements and sales
of their products to ensure there is enough purchase of the produced goods (West et al., 2015).
Due to the reluctance among the consumer in buying the products, the organization has to
execute appropriate selling strategies and tools. Under the marketing concept, the firm has
researched what the consumer needs and wants then the company has helped the consumer to
identify the preferred products. The consumers are viewed to be the most critical. Finally, there
is the societal marketing idea which claims that the firm will specify the interests and needs of
the target consumer and then meets the preferred satisfaction effectively (Fine, 2017, p. 33). The
production process is carried out while considering the well-being of the customers.
An Overview of the Various Marketing Processes
For Samsung Electronics Company, it has to identify the needs of customers and meet
them by observing a marketing process. The procedure will begin through a situation analysis
then design a marketing plan whereby it consists of marketing mix decisions and finally
implementation and control. The situation analysis will pinpoint emerging customer inclinations
and ensure they are satisfied. The external and internal business environment have to be
examined to satisfy the unique necessities. SWOT, 5C and PEST analysis perform the situational
analysis. With the marketing strategy, it will identify the best opportunities to develop a strategic

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plan. Various factors are applied including targeting, segmentation, value proposition and
placement of the products in the target market. The next procedure is the marketing mix
decisions whereby the executive makes tactical and well-defined decisions based on product
development, pricing, distribution contracts and promotional campaigns (Kotler and Armstrong,
2010,). The last phase is the implementation and control. When a new product is launched, the
activities and methods are evaluated closely. The marketing mix is reviewed and necessary
changes are made. Any inconvenience is eradicated and complaints presented are tackled.
Relevant changes on the new electronic product are done to ensure it thrives well in the existing
market.
Roles and Responsibilities of a Marketing Manager at Samsung Electronics Company
As a manager, there is the role of coordinating marketing campaigns for the firm. The
manager will devise the organization’s marketing strategy which has to be following the
companies’ objectives. The manager is liable for handling all the marketing activities together
with those in the commercialization unit. There is the function of reviewing and evaluating the
marketing budget at Samsung Company to ensure it complies with the goals and objectives
(Kotler and Armstrong, 2010, p. 117). The brand management of corporate identity has to carry
out and observe the protocols for designing and publishing the marketing documents of the
company. The marketing manager will upgrade and coordinate generation campaigns as they
assess the performances. The manager is required to uphold effective communication within the
firm to ensure that all marketing functions are in line with the marketing objectives. The research
will be done based on a prospective partner to create relationships for the companies’ marketing.

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Marketing Roles and Interconnection with Functional Units of a Firm
The marketing function is the business roles that assist in recognizing successful products
through promotion and sourcing them to the market. The marketing functions have been
prevalent in organizations and are crucial for sales, promotion, development, product plan,
customer service, finance and marketing research (Hoffman and Bateson, 2010, p. 86).
Marketing can influence finance and management. The plans of marketing incorporate financial
information for the new and existing electronic products. Therefore, it supports management as it
utilizes investment decisions. Management is boosted by the monetary inputs derived from
marketing as well as the product’s expected response. For the resource and development,
marketing aids from the concept of creating a new product to its execution (Ahmed and Rafiq,
2013, p. 51). With marketing research it influences the sales department by specifying which
product is the most marketable. Therefore, the sales department will develop an excellent
relationship between the buyer and seller which will guarantee higher sales and high profits in
return. In the operational and production department, marketing will guide in determining the
number of goods and the type to be manufactured.
The Value of Marketing Role in Samsung Electronics Company
Conclusions showing the Significance of Effective Interrelationships between Different
departments
The company has adopted functional organizational structure in their company in which
there is chain of command. The value of company in choosing so is to enhance communication
among the departments. There are various departments in Samsung like sales, marketing, billing,
research, production, etc. there is a particular organizational structures of each and every
company that affect she working of the same. It depends to define the religion and

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communication between the employees and employers. In Samsung the relations between
various departments is designed as a flow chart which directly or indirectly influence the others.
In this company, there are hundreds types of functions which are divided among various
departments that have to be reported by the department managers and leaders. The managers
have to report some higher person. Under this company, there are clear lines of authority divided
among all which helps the departments to be accountable for the work done by them. It helps in
enhancing better communication among the employees. The decision making is also easy in such
type of companies as the departments are divided according to the work and need.
The aim of the company to make department is to let the employee focus on his or her
own work. There are some departments that are not much into communications as their work is
confidential in nature like finance department.
Task 2: Comparison of How Samsung Electronics Company and its Major Competitor
The Marketing Mix of Samsung Electronics Company and Apple
Samsung is regarded as the leader in smartphone production in the world. It is an
international conglomerate with its headquarters at Seoul. The company has many affiliated
business with Samsung Electronics acting as the main manufacture of android smart phones.
According to statistics in 2018, the operating profit of company is KRW 10.8 trillion and sales
revenue is KRW 59.27 trillion. The phones produced by the company have been named Samsung
Galaxy series symbolizing a variety of phones with different features and specifications. As the
smartphones is at a growing trend, it is expected that the growth will increase by 29% in 2020.
The boost is attributed to the increased demand for mobile service usage in many countries.

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Samsung has employed over 500, 000 individuals with about 80 countries having sales networks
and assembly plants.
The main competitor for Samsung Electronics is considered to be Apple Inc. The two
companies are competing in the mobile phones production market. Apple manufactures iPhone
which is highly recognized from its prestigious status .Samsung develops Samsung mobile
phones which are the best android smart phones in the market as it has all possible features of
android system among all the smart phones in the competitive market. The best part of Samsung
is that the phones are very reasonable and has the range starting from cheaper mobiles to high
range of the same.
i. Product
This is referred to as the goods, services or both which the company offers to the target
consumers. The product exists in two forms either tangible or intangible. Based on the nature of
the product, it is classified into an actual product, core product and augmented product. It is
necessary for the product to be what the consumers aspire to get and fit their needs. Hence, it is
relevant for the products to be satisfactory enough to fulfill the needs and demands of the
customers.
For Samsung Electronics Company, it has focused on providing smart phones. Samsung
has been the biggest manufacturer of mobile phones in the world which has offered a lot of
competition to Apple’s iPhone. for example the company is providing smart phones whith all
new features also at competitive prices. It is a big threat to iPhone mobile phones. For Apple, its
main product is iPhone. Apple has focused on innovation which has been incorporated in all their

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products like iPhone. The iPhone has embraced the latest technology innovation to deliver a
high-quality product that has acted as a status symbol for its consumers.
Apple is able to maintain the quality of hardware and integration of software, speed,
performance while Samsung is user friendly, simple interface, size of display, internal memory,
etc.
ii. Price
For Samsung Electronics Company, the strategy of penetration pricing has been used to
enhance market penetration. Being the first company to launch the Android smart phones, it has
maintained higher prices and ensures early profits are gained through premium pricing strategy.
Considering Apple, it has utilized a strategy of premium pricing as there is the need to sustain
their high technology products as well as maintain their status symbol. The company Samsung
also uses skimming pricing strategy to gain the advantage of upper hand over iPhone and other
competitors. It is a cost driven company which lower the prices if find competition in the
market. With their pricing strategy, they have a small target audience which comprises of middle
to upper-class people. This has helped the firm to obtain higher profit margins (Wood, 2013, p.
90).
iii. Place
This entails all the activities in ensuring the product is available to the consumers. Place
will cover the channels of distribution, intermediaries and the location where the product can be
accessed for Samsung Electronics Company. It utilizes catalogs and the internet to conduct direct
marketing. Direct marketing refers to deal with the customers directly. The company is using
telescoping direct mail solution campaign in which the can have direct response of their
customers. The use of sales staff is for handling intermediaries. Majorities of the intermediaries

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exist as partners, franchise and agents. For Apple, there is a holistic technique of distribution
that gets to the target market. Apple utilizes selective methods of distributions that comprise
Apple stores, telecom firms, Authorized dealers and online stores but they are not using
telescoping multi wave campaign.
Promotion
This comprises of all activities and events that are used in the advertisement of the product.
There are various tools of promotion that have been used by firms to enhance product awareness
in the market and enhance competitive advantage. Samsung Electronics Company has adopted
public relations as a major promotion activity. To promote Public Relations, the company has
settled an agency that focus on customer relations globally. This has assisted the firm in
attaining its goals of making enormous sales and gaining the trust of stakeholders. When new
products are launched, direct marketing has been used by the sales team to enhance product
awareness (Ellis and Ybema, 2010, p. 77). Direct marketing of Samsung refers to two customer
marketing channels whereby the company sells directly to the customers. They do it through
campaigning. At Apple, they have adopted four critical techniques which include personal
selling means direct selling, sales promotion by reaching to potential customers, advertising and
public relations. Among other strategies include press releases and events organized by Apple
that foster public relations by focusing on the feedback of the audience.
People
This refers to all the human factors that are put into use directly or indirectly in the entire
procedure of product manufacturing to sales in the market. At Samsung Electronics Company,
the manager, intermediaries and employees have been the most relevant person in ensuring the
goal is attained as they support the firm to reach a broad target audience. The main focus of the

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company is on the software engineers. For Apple, people comprises of all the individuals linked
with the product. Apple considers the employees as the most relevant element as they are
involved in technology innovations of all the products (Ngo and O'Cass, 2012, p. 44). They more
focus on their customers as the company has established a plan that is Applecare Protection Plan
under which there is apple support where apple experts are there to handle the issues of
customers.
Process
This is recognized as all the practices and activities that are used in ensuring the product
is provided in the market. The major considerations are the flow of activities to attain the best
performances (Wood, 2013, p. 65). The customer is vital in ensuring services are delivered and
they will pay based on the quality of work and product. At Samsung Electronics Company, the
product is crucial in fascinating the consumers but also the process which ensures the availability
of the product in the market. The process of company is very simplified as it has been done by
the cooperation of all the employees. The process is conceptualization then research, designing
of circuit and at last analyzing. By identifying their target market, the company has ensured there
is an effective supply chain to obtain the target objectives. For Apple, it has embraced simplicity
as the ultimate superiority (Ngo and O'Cass, 2012, p. 37). The company has observed a
simplified function and process that has made it well-known. Simplified functions refer to the
simplicity in the phones, and also in the functioning of the other products. There are a lot of
factories of Apple globally and they observe systematic processes.
iv. Physical Evidence
This is the material part linked with the product. It shows the evidence that a specific
product is available in the market. This is mostly done by materials like signs, logos and products

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packing that make the consumer desire them. The company focuses on ambiance, layouts,
branding, practices, etc. For example Samsung Electronics Company has used the company logo
as its one of the physical evidence in attracting and retaining consumers. The logo has
maintained a brand image of all the company’s products with sophistication. Considering Apple,
its physical evidences are its new features, digital touch communication and input technologies
and branding.
For example its logo has been its physical evidence together with the pleasant setting of
its stores, pleasing digital touch, sleeker and less bulky products (Ngo and O'Cass, 2012, p. 64).
This has ensured it offers a premium familiarity to the consumers.
Tasks 3: A Marketing Plan to Attain the Marketing Objectives
Marketing Objectives
After examining the internal and external environment of Samsung Electronics Company,
it was necessary for the company to emphasize making smart objectives and goals as discussed
below.
Marketing objective: To increase the customer's segment
Strategies for Implementation
To increase the customer segment, the firm will have to broaden their reach. This will be
done by opening a lot of outlets in the country. Due to hindrance in cross-functional
communication, the clients will be served in any possible manner by the dealers, retailers and the
internet. To boost the number of satisfied clients, Samsung Electronics Company will have to
invest in the department of customer service and not majorly on gathering new clients

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(Westwood, 2013, p. 108). The strategies of price, place and promotion will be improved to
ensure the firm boost the number of clients using the 4G services.. Also, the company can open
more retail stores at prospective customer locations to increase their customer base. Products will
be distributed through multiple channels to increase the customer segment. Nevertheless,
personal selling and advertising will be employed as promotional strategies to attain the
objective.
Marketing Control
This will act as a basic requirement for the marketing plan. Control will be performed to
match the organizational objectives with the results (Westwood, 2013, p. 110). Drafted actions
will be put into action to review the strategies to make corrective measure in case of any
problems.
Conclusion
Marketing is regarded as the company’s operational task that deals with practiced
activities to increase awareness about the product and services among the target consumer. On
the other hand, a market is a location that offers a platform for the exchange of goods among
buyers and sellers. The concepts of marketing is a belief that companies have to review the needs
of customers and make cogent decisions to attain competitive advantage as they meet those
needs. The marketing process will begin through a situational analysis than a marketing strategy
whereby it consists of marketing mix decisions and finally implementation and control. To boost
the number of satisfied clients, Samsung Electronics Company will have to invest in the
department of customer service and not majorly on gathering new clients.

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