Discussion of Integrated Marketing Communications in Samsung

Question: Discuss about theIntegrated Marketing Communicationsfor Samsung. Answer: Background The report discusses about the evaluation of Integrated Marketing Communication programs taken up by Samsung for recreating the image of the brand after the battery explosion case of Samsung Galaxy Note7. The campaigns are organised in order to regain the confidence of consumer. Recently, Samsung faced a decreased market share after the battery explosion case in Note 7 and after this Samsung has developed a campaign called Commitment to Quality which was ineffective. Strategy Statement The strategy statement of Samsung is to create its brand value among the top 5 global players in the industry and to regain its consumer confidence back by communicating well with the customers. Brand Positioning of Samsung After the case of battery explosion in Samsung Galaxy Note 7, Samsung came up with a campaign Commitment to Quality in which it shows how Samsung has taken actions and commitment to check why the issue occurred. They uploaded a video on social media to show what steps they have taken for ensuring the safety and security of the customers. They showcase that they constantly try to introduce new products and innovative technologies so that customers get something new everytime. The brand regularly promotes its products for gaining popularity and to gain loyalty from the customers (Spence, 2016). It can also be represented through a perceptual map which shows how target customers view the competing alternatives in the market in a visual format (Yumusak, Yilmaz Gungordu, 2016). Figure 1: Perceptual map for Samsung The perceptual map given above shows that Samsung is an innovation led brand which always provides exciting and trendy features to its customers. It believes in providing something new always which keeps it on the top position in the eyes of the customers (Yumusak, Yilmaz Gungordu, 2016). Objective of the Message The objective of the message floated in the video on You Tube was to make people believe that the brand care for its customers. The video shows this by focussing on the Quality assurance and by making the customers believe that safety has always been the priority of the company. It started a research on big scale to know the actual reasons behind the battery explosion. It also aims at showing that Samsung has invested a lot just for the sake of safety and security of the customers so that they can get best products from Samsung. Target Audience The target audience for Samsung and its promotional campaign are the ones who suffered from the battery explosion crisis and lost their trust from the brand. The target audience also include the customers who were interested in the buying the products of Samsung but switched to other brand after the case. The brand wants to regain the trust and loyalty from its existing customers and want to attract potential customers in the market who are in search of innovative and quality smartphones (Samsung Newsroom, 2016). The customers wanted exchange or refund for their Galaxy Note 7 handsets when the case of explosion came into their knowledge. The brand success affected a lot and it seems like Samsung will have to invest years in gaining the popularity and loyalty back. The customers reacted instantly when the company declared 100% recall for the sets. There was 96% recall of handsets within three months. The customers were diverted for buying the products of other company like Sony and Apple (Griffiths Kamouni, 2017). The company wanted to make the target audience feel that the company is always dedicated for the safety of its customers. Samsung wanted to be known as the innovative and smart company among its customers (Shivali, 2016). It wants to regain its image as the top most smartphone brand across the world. Samsung recalled the sets to make sure that the customers feel valued. The company wanted the customers to feel that the company is transparent with them and shared the research and its findings with the customers so that they could also know the main issue with the particular model (Shivali, 2016). Samsung wanted the target audience to trust the brand. That is why; they identified the issue and announced it. They created 8 point battery testing system which is done to assure customers about the commitment of Samsung for its customers. Samsung apologized to its customers and promised them to have a strong comeback soon (Samsung Newsroom, 2016). Figure 2: Samsung message to the customers Source: Sylvia (2017) Samsung has tried to make every possible effort so that it can establish a good communication with its customers and talk about the real issues behind the battery explosion cases. Samsung believed that this will reinstate the trust among the customers. They uploaded a video on You Tube for fulfilling the purpose but the campaign failed. Samsung should redesign its message and should float it on social media, its corporate website and also on TV commercials so that the approach of the message could increase (Sullivan, 2017). Social media has evolved over the years. It has great approach and has huge impact on the customers. Samsung should communicate that Safety of Consumers is at their foremost priority through TV commercials. They could also run a campaign where they could invite customers to provide their reviews. Listening to the customers has always been of help for the company. The company should kill the brand name Note so that the bad memories of the incident could be erased from the minds of consumers (Cheng, 2016). Samsung could recreate the magic of its brand by taking the above discussed steps. Also, to save the reputation of the company, it should it should invest in building better designs and on advertising. It has to show that the company is working to improve the faulty processes of quality. Samsung has already taken a bold move of recalling its handsets Note 7 which is a proactive step by the company (Dholakia, 2016). This should be promoted to show that the company cares for its custom ers no matter how much loss the company has to suffer because of this. References Cheng, R 2016, Galaxy Note 7, RIP. Samsung, you've got to rebuild the trust, Cnet.com. Dholakia, U M 2016, Why Samsungs Note 7 Crisis wont hurt its brand long term, Harvard Business Review. Griffiths, J Kamouni, S 2017, Why are Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones exploding, was there a recall and whats wrong with the batteries?, The Sun. Samsung Newsroom, 2016, [Statement] Samsung Will Replace Current Note7 with New One, Samsung, Retrieved from https://news.samsung.com/global/statement-on-galaxy-note7. Shivali, 2016, Samsung blames manufacturing issues for exploding Galaxy Note 7 phones: Firm says battery cell 'had some flaws', Daily Mail. Spence, E 2016, Stop Using Galaxy Note 7, Samsung's Exploding Battery Nightmare Continues, Forbes. Sullivan, M 2017, The Galaxy Note 7 Explosion Findings Could Change How Samsung Makes Smartphones, Fast Company. Sylvia, G 2017, Samsung Mobile "Committed To Quality" - Tech Giant Releases Online Video Explaining What The Heck Happened With Those Batteries, AdStasher. Yumusak, T, Yilmaz, K G Gungordu, A 2016, Perceptual Maps of Smart Phones with Multi-Dimensional Scaling Analysis, International Journal of Research In Social Sciences.