Since its beginning, Samsung has been widely known as a futuristic electronic brand, especially smartphones which are designed according to the needs of consumers. Samsung’s core competency is its ability to get the most out of the android operating system as well as the quality of their smartphones. From this point, it goes without saying that Samsung has done well in placing the “self-concept” as one of its main strategies to beat other rivals. Theoretically, self-concept summarizes the beliefs a person holds about his own attributes and how he evaluates the self on these qualities (Solomon 2018). In real life, how does Samsung apply this concept successfully ?

At IFA 2011, Samsung consumers define their needs as “A smarter life, a smarter world”. Also in this event, Boo-Keun Yoon, president of Samsung Electronics’ visual display business, stated how Samsung was doing very excellent in contributing to the smarter world: listening to the voices of their consumers.

Following President Yoon’s opening remarks, Michael Zoeller, Samsung’s European marketing director for television and audio visual products, explained the company’s entrance into a new era in its design history—One Design, which is an approach to blend design and technology into a product that signifies “oneness” and sense of unity.

As the No.1 TV manufacturer in Europe, Samsung’s unrivaled leadership was also noted. Receiving over 350 awards across nine major European countries in 2011 alone, Samsung Smart TVs occupy the No. 1 position in product reviews among 10 European consumer magazines—including the top eight spots from Netherland‘s consumer publication Consumentenbond.

In fact, Samsung also overtakes Apple in terms of self-concept and consumer personality (Lee 2019). It is not surprising how Samsung market shares have been rising constantly due to their contribution to the technological world. Samsung is also gaining more and more ‘fans’ for its Android system.

Android offers the best in terms of end-user experience mainly because of the extent that one can customize his phone or device. The secret to its ability to be customized lies in the fact that it is an open source software (Lee 2019). This means that anybody with programming skills can create applications for his or her device. This creates a limitless field for customization in terms of color, design, functionality and general appearance of your phone or tablet. This makes it almost impossible for you to miss what really works for you.

In addition to designs and other technical strategies, Samsung also pays attention to the “budget users” with different smartphone lines ranging from low to high price.
Samsung has made many series of phones for budget users unlike Apple who only makes phones for premium users. The cheapest Iphone on the Market currently is still over $300 while the cheapest Samsung is under $100. This indicates that Samsung can cater both the Budget and Premium markets.

Overall, Samsung plays a good role in taking care of any need from consumers, taking their own attributes into consideration to build up their brand personality.

References

Lee, YW 2019, ‘Enhancing shared value and sustainability practices of global firms: The case of samsung electronics’, Strategic Change, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 139–145, viewed 6 May 2019

Solomon, Michael, et al. Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having Being, P.Ed Australia, 2018.

Petrov, D 2018, ‘Samsung to release new foldable models each year, files fresh patents on eventual designs’, The Motley Fool Nov 19 2018, available at https://www.phonearena.com/news/Samsung-foldable-phone-model-design-patents_id111153 viewed 3 May 2019.

‘How Did Apple and Samsung Come to Rule the Smartphone Industry?’, Southern Phone 17 Oct 2018, available at
https://southernphone.com.au/Blog/2018/Oct/apple-and-samsung-smartphone-kings?page=1, viewed 1 May 2019