This paper analyzes Samsung's marketing approach for cell phones through three core frameworks: market segmentation, target market selection, and competitive positioning. The paper identifies two primary segments — the enterprise (employee) market and the early adopter market — and argues that the enterprise segment offers the greatest growth potential. It recommends a multi-segment marketing strategy to maximize profitability across multiple customer groups. A perceptual map is used to illustrate Samsung's competitive positioning relative to brands such as Apple, HTC, BlackBerry, and Nokia, highlighting the space Samsung occupies as both a business-oriented and exciting, trendy product.
The first distinct market segment for Samsung is the enterprise market, which is primarily regarded as the employee phones market. This segment has grown tremendously in recent years as businesses incorporate phones into work processes. It contains working-class individuals of different income levels, ages, and genders spread across various geographic locations. The segment can be defined further through user status — specifically, employees seeking ways to enhance their work processes.
The second market segment for Samsung cell phones is the early adopter market, which comprises children or technically inexperienced customers. This segment includes children looking for phones to play with, as well as individuals seeking easy-to-use devices. The behavioral segmentation of this market is based on user status, as it consists of first-time users or technically inexperienced users who are typically found within a home setting. These individuals are looking for phones that are easy to use for calling, texting, or playing games.
The most profitable of the two segments is the enterprise market, which comprises savvy, educated shoppers. This market represents significant growth potential for Samsung because it contains a large portion of potential customers who can afford the product and readily obtain it. Furthermore, this target market of competent users treats a phone as a necessity in their various work processes.
The increased global growth of this segment implies that it offers substantial potential for profitability, provided the company develops products that meet its various demands and contribute to improved work processes. The likelihood of profitability is further supported by the fact that this target market meets five of the six criteria for an attractive market segment (Widdel, p. 1).
Despite the growth potential of the enterprise segment, Samsung should not concentrate all of its resources on this market alone. Instead, Samsung should adopt multi-segment marketing, through which it pursues both new and current target markets alongside other market segments. Multi-segment marketing involves distributing several brands or product lines in order to reach multiple target markets (Akers par. 3).
"Multi-segment marketing recommended for broader growth"
"Perceptual map places Samsung in uncontested space"
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