Issues analysis
An increase in competitiveness is necessary since the SWOT analysis indicates that there are pricing wars in this industry. A weakness that has characterized Samsung is that there are too many of its products in the market and hence the company should focus on increasing its promotional efforts. This should be directed at the target market to increase effectiveness (McCracken, 2013). A focus on internet marketing is necessary since it is the most effective. Samsung should capitalize on the growth of social media and market I pad 4 through this channel. This is because users of this brand will be young people who comprise of users of social media.
Samsung has opportunities that include growing demand for tablets and an expansion of the tablet market in growing economies. These two factors are indicative of great opportunities that Samsung should seize. It should increase competition in order to curb the existing threats such as the pricing wars (Calton & Edwards, 2012). Primary research efforts indicated that awareness of new products by Samsung was low. An example is the Bluetooth headsets release. Less than 20% of respondents were aware of the product. This response indicates that Samsung should increase its knowledge base in a view to promote consumer awareness. It is critical to increase this knowledge base by informing customers on new product offers (Calton & Edwards, 2012).
Primary research also indicates that Samsung advertising campaigns and its promotion efforts should be improved to rival similar efforts by competitors. At this point, it is necessary to create persuasive messages targeted at I pad 4 brand. Altering such messages to meet consumer needs will be of ultimate importance (Hill & Williamson, 2012). Samsung’s reputation in the market is that it is a strong brand as indicated by primary research. It is rated highest in terms of high quality products. Building on this credibility will improve its reputation and hence success of I pad 4 (Hill & Williamson, 2012). However, there has to be efforts that will improve the reputation of this company as innovative.
Samsung must continually review its pricing strategy due to pricing wars in this industry. This means a continuous adjustment of price coupled with price offers in order to compete effectively (McCracken, 2013). Failure to respond to price dynamics in the market will reduce the potential of success for the I pad 4. As far as competitive attacks are concerned, Samsung expects competition from Apple and Google. Its current market share of 32% is threatened by advertising efforts by Apple and Google and quality improvements from the same companies.
Goals and objectives
The first corporate goal is to have the most recognized and also the most effective advertising campaign in the industry. In order to achieve this goal for Samsung, some objectives have to be attained. The first objective is to increase awareness of I pad 4 by at least 15% of the target market over 1 year. This goal is to be achieved by use of social media platforms including Face Book and Twitter. These two platforms are the leaders in social media and hence their choice. The other goal is to have three celebrities’ endorsements over the next one year. These celebrities will include - one from Hollywood, one sportsperson and a renowned business leader. Celebrity endorsements are very effective in marketing mobile communication products (Brink & Berndt, 2009).
The second corporate goal is to increase consumer knowledge about Samsung products to about three times the current levels. This implies increasing the number of consumers who claim to have information on these products by three times. The first goal on this objective is to send at least one e-mail message to our customers per week. The content of this email will comprise of new products, price offers and any new Samsung outlets (Calton & Edwards, 2012). The other goal is to increase the number of Samsung banners by 20% in the next one year. These banners will increase consumer knowledge by highlighting features of our products and improvements performance.
The third corporate goal is to have the lowest prices in the industry. This objective will be attained by achieving two goals. The first goal that has been geared towards this objective is to introduce 5% discounts for every purchase of I pad 4 tablets. These offers will be sustained over the next six months in order to attract buyers. The other goal for this objective is to maintain production costs at 60% of the per unit price of I pad 4 tablets. This goal is crucial since the 40% profit margin can be reduced to cater for discounts and price reduction.
Marketing strategies
Definition of the target market
The primary market is youths aged between 20 and 30 years. This demographic group is set to comprise of both male and female consumers. Demographic segmentation will be used since the occupation is the working class. These individuals are middle class since their working lives are low and hence difficult to have upper class individuals in this group. This target market will comprise of individuals with a college degree. Other segmentation such as race and religion are not necessary for this target market since needs across these groupings is homogeneous (Brink & Berndt, 2009).
The other segmentation that is important for this tablet is benefit segmentation. The benefits sought by this segment include performance of the tablet, mobility and ability to work at the same time. These individuals have this need since they are in the foundation of their careers and they are normally burdened by duties. In addition, they have to move to meet their clients and consult some experts. The tablet, therefore, has to perform excellently in order to meet their needs (McCracken, 2013). In addition, this target market has to be convinced that I pad 4 will meet these needs. The geographic description of this target market encompasses a concentration of the individuals in major cities. This is because most companies are concentrated in these cities and hence they form the venues for employment of these youths.
The number of customers is expected to be in the range of 3,500 to 4,000 customers. This is because this tablet is expected to appeal to around 40% of the working population of 10,000. The tablet will be used on a full time basis since it will be applied for business transactions during the day and for social purposes in the evenings. This choice for the target market is justified in terms of the needs of this market and features of I pad 4. This tablet is a high performing one due to features such as the fourth generation core chip and an extension of the battery life by 6 hours over the previous versions (Hill & Williamson, 2012). These features will meet the performance and mobility needs of this primary market. Samsung should narrow down on this market segment since it will have the most benefits.
Strategy statement Market position
The market position statement is as follows; to hardworking youth professionals who are highly mobile, I pad 4 is a high tech mobile device that allows you to work productively while on the move. Customers should adopt this strategic initiative since it will increase their productiveness and convenience in working while on the move (Brink & Berndt, 2009). This initiative provides a high performing device that is portable. These factors should make it easy for customers to change from previous versions of tablets to other newer versions. In addition, those customers who have never purchased a tablet before should do so to enjoy these benefits. The set of benefits, in this case, include performance and mobility.
The key proposition for marketing this tablet is that the product is the I pad 4, the place is all Samsung outlets, the price is $ 1,099, whereas the promotion is via the internet platform. The strategy and its activities should be based on this platform. The accessibility statement is that all support materials and manuals are available for free with every purchase of this tablet and online. In addition, customers will have a free unlimited 24/7 support via chat and email. Any issues based on the use of these devices will be addressed on these two platforms. This strategy will make it easy to access support and hence improve the user experience (Calton & Edwards, 2012). The communication statement is that all communication regarding this device will be done via email and also phone calls to our customers. This method has been sought to improve the effectiveness of communication in contrast to traditional media. Social networking will also be applied but to a limited extent owing to its slow pace of gaining market share.
Value proposition
The value proposition for I pad 4 is that it is the most convenient, productive and highest quality tablet on the planet (Hill & Williamson, 2012). The customers should buy this tablet from Samsung since Samsung offers the highest quality products and it has a reputation for strong brands. The products by Samsung are well designed and hence the user will have many and attractive features. These features have improved the performance of this tablet and the perception of Samsung among consumers. Samsung outperforms its competitors such as Apple and Google based on these features and its attractive prices (McCracken, 2013). Therefore, customers should buy from this company in order to benefit from price advantages. They will have a 24/7 online support that will be available for free.
References
Brink, A., & Berndt, A. (2009). Relationship Marketing and Customer Relationship Management. Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Calton, S., & Edwards, P. (2012). Ways of Improving Marketing Competitiveness. The Wall Street Journal, 36-38.
Hill, M., & Williamson, D. (2012). An Insight into the Ipad market: Samsung, Apple & Google. Businessweek, 48-51.
McCracken, A. (2013). Strategic Decisions by Samsung in the Ipad Marketing. The New York Times, 41-43.
