Samsung Electronic Company: The Transformation Of Samsung Electronic Company

Samsung Electronic Company (SEC) underwent a drastic brand transformation within seven years under leadership of Chairman Kun Hee Lee. Samsung transformed itself from a low cost OEM (original equipment manufacturer) to a market leader in design, R&D and brand marketing. This reincarnation involved a moving away from its traditional practices towards embracing Western business practices. There were multiple factors that contributed towards making Samsung a prominent home leader to a global brand like,

• Investment Focus Shift from Manufacturing To Marketing and R&D: Samsung was a well established brand name in its home markets (Korea). But for creating a global brand, it needed to undergo an image transformation from a me-too company to a

With this campaign, Samsung successfully passed the message that through digital convergence and simple designs, Samsung products will bring together communication, entertainment and information in one device. After this successful campaign, Samsung aggressively promoted their products through co-marketing with the blockbuster movie (The Matrix Reloaded). They also used sports (Olympics) to promote their products. All these efforts not only created brand visibility but also promoted these quality world-firsts product among the Millennial.

• Gamification To Facilitate Innovation: Kun Hee Lee pushed for investing in the premium, innovative products. He recognized the importance of early market entrants and pushed for creating exceptional products. With the enough financial backing for R&D, Lee promoted new product design by gamification. 4 to 5 most promising product designs were designated a pillar products and were extensive promoted by marketing. Creating these pillar products was considered to be a badge of honor and helps promoted innovation in Samsung.

Lee also established and funded the Samsung Art & Design in collaboration with the Parsons the New School for Design in NYC, which helped get the design expertise to Samsung. To maintain its competence, Lee forced its teams to compete with outside companies for internal business. (Ex: Sumitomo Chemical).

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