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A.1. Summary of the Key market
Although when it comes to smartphones, Apple is the first choice for many users and the dominance of Samsung in the UK market is equivalent. Samsung was the second-largest mobile manufacturer in the United Kingdom, with a market share of 27.53 percent. When asked people in 2020 what their most desired brand for new purchases would be, 82 percent responded Samsung, cementing the company as a leader in the smartphone business in the United Kingdom for 2021 (Zhou, 2020). European smartphone sales grew by 6% yearly in Q1 2021 attributable to an improved COVID-19 forecast compared with the same period (the end of Q1 2020 marked the emergence of a big slump for the smartphone industry as the pandemic took its toll) (Hardy, 2021). 64.89 million people are expected to be using smartphones in the United Kingdom (UK) on a monthly basis by 2025. However, the industry is still down significantly from 2019 levels due to continued COVID-19 issues throughout the area. New devices from most major manufacturers aided the market (Hardy, 2021). Samsung recaptured the top rank in the quarter, beating out Apple for the first time since the beginning of the year.
It is noteworthy that about half of those who answered the survey were using a phone that was less than a year old. Around 1.35 billion mobile phones were sold in 2020, with Samsung topping annual sales with over 253 million devices sold, accounting for 18.8 percent of the market (Li, 2021).
A.2. Current Marketing Strategies
Customers are attracted to Samsung via a range of marketing approaches, which Samsung uses to convince customers to make purchases. One of the reasons Samsung has been so successful in digital marketing is because it makes good use of social currency (Van De Vliert, 2021). Social currency refers to customers' degree of loyalty to a brand, as well as their willingness to share their information with others. Samsung has done its best to allow consumers and brand devotees to communicate their Samsung experience with others in their circular pattern and family members—by expanding its social media profile.
Companies like Samsung must address the needs and issues of a wide range of customers in order to be successful in the marketplace. To put it another way, they've set up social media accounts on all of the big platforms (Haba, Hassan and Dastane, 2017). To its credit, Samsung is well-represented on all popular social media platforms, particularly Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Samsung's dedicated customer service teams are always on hand through the company's specialized social media channels. By adopting numerous marketing efforts, Samsung has defined itself as a community-oriented corporation that has an influence on consumers throughout the globe. The marketing efforts of Samsung are some of the bests in the industry, as well as the company's overall marketing strategy.
Samsung decided to celebrate Pride Month with the LGBTQ++ population by showcasing on its social media accounts how the company is an advocate of the population and the value of equality (Haizar etal., 2020). They also reduced their portfolio of advertising companies from 55 to one single global advertising firm (WPP), who executed the company's first brand-building campaign, in order to achieve consistency in marketing communications across all areas (Haizar etal., 2020). They promoted the technical expertise of their goods while simultaneously conveying a feeling of elegance and modernity via their use of fashion-forward TV advertising. Promotional methods such as sponsored content, promotion, and internet advertising were also used by WPP to boost the brand (Bayu, Noor and Diah, 2019). Galaxy A smartphones have been acknowledged by the world-renowned Design and Art Direction Awards (D&AD) 2020 in the United Kingdom for their creative approach (Bayu, Noor and Diah, 2019).
A.3. Competitors
Apple is the biggest competitor of Samsung as of now. The global smartphone market went through an undulating path of rising and fall and therefore the market performance has varied in the last 3 years. Apple delivered 69.5 million smartphones in Q4 2019, while Samsung shipped 70.4 million (Cornelia and Pasharibu, 2020). However, in Q4 2020, Apple sold 79.9 million units, compared to Samsung's 62.1 million units. On the face of it, that's a great win for Apple and a major loss for Samsung, but if put all the other smartphone makers in the equation, smartphone sales declined by a total of 12.5 per cent worldwide. Aside from its recent surge in the worldwide smartphone market share, Samsung has remained an exception in the industry. As of the third period of 2021, Samsung has a 20.8 per cent market share in the worldwide smartphone industry (Van De Vliert, 2021). Apple, Sony, Nokia, Huawei and BlackBerry are just a few of Samsung's rivals. Comparing its entire culture score to that of its rivals, Samsung comes in third place.
B.1. Customer Persona
The ideal customers for Samsung smartphones will be the millennial, Gen Y and Generation Z population, specifically the digital content creators who are dominating the internet currently (Sormaz, Kuzmanovic and Jeremic, 2019).
Demographic
Alisha Ray is a 19 years old budding content creator; she is single and works at a local restaurant. She is from Gen Z which holds a great segment for high-quality camera smartphones since this specific population is fond of photography and internet exposure through photo sharing platforms.
Behavior
65% of Gen Zers use Instagram every day and 62% use YouTube daily (Diniso, 2019). Alisha is no exception as she herself is interested in video making and the creation of digital content. She likes to make fashion content and travel vlogs. Three out of five Gen Z smartphone consumers purchase for the camera, primarily the back camera and app functionality (Diniso, 2019).
Attitude
Influencers, video ratings, product launch events, and social media are where Gen Z gets their knowledge (Tien, Van Dat and Chi, 2019). Alisha is also an independent individual having purchasing power which makes her critical of the features in the smartphone. Alisha is keen on a quality camera and standard features like other Samsung users who are more drawn to the camera versatility of Samsung.
Needs
Alisha needs the Samsung smartphone to capture amazing quality pictures and videos. She wants to invest in the camera as she knows that along with the camera features additional such as battery power and storage are also important features to seek for. Surprisingly, the Samsung Galaxy Note Series is the most popular. 31.96 per cent chose Samsung because it is cheaper than other brands (Tien, Van Dat and Chi, 2019).
Goals and Motivation
Alisha's main goal is to invest her money in the right product which will allow her to create excellent quality content and capture the best quality images. She wants to do heavy research before she finally takes the decision to invest in a Samsung smartphone (Ektoros, Gregoriades and Georgiades, 2019).
Pain Points
Gen Z is always keen to try out new websites for shopping yet they confirm the accuracy and performance of the site (Ektoros, Gregoriades and Georgiades, 2019). This population is also concerned about their data privacy and security (Ektoros, Gregoriades and Georgiades, 2019). They extensively research and find out the touchpoints which are most appropriate for them. Unresponsive websites, poor customer support leads to deteriorated interest and delay.
Favourite Brands
Apple, Huawei, Sony, etc. are some of the favourite brands of Gen Z.
How Can we help?
Email marketing is one of the best alternatives to offer a product range to customers from the Gen Z population. This population relies heavily on the marketing efforts catered via traditional emails. Companies often share coupons and deals through mails which are preferred by potential customers. They frequently follow through and use coupons while purchasing on-site.
B.2. Customer Journey Map
Awareness
Alisha is technologically aware and knows how to compare the related products from different brands with analysis into the features, appearance, quality and durability. She reads online articles on the latest camera phones and keeps an eye for the best models available at a good deal. According to the survey of Counterpoint Consumer Lens, 62% of the UK population’s preference was Samsung in 2019 (Ektoros, Gregoriades and Georgiades, 2019).
Discovery
Alisha while searching for the best camera quality smartphone model of Samsung lands on the 3rd page of Google, she finds out some of the relevant search results and is redirected to another website where in detail product specifications were given. A bounce rate of 26% to 40% is considered outstanding by most experts (Gajanova, Krizanova and L?z?roiu, 2019). The range of 41% to 55% is about typical. In general, 56 to 70 per cent is over the normal range, however, this may not be a reason for concern relying on the website (Gajanova, Krizanova and L?z?roiu, 2019). A score of more than 70% is considered a disappointment.
Consideration
The Samsung Galaxy S21 and S21 Ultra smartphones were the most sought-after phones in 2021, are magnificent pieces with advanced technology and excellent performance (del Barrio Mártil, 2021). Alisha has aimed to consider the Samsung Galaxy S21. Alisha although has done a lot of research on this model yet she seeks to gain more insights about it with the comparison and thorough evaluation of the customer feedback. Alisha wants to compare other products from different brands in a similar price range to analyse the value of the product before purchasing it.
Conversion
After selecting the model for purchase, Alisha is browsing through the available colours and designs (Mohammed, 2018). But the key issue is that Alisha has been trying to access the brand website but the server is down and thus the rapidity is hampered which can lead to misinformation and waste of valuable time of the purchaser which needs to be resolved by the company. Connectivity issues are to be blamed for this concern. These issues can reduce the efficiency of the brand and put its reputation down as a global tech giant.
Retention
Providing the right support to the customers is necessary as customers of all age is becoming more conscious about the brand's potential to keep consistent support even after the purchase. Especially because of the client's power to review and influence the other customers (Mohammed, 2018). It is necessary for the brand to employ the right strategies to ensure that all the customers are getting instant solutions for them. Samsung will also have to ensure that all of the data are updated on their website and also the connectivity and accessibility of the website is enhanced.
C.1. Objectives
The core objective of Samsung should be to enhance its investment in marketing efforts especially in digital marketing, the Gen Z is fond of online content and depend on influencer marketing heavily. Although Samsung already has its digital marketing plans updated yet the advanced use of AI-enabled influencer marketing can be an interesting approach for the brand that will establish a brand image by enhancing the competitive edge of the company (Dabija and Lung, 2018). The brand should enhance its virtual events as a tactic to combat the pandemic slowdown in social events to boost brand visibility.
C.2. Goal Setting
The major goal of this company is to increase engagement among its large base of customers through implementing an appropriate digital marketing strategy. Therefore, the brand also focuses on forming an ambitious brand image through communicating the exclusive and distinguishing features (Martin, 2019). It has been observed expansively that the target audience of Samsung consists of an extensive range of all age groups. Unlike other smartphone brands such as Apple or Vivo, the primal focus of the company is to target the audience 19 to 50s age group. This has been proved to be beneficial in obtaining a huge amount of profitability along with creating brand recognition among all the people.
It has been measured that people from age 20 to 50 has the intention to track down all the latest technology trends (Tien, 2019). Regarding this fact, their lifestyles have been driven by the substantial consumption of TV and digital media. This particular age group has been seen to be exclusively engaged within web shows, TV series, global stars and different aspiring lifestyles (Martin, 2019). In fact, this smartphone brand also focuses on even the older age group if the person has the capability to obtain and utilise the mobile brand effectively. Due to this reason, the target market of this brand specifically focuses on this particular age group to enhance their engagement in an extensive manner. However, the teenage to early adults (15 to 25) age group is the primal target of Samsung as they are frequently technology savvy (Yun, Lee and Aoshima, 2019). This group of consumers is rising as Samsung saw that this group has additional spending power in current years compared to the previous.
Channel
It has been observed in an extensive manner that the smartphones of this brand can be found in all retail stores and telephone conies. Therefore, this brand has been able to place their smartphones into as many channels as they could conceivably accomplish. The increasing demand for Samsung cell phones has been possible due to the fact of exceptional marketing channels (Shastri, 2020). As the ultimate intention of this brand is to enhance the rate of engagement in an extensive manner, the band has to use a range of strategies. It has been observed that the events of NFC have made an enormous impact as well as benefited the brand to enhance their customer range. The NFC technology built into Samsung’s phones permitted the complete experience to be ticketless and without cash. These kinds of events have been proved to be accommodating to increase engagement in an effective manner. This specific strategy has been able to create a major brand recognition among a large base of audience. Therefore, this promoting strategy proves to be helpful in creating involvement within people.
Content Enhancement Strategy
The brand has implemented major strategies to be sustainable in the international marketplace. Regarding this fact, this brand has been successful in creating brand recognition. As the ultimate strategy of this brand is to focus on increasing engagement, Samsung requires to implement several strategies for the upcoming future. The brand must utilise AI-based technology as a part of its digital marketing in order to augment its customer engagement (Shastri, 2020). AI-based technology has the ability to turn mobile applications and technologies into intelligent pieces of software. This might have the ability to calculate and respond consequently to anticipate user behaviours. Utilising this specific technology can take Samsung to new heights in several ways (Wei, 2019). Utilising this technology Samsung will be able to enhance their security level a bit more. It has been observed that hacking and phishing occurrences become more repeated and updated. This brand should use AI-based technology to classify the informative signs that direct apprehensive activity. Therefore, it will increase alarms in case of any sensitive data is negotiated.
Onboard experience and gamification can be developed after the implication of AI in smartphones. It has been measured that almost 25% of app operators never return to the app after making the first attempt (Prabhu and Prasad, 2019). In order to diminish this concern app designers are found to be turning towards AI (Digital Agency Network, 2020). The utilisation of AI in Samsung mobile phones might prevent users from remembering all the facts by steadily keeping with it. This basically indicates intensifying the usability of the particular application. In terms of that, customers will find it much easier and useful after using the application in the Samsung phone. On the other hand, this technology permits the operators to consist of admission to frequent in-app motions (Alsharif et al., 2020). This basically supports their app transfer into becoming more tempting. By utilising this technology Samsung might be able to enhance customer’s engagement in an extensive manner.
D. 12-Month Integrated Marketing Plan
Facebook Content Enhancement
In terms of social media marketing, Facebook advertising is considered to be an integral part to reach the audience in an extensive manner (Socialbakers.com, 2022). It has been reported that Facebook claims a confounding number approximately of 2.8 billion monthly active users. Regarding this fact, each and every successful company has been attempting hard to create a strong presence on Facebook to increase their sales and brand recognition. By doing several ads and videos on Facebook this brand also become prosperous in attracting a large base of customers (Wei, 2019). For more expansion, the brand has to initiate some exceptional Facebook strategies to involve more customers. Previously. It has been seen that Samsung has been able to earn almost $129 million by their exceptional social media strategy specifically on Facebook. This has been proven to be accommodating in increasing sales (Facebook for Business, 2022).
In order to engage more customers, the brand requires to be super active on the Facebook page as well as posting videos and sharing photos quite rapidly. Like other smartphone companies Apple and Vivo, they put their enormous effort into involving customers via social media (Socialbakers.com, 2022). The brand must create a special group for handling social media marketing as well as appoint some social media experts to observe the changing needs of the customers. By posting some effective content almost 5 to 7 times a week might be beneficial. The brand must share the videos of a recent purchaser of Samsung as well as ask his perception about the mobile phone. Several brands are utilising this specific strategy to make it real for the customers. Making videos along with remarking offer criteria can be beneficial to numerous customers. These specific strategies will be extremely accommodating for the brand to engage more customers (Facebook for Business, 2022).
Collaboration Within YouTube Influencers in Order to Obtain UGC And Reviews
It has been measured that to exploit the competence of the media mix, the social media marketing team utilised YouTube in terms of incremental reach within the audience. The YouTube strategy has been proved to be beneficial in attracting numerous customers along with increasing profitability (Digital Agency Network, 2020). Yet, the brand might increase its customer engagement more by utilising some specific techniques. Making collaboration with influencers is quite successful in reaching a large amount of audience. In that case, the brand does not have to pay attention to criteria and ways to implement this strategy. In a generation where YouTube influencers and superstars are considered to be the prime aspect of our life, Samsung should implement this technique efficiently (Think with Google, 2022). This brand has already utilised this technique by associating with the BTS. As a result, the large number of followers of fans of the BTS group also started purchasing gadgets from this company. Collaborations with A-list superstars can create an assurance of an increase in brand disclosure in terms of their huge fan base.
Yet, the brand should exploit this strategic marketing technique in more efficient ways. It has been observed that the primal target of the company is to focus on countries within the highest population such as India, China, America and some Asian countries. It is indeed true that the brand has been unable to target more than one country at a time. Regarding this fact, Samsung must choose celebrities who are intimately linked to more than one country or have a larger fan base in these Asian countries (Think with Google, 2022). Collaborating with Lily Singh might be extremely beneficial for this brand as she falls on the category of the worlds' top 10 richest youtubers list. She lives in America, host a talk show, Indian origin and has a large fan base in India also. On the other hand, partnerships within Priyanka Chopra or Deepika Padukone might be accommodating for Samsung to increase sales. These two celebrities have more than 60 million followers on Instagram as well as a large amount of fan base in America. This will be proved to be accommodating in terms of involving a large base of customers worldwide.
Budget Allocation
The monthly fees charged by the content marketing partners are $3000 to $ 25000. These funds will be used in content creation budget. In terms of collaborating within You Tube influencers is approximately $20000 decided by the company itself.
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