Deze maand heeft Panelteam een interview gehad met Dennis Schuilenburg, Corporate Marketing Director van Samsung Electronics Benelux. Dennis is verantwoordelijk voor alle corporate marketingactiviteiten die Samsung uitvoert in de Benelux. De reden voor dit interview was dat Samsung een vierde plaats inneemt in de Lovemarks Ranking 2013, een merkranglijst samengesteld door Panelteam en Saatchi & Saatchi. Elke maand worden er vijf vragen gesteld aan een marketingverantwoordelijke van een van de topmerken uit de Love Brand-merkenranglijst. In dit geval dus: Samsung.
- 1. What is the strength of your brand?
The strength of Samsung lies in the fact that we know what people (consumers) want, and that we are capable of developing and designing our products using that information. Our solutions make the daily lives of people more convenient. Take for example our Smart TV’s. Based on the viewing habits of consumers this TV provides them suggestions for television programs. Another example is our new GALAXY NX camera, that is the first professional photo camera on the market that uses the operating system Android. All examples are evident showcases of innovations that are inspired by people. We have so many people that work on Research & Development, that we could even fill a whole soccer stadium with those people. In 2012 alone, 10.8 billion dollar is invested in Research & Development worldwide. Due to our innovation strength, Samsung is one of the most appreciated brands worldwide. And of course, the position of most loved electronics brand that we accomplished in the ‘Lovemarks’ ranking is a great honoring of our work!
- 2. As a brand, how do you make an emotional connection?
We make an emotional connection by continuously interacting with people, using all possible communication channels. We create new possibilities that improve people’s lives, at home, on the road and at work. Samsung has a great vararitie of possibilities, in order to let consumers choose the specific solution that fits their needs. We do not believe in ‘one size fits all’.
- 3. Are Brand Lovers the main focus of your brand strategy? If so, in which way is this expressed? If not. Why not?
Absolutely. We share our attention between existing and potential Samsung lovers. We know that people who are loyal to ‘the Samsung Brand’ really appreciate the fact that we constantly work towards innovative and reliable solutions that create new possibilities. Apart from that, design is the basis of all our products. In this case, design is more than just a beautiful product appearance. We emphasize on the added value that a solution offers to the daily lives of people. This is also the main focus of our marketing strategy. We want to inspire people to get even more out of life, for example using our GALAXY S4 Zoom, a full-fledged smartphone with some extras: a 10x zoom lens in order to make dead sharp photos.
- 4. Can every brand, in your opinion, be a Lovemark?
A lot, if not everything, depends on the employees working in your company. They make the difference in the way people experience a brand. By having very motivated and skilled employees it is eventually possible to become a Lovemark. In theory, many brands could be a Lovemark. Samsung does not have an age-old heritage in the Netherland, but within a few years time managed to become the most loved electronics brand. Eventually, the most important fact is that people can feel that Samsung enables them to get more from their own life.
- 5. What is your vision for the future concerning your brand?
Together with our retail partners and B2B partners, we want to continue our success for the future. In the current time success is much harder to achieve by acting alone. We therefore strongly believe in collaborating with various partners. Our customers are the most important partners. But also collaborating with partners, such as Google and Microsoft, we can intensify each other’s strengths to create the best possible solution for our end users. Last year we managed to push-trough in the top 10 of most valuable world brands, despite of the economic recession. We are very proud of that achievement. The upcoming years, we want to continue to grow at a high pace and become one of the top 5 biggest world brands by the year 2020. We want people to perceive us as one of the most innovative and respected companies in the world. That is why it is very important for us to listen to and understand the (potential) desires of consumers. As a result of doing this we are able to keep surprising people with products of which they did not know they had a desire for.
BRAND MANAGEMENT
