If somebody asks you to think of a brand that offers Android products, the first name that would
come up to your mind would surely be Samsung. Samsung is a South Korean company that was
founded as a grocery trading store on March 1, 1938, by Lee Byung-Chull. Lee-Byung-Chull started
his business in Taegu by trading noodles and other goods produced in and around the city and
exporting them to China. In 2017, Samsung was the 6th most valuable global brand; besides, the
company also booked record profits of over USD 26 billion on revenues of USD 180 billion. In this
article we are going to discuss the branding strategy of Samsung, which has a great impact on the
company’s success.
Now, let’s start by discussing the brand identity of Samsung
through revealing its personality
As it is noticeable, this is not a usual post/picture that could do multinational electronic company, as
it neither contains phone or computers, nor TVs, and other electronic devices.
This post is done to show how caring and attentive the company is to the surrounding world.
After having a look at this post, the first thing that comes to one’s mind is that Samsung actively
listens to its customers through various channels even if the situation is extremely difficult.
The post was made in 2020 when the world was still fighting against the virus, so reading motivating
and encouraging words from a company like Samsung would positively impact society as a whole.
So, in that sense, it becomes clear that some of the company’s values include equality and affiliation.
The caption of the post is dedicated to fathers, who always do everything to keep their children safe,
to give them the best childhood and the best life. It is about the fathers who are DJ for one day and a
lawyer the other day.
While many brands always talk about mothers, as the parent who takes care of their child, Samsung
believes that dads are real heroes as well. In that sense, the company appreciates equality.
So, by taking all of this into consideration, it becomes obvious that Samsung belongs The
Everyman Brand Archetype. The motto of this archetype is “All men and women are created
equal.”
Now, some facts about this Brand Archetype.
What does the Everyman brand archetype stand for?
Desire: to be connected with others
Aim: to belong and fit in
Strategy: to have ordinary virtues, to develop the common touch
Values: affiliation, democracy
Fear: being rejected
Moving further, let’s now get into the messaging levels of this brand archetype
Level one: a feeling of loneliness
Level two: feeling alone, seeking for having friends
Level three: learning to connect, accepting help from others, making friends
Level four: becoming humanitarian, believing that each person has natural dignity, regardless of
their gender, skin color and many more.
The Everyone Brand Archetype can provide a good identity for those brands:
Who strives to help people to feel that they fit and belong.
That has a desire to be different from the companies that have a higher price
Have a price from moderate to low
Whose functions can be used in everyday life
Brand Elements.
Name: As you already know, Samsung is a Korean company, and so is its name. In
Korean, the word Samsung means “three stars.”
The founder of the company Lee Byung-Chull wanted to become a powerful,
everlasting star, so he thought that “Samsung” is the best word for his company.
While the logo of the company varied over time, the name of the brand has always
been the same.
Logo: The logo of the company has drastically changed over time and has become
simpler. While during the 1930s, Samsung’s logo featured three stars, stripes, and
wheat plants inside a circle shape, nowadays the logo does not contain stars on it.
The first and original logo of the company drastically differs from the current logo. It
contained more symbols and did not have the name of the company in English.
So, as it is noticeable, the change between the first and the second logo is enormous;
however, the stars were still present.
In comparison with the previous logo, this logo has a unique and interesting shape,
and the name of the company is also clear not only for Koreans but also foreigners.
Besides, the emblem is less cluttered.
In 1979 Samsung decided to remove the name of the brand, which, however, did not
turn out to be their best decision, so they fixed that mistake one year later.
Although the stars remain in this logo, this version does not include circles and
squares.
1993 is the year when the current logo of this brand was made. You can also notice
that in comparison to the 1980’s logo, this logo has a unique “A” letter. Besides, it
does not contain either black or red colors.
While in 2005, the designers of Samsung decided to remove the ellipse; nowadays,
both logos are used.
Slogan: “Inspire the World, Create the Future”
The company’s slogan clarifies that Samsung recognizes itself as a leader in the industry and puts its
efforts into offering new values in the industry, making the world a better place. The company seeks
to create a future that is inspiring, promising.
Character: Brand Character is the set of human characteristics that can be associated with
the brand and give it a unique personality and recognition in the market, in the minds of the
consumers.
The character of Samsung shows the company’s dedication to its customers and brand community.
Also, it describes that Samsung always seeks to be in the leading position of innovation and design.
the brand equity and positioning of Samsung
Brand equity is a marketing term that seeks to describe the value of the brand. The brand value is
decided by the perception that the consumers hold.
So, if people think highly of a brand, it means that the brand equity is positive. If the brand
continually under-delivers and disappoints to the point where people recommend that others avoid it,
it has negative brand equity.
Samsung knows how to stand out from the crowd, which is critical when building its brand equity. It
is not a secret that developing a good reputation for a brand is pretty difficult, especially in the
electronic industry.
However, Samsung succeeds in establishing itself as the first choice of customers in Android
smartphone handsets and the electronic industry. Statistics show that more than 90% of users of this
brand are satisfied with the company’s products.
Through having various advertisement strategies, such as Surveys, Digital Marketing, Billboards,
Samsung has gained popularity over time. The brand creates its philosophy on some factors, such as
innovation, internal building, advanced technology.
Nowadays, Samsung is considered to be that one Android brand which comes to people’s mind when
they think of a reliable, innovative, beautifully designed brand.
So, one can undoubtedly say that Samsung has a positive brand equity and position in this sphere.
Awareness/Attention:
It assists in generating awareness about the proposed product and the brand value. In the light of
this context, it is to be noted that it is the responsibility of the marketing division to create a
strong product image such that it would stimulate the customer curiosity. In stimulating customer
curiosity, the marketing managers would incorporate in the understanding of the consumer
behaviour model. Consumer behaviour model is an important determinant in creating consumer
awareness among the customers through advertising. The marketing managers would make sure
that the target customer base is rightly addressed (Kim et al., 2012). A strong image that is
conceptually stimulating and visually appealing would be created to generate the consumer
awareness.
Interest:
it is important to stimulate the customer awareness about their proposed new products. The same
could be achieved through the marketing techniques. The marketing executives should ensure
that while designing their marketing activities a special emphasis is laid on the innovative and
the technological features of the new phone. It will stir the interest of the potential customers
who might exhibit interest in the product detail. This could be achieved through visual and
intellectual stimulation. The customer will desire to know about the operational functions of the
model. They will desire to know that how the purchase the same will benefit them as opposed to
the purchase of a similar competitive product. In this regard, the online advertising campaigns
could play an active role in deciding the product promotion.
Desire:
It is contended that after the promotional activities of the company has provoked the interest of
the customers, the same should be intensified. In growing the customer interest, for example the
developed features of the Galaxy S8 will be impressed upon the customers. At this point,
personal interactions with the customers and sharing videos on the social media would be helpful
in enhancing the same.
Action:
The final stage of the promotional activity involves the materialization of the developed action
plan that will be achieved through a series of promotional campaigns and activities
Strategies for Samsung to remain competitive
Samsung has four critical areas in its branding strategy that it needs to address to remain
competitive in the future:
Strengthen its value brands in the categories they compete in
Maintain the differentiated image of its premium brands, which have been built up over
the years through sizeable financial and manpower commitment
Define and maintain an image of the corporate brand, which encompasses the company’s
offerings across the value and premium ends of the categories it plays in
Put in place a brand architecture in the organization, which emphasizes the relationships
between the corporate brand and the product brands and how the identity and image of
each can help strengthen the others
Nonetheless, Samsung has indeed come a long way in becoming the huge global technology
behemoth that it is today. If it is able to apply the above brand strategies to its business, there
will be no doubt in its potential to take over Apple as the world’s biggest technology brand,
maker and distributor. It is up the owners and C-suite to take bold and daring decisions to make
it happen.
