Introduction
Every day, multi-million dollar companies dealing in electronics suffer from the outcomes of marketing strategy that is uninspired, poor, overly technical, and ineffective and one that simply follows the status quo. As such, Samsung Company is not an exception for having suffered from the same problems. It is for this reason that it is necessary to come up with the right action plans that will see Samsung electronics move a notch higher and become overly competitive. These action plans should be suitable for the target market, and they need to be accompanied with the right marketing mix in order for them to enable Samsung Electronics Company to achieve its intended aims and objectives.
Marketing Implementation: Action Plans and Marketing Mix
Generally, the action plans will involve finding out exactly what products the customers want, give them precisely what they need and relentlessly market those products (Strauss, 2008). This SLP has looked at the positive attributes of IPad 4 such as convenience and productivity but other than this it would be important to find out directly from consumers what else they want or what adjustments they would like to be made to the product. In this regard, both primary and secondary research needs to be conducted in order to ensure that the marketing plan is successful. The first step will be to probe the target customers and find out their needs.
Consequently, a number of questions will be asked, and these include questions like: Why the consumers use their products? What are the main things for which the product is used for? What are the features that the client finds more attractive or appealing? What are those things that you would tell your friends and your family concerning the device? How would you describe the company’s products using at least two descriptive words? What is the motivating factor that would lead one to own a particular device? What feeling does the client derive from the use of Samsung products? In what way does the product improve one’s life? Which features from the product are not commonly used and the reasons for which such features are not used? And finally, who else in the home makes use of Samsung products?
Action Plan 1: Use of the internet to market Samsung’s product
Goal and Objective
This action plan will enable Samsung electronics to achieve their goal of having a product that is widely recognized through the use of an advertising method that is very effective.
Target Market
This action plan is aimed at capturing the youth between 20 and 30 years of age. This plan is appropriate for marketing to this target group because they are the major users of the internet. Research shows that they form 45% of the users of the internet and especially social media.
Description of the Action Plan
The Internet can be used to market IPad 4 Tab through the use of social media such as Twitter and even Face Book. Face Book can enable the product by Samsung to become “trending.” This means that the IPad 4 if properly marketed through the social media it could become a popular topic in Facebook and even constantly appear in the news feed. In this way, the product will realize a sharp increase in its popularity because several users are giving it so much attention across the whole platform (Thomas, 2011). Another aspect that can be used to market on the internet is that of creating content that is valuable about the IPad 4 tab. This can be done through the use of business websites, e-Newsletters, articles, case studies and videos posted over the internet. With that, Samsung will find it easier to gain the trust of potential clients about the benefits derived from using the IPad 4 tablet.
Who
The marketing executive in Samsung Company has been charged with the responsibility of carrying out this plan. The marketing executive has the knowledge and skills needed to convey vital information to clients.
Timing
This action will take place continuously for a year with regular improvements on the content on the internet. This can be conducted from say February 2014 to February 2015.
Budget and Estimated Profitability
The costs to be incurred will include $100,000 that will be used on the cost of accessing the internet. This cost will also include the amounts used to acquire blogs and websites to post information. The estimated profitability from internet marketing is $100 million.
Measurement
The effectiveness of the action plan will be measured from the level of purchases realized within a period of one year. The comments posted on social media about the experience of customers with the IPad 4 tab will enable the company assesses the effectiveness of the action plan (Chaffey, 2009).
Action Plan 2: Issuing of Product Information
Goal and Objective
Generally, this action is aimed at obtaining the goal of increasing consumer awareness about the product by approximately three times the initial level. As such, the potential consumer base is widened given that more consumers get to know more about Samsung’s products.
Target Market
This action plan targets the youth who need to benefit from the tablet in the various places of work. Consequently, their workload is eased because they have sufficient knowledge of the benefits they can obtain from the use of the various features in the tab and even from other Samsung products.
Description of the Action Plan
This can be done by developing brochures that contain the picture and various specifications about Samsung IPad 4 tab and other new products. These specifications will include things like giving information related to the design and the display of the product. For instance, Samsung IPad 4 tab has 9.7 inch LCD touch screen with an LED-backlit IPS. It’s hardware, and the operating system comprises of a 1.4 GHz processor of a dual core nature. In addition, the IPad 4 comes with a battery that is non-renewable and one that has a 5MP main camera to provide autofocus. All these kind of information should be given to customers so that they can have adequate knowledge of the IPad 4 product and other new products offered by Samsung electronics (Mitchell, 2010). Besides the use of brochures, other methods that can be used are such as send emails to clients regularly say once every week or twice a month. The use of advertising methods like billboards and even Television sets is a better method as the information is likely to get to even those clients whose email addresses are not known.
Who
The customer care manager is responsible for carrying out this program. This is because the manager is the person concerned with matters related to customers and is thus concerned about ensuring that the customers obtain perfect knowledge about the benefits of the products they are offering.
Timing
This program can be carried out for a period of one year to give adequate time to spread all the relevant information concerning Samsung products especially the IPad 4 tablet. This can be conducted beginning February 1st 2014 to February 1st 2015.
Budget and Estimated Profitability
This will include the cost of coming up with brochures and accessing the internet for purposes of sending emails. Generally this would cost $60,000. The estimated profitability from this plan is $55 million.
Measurement
The effectiveness of the plan will be established by assessing the number of customer complaints that are received by the company. If there is a significant drop in the number of customer complaints about the product then, this will mean that the action plan is effective.
Action Plan 3: Conduct a Survey of the Industry prices for the product
The aim of this plan is for Samsung Electronics to have perfect information about the prices offered by its competitors. This means it will conduct a survey about the prices charged by companies like Apple and Sony for the IPad 4 Tablet.
Goal and Objective
The goal for this plan will be to have knowledge of the prices offered by other players in the industry so that they can set their prices for the tablet below what other industry players are charging. As such, the firm will be able to achieve its objective of setting the lowest prices in comparison to other companies in the industry. Consequently, this will give them a competitive edge over renowned companies like Apple.
Target Market
This action plan targets the middle class consumers who happen to form more than 40% of the customers who use the products from Samsung Electronics. The age of the middle class category mainly falls between 20 to 30 years. Usually they are individuals with low working life leading to low incomes hence the focus of providing products at the least price in order to attract more customers from this group.
Description of the Action Plan
This plan can be implemented by offering discounts on the products purchased by consumers. For instance, a 5% discount will be provided on the selling price of the IPad 4 tablet. Furthermore, this could be made even more appealing by providing a 10% discount to those customers who buy the product within the first one month. Additionally, the company can provide customers with an offer. For instance, a client can win a Samsung galaxy pocket if the purchase an IPad 4 Tablet or win any other electronic equipment that is accompanied with the offer. In this way, the firm will be able to entice customers and even enjoy more profits as a result of the high increase in the company’s sales volume (Hope & Player, 2012). This is also the case because the cost of production has been reduced by 40% in order to cater for the discounts and offers.
Timing
The program will last for about six months. As such, the program can begin on 1st February 2014 and end on 31st July 2014. This period is enough for Samsung to establish a competitive position in the industry and improve its sales greatly.
Budget and Estimated Profitability
The budget will involve $400,000, which will be incurred in the various items that will be given away during the offer such as the camera and mobile phones. Another $150,000 will be spent on posting adverts on media and billboards in order to create awareness to the public about the offers and the discounts offered by Samsung Electronics. The expected profits from this initiative are $10 million.
Measurement
The effectiveness of this move can be measured from the increase in the market share and the level of profitability that will be achieved by the company. Samsung might improve its profitability by 20% and increase its market share by 25% due to its strategy of selling its products at the cheapest price.
Marketing Budget
The overall amount that was spent to be spent in implementing all the action plans was $800,000. This serves as a budget constraint to the company; thus they are expected to achieve their goals and objectives within this budget.
Conclusion
It is important to develop a marketing plan in order to increase the chances of a product’s success in the market. As such, the action plans established should be in line with the goals and objectives of the company. Samsung Electronics has been able to increase its profitability by matching the action plan with the set goals of the company. Furthermore, it is important to have a clear description of how the set goals will be realized. Additionally, the right person should be accorded with the role of implementing the planned action within the stipulated period of time. Finally, the outcome of implementing the plan should be measurable in order for the company to determine the level of effectiveness of their action plan.
References
Chaffey, D. (2009). Internet marketing: Strategy, implementation and practice. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.
Hope, J., & Player, S. (2012). Beyond performance management: Why, when, and how to use 40 tools and best practices for superior business performance. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business Review Press.
Michell, T. (2010). Samsung Electronics and the struggle for leadership of the electronics industry. Singapore: Wiley.
Strauss, R. E. (2008). Marketing planning by design: Systematic planning for successful marketing strategy. Chichester, England: Wiley.
Thomas, L. (2011). The McGraw-Hill 36-hour course: Online marketing. New York: McGraw-Hill.
