International Business Marketing Strategies

Question: Discuss about the International Business for Marketing Strategies. Answer: Introduction In this assignment the researcher has selected two companies from Electronics industry. The two companies of Electronics industry are Samsung and Apple. Both the organizations are competitors of each other. Two companies have taken different decisions in different time horizon to make their products successful. The decisions have both bad and good effects on the functioning of the organizations. In this assignment the researcher has thoroughly discussed the marketing activities of the organizations. The researcher has also found out the competitive advantage of the organizations. Background of Samsung Samsung is a Korean multinational company and has been successful in the field of Electronics industry (Samsung 2016). The organization has started its business in the year 1939 as a trading company. Samsung was founded by Mr. Lee Byung-chul. In the year 1988 Samsung has started its business in the field of Electronics industry (Samsung 2016). The head office of the organization is situated at Suwon in South Korea. Samsung produces different types of Electronics products like mobile phones, television, laptop, LED and tablets. The organization has also diversified its products and produces home appliances (Samsung 2016). Samsung has spread its business across the world and is the second largest company in the field of electronics technology. Samsung has employee strength of over three million and generates revenue of two hundred trillion South Korean won (Samsung 2016). The mission of the organization is to create a brand image of their product. Samsung's main objective is to produce the new mobile phone with latest technology and softwares (Samsung 2016). The vision of the organization is to inspire the world and create a new future. Background of Apple Apple is an American multinational company. The organization was founded by Mr. Steve Jobs in the year 1976 (Apple 2016). The organization mainly focuses on the production of Computer hardware, computer software and consumer electronics. The head office of the organization is situated at Cupertino in California. Apple also produces Smartphone and iPhone. The organization has its business worldwide and has employee strength of over one hundred million. The organization generates revenue over 233 billion US dollars (Apple 2016). Apple is also declared as the worlds largest information technology company in terms of revenues generation. The mission statement of the organization is to produce the best personal computers in the world. Apple has created the revolution in the field of digital music by the installation of iTunes and iPods (Apple 2016). The vision statement of the Apple Inc is to produce products which are simple and can win the hearts of the people. The mission and vision statement of the organization also motivates the employees to provide their best output (Apple 2016). All these have made Apple an efficient player in the field of the electronics industry. Decision of the organization Decision of Samsung As stated by Ahmed and Rahman (2015), the top management of Samsung has taken effective decision to make the product successful. The organization has effectively managed their human resources and technology to make the organization successful. Samsung has introduced standardized development system to increase the speed of work. The design section of the organization is always involved in producing latest models and softwares to capture a maximum of the market share. As stated by Azadi and Rahimzadeh (2012), the organization has ventured into a new market to increase their volume of sale. Promotional strategies of the organization have also helped the organization to be successful. Along with these in the new market, the organization follows market penetration pricing strategy which increases the sale of the organization. Samsung has also launched a sabbatical program which has made the organization successful over the years. Table 1: Success Graph of Samsung (Source: Samsung 2016) The decisions are also not suitable for Samsung in all respect. Samsung has not introduced Samsung Galaxy Note 5 in Europe. Samsung Galaxy Note 5 was the best product of the organization and was a versatile product. Commercially the product has been successful across the globe (Gatautis and Vitkauskaite 2014). Instead, Samsung launched Galaxy S6 in Europe which was a complete failure. This decision of not launching Samsung Galaxy Note 5 was a serious challenge for Samsung. Samsung also launched mini smartphone trend which was also a serious challenge for Samsung. Along with these Samsung has copied the product of Apple in 2015. Samsung Galaxy S6 was copied from Apple INC, and the company has faced a huge penalty for this activity. Decision of Apple Apple has decided to launch a product which is user-friendly in nature and is easy to use. The user interface of the product is made simpler and attractive. According to Ginevicius, Podvezko and Ginevicius (2013), Apple has introduced launching of tools like power users and rookies to attract customers. This decision of Apple has made the product successful. The top management of the organization has understood the need for customer satisfaction. Apple has increased their number of service centers t provide the customers a better service. This activity of the organization was successful. In general, Apple does not invent any new product. The organization only reinvents the models which already exist. This activity of Apple has helped the customers to use the products easily (Bamigbola 2013). Apple has also developed a new strategy which is a nightmare for their competitors. In this new strategy, Apple are launching the idea of the product two years before its launch. Customers have t o order the products with a token money. This decision of Apple has paved a success story for the organization. Table 2: Success graph of Apple (Source: Apple 2016) Apple has sold of Pixar Graphics in the year 1986. Pixar Graphics used to make animated films. As stated by Helm and Gritsch (2014), top management of the organization has not understood the importance of animated films and has sold the hardware platform. Pixar Graphics in the latter stage has come out to be a successful hardware to produce animated products. Apple has always used Mac platform in their electronics device. Mac platform cannot be easily exchanged with other devices. The organization has not shown interest in changing the platform. This also was a severe problem for Apple. Apple has lost a lot of customers because of this issue. Apple has also experimented with Mac clones (Kim et al. 2014). This also proves to be disastrous for Apple. Innovative ideas New innovative ideas of Samsung Samsung has used technology to produce new products. Innovation with technology has placed Samsung is being placed in a new horizon with the help of technology. As stated by Onishi and Manchanda (2012), the speed of the RAM in the mobile phones has been increased to 4 Mbps. The screen of the mobile phone is made up Gorilla Glass and cannot be easily destroyed. Television screens are made of Curved which is an innovation in the sector of the television industry. Marketing activities are also reinvented to attract customers. The organization has also introduced online selling facility to sell their mobile phones. The app is also launched by Samsung where the customers can get the details of the product. Customers can also buy the product in this online app. All these have helped Samsung to market their products in a new horizon. Market Share of Samsung is also rising because of these new innovative ideas. Samsung has also promoted its product with the help of internet (Ozment 2015). Ev en kiosks are set up in shopping malls and restaurants where customers can have a glimpse of the new products. Smart phones have also helped Samsung to increase their market share. Innovation has helped Samsung to remain ahead of competitors. Table 3: Market Share of Samsung and Apple (Source: Samsung 2016) New innovative ideas of Apple Apple on the other does not believe in innovations. The motto of the organization is to redefine the old ideas and projects to create a new market. As stated by Pavlou and Stewart (2015), Apple has a well developed Windows platform which has made the products of Apple completely different from the others. The organization believes in turning on ordinary products to something beautiful. The products are made user-friendly, and this is an added advantage for the organization. The organization follows Premium pricing strategy for their customers. However in order to attract a lot of customers, the organization has also introduced market penetration pricing strategy. In market penetration pricing strategy the price of the products are kept low to attract customers. Marketing Activities Marketing activities of Samsung The main motto of Samsung is to promote its product in both national and international markets. Samsung has followed several strategies to attract customers. Channel marketing is an effective way for the marketing activities of the organization (Pistol and Bucea-Manea 2014). Dealers are mainly responsible for corporate sales. They also contact with the showrooms to open new kiosks out there. Samsung also gives different types of discount offer to increase their volume of sales. Website marketing strategy is used by the organization where the customers can get the details of the product from the internet. Samsung has also organized a survey from where the organization can get an idea of the requirement of the people. As stated by Rahmani, Emamisaleh and Yadegari (2015), the organization produces the product according to the requirement of the people. All these have helped Samsung to increase their sale. In different parts of the world Samsung has also made alliances with local producers to sell their product. This has helped the organization to start their new venture in remote corners of the world. Marketing activities of Apple Apple uses premium pricing strategy. The products of the Apple are produced mainly for the elite customers. The high pricing strategy of Apple increases the profit volume of the organization. The premium pricing strategy of Apple only occupies a smaller portion of the market. However, Apple is planning to launch products so that they can also attract other customers (Resnick et al. 2016). The price of the product will be kept relatively low. Apple has produced products which are of high quality and have fewer defects in the product. This has increased the loyalty of the customers. Distribution strategy of Apple is mainly done through selective distribution channels. The product of Apple is mainly sold through Apple stores and Apple outlets. Retail shops of Apple are also spread widely across the world. Retailers like Walmart and Best Buy also help Apple in selling their products (Rosohata 2012). However, the organization sells its products heavily through online Apple Stores. Apple has also linked up with online shopping companies like Amazon and Flip Kart to sell their products. Apple mainly promotes their products through the website of the organization and Apple Stores. Sales executive of the organization are also responsible for creating rapport with the customers and sell products (Waterschoot and Bulte 2012). The organization has also introduced brand ambassadors to promote their products. Famous personalities like film stars and athletes are the brand ambassador of the organization. Competitive advantage Competitive advantages of Samsung Samsung has a well developed Research and Development team. New equipment has also been installed in the laboratory of the Samsung to produce innovative products. As stated by Ahmed and Rahman (2015), the employee of the Samsung are experienced and well educated with latest technologies and softwares. The organization has also ventured into different markets through alliances with other organizations (Zeriti et al. 2014). This has helped Samsung to start their business activities in various parts of the world. The prices of the product are also kept low so that everyone can but their products. Advertising has also been a unique feature of Samsung. The organization promotes its product through massive advertising. Samsung also has an ability to develop a product within a short period of time. This has helped Samsung to spread its product in a wide region within a short period of time. Samsung has also changed the product according to the requirement of the customer. This has helped Sa msung to remain ahead of its competitors. Competitive advantage of Apple Apple main competitive advantage is their brand. Apple is the most valuable brand in the world and has millions of customers across the world. As stated by Azadi and Rahimzadeh (2012), the product of the Apple is simple and is user-friendly. This has helped Apple to remain a sustainable advantage over its competitors. The music system of Apple is unique and had created a revolution in the field of music systems. Integration is also another important feature of Apple. One of the unique competitive advantages of Apple is that it declares the launch of the product almost two years before its launch. This activity of Apple has helped Apple to remain a step ahead of its competitors. Conclusion In this assignment the researcher has discussed different decisions taken by the organization Samsung and Apple in the different period of time. The decisions have both a positive impact and negative impact on the business of the organizations. The market share of the organization are also evaluated by the researcher thoroughly. Innovative ideas and marketing strategies of Samsung have helped the organization to remain ahead of its competitors. Samsung believes in innovation whereas Apple believes in modifying their products according to the requirements. Apple has also kept their products simple, and the customers can easily operate the products. All these have helped both the organizations to remain in a competitive position in the electronics industry. 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