DATE: Spring 2013
ASSIGNED BY: The University of Texas at Austin's "ADV 378-20: Account Planning" course
ASSIGNMENT: Create a digital campaign for Samsung's Smart TV.
**DISCLAIMER: Although the Samsung Smart TV is a real product, this was a fictional campaign created for a class.**
COLLABORATORS: Liz McCall, Nene Okeudo, and Felicia Pesik
MY CONTRIBUTIONS: All black text was written by myself; all blue text was written by my collaborators and edited by myself; all ads were created by myself.
**AWARD: "Best in Class" as chosen by representatives from nFusion Digital Advertising Agency**
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As 2squared Advertising Agency, we strive to create calculated campaigns that will exponentially increase our clients’ name recognition and sales. Our wide-reaching digital campaign for the Samsung Smart TV is no exception, and the following is an in-depth look at the methods used to create a campaign that we believe will have far-reaching results.
Before starting on our campaign, we decided to do an analysis of the industry and how Samsung’s product fits in with the rest. After secondary research into the TV and Smart TV industry, Samsung as a company, and Samsung’s Smart TV itself, we compared Samsung to its biggest competitors and initiated an online survey as well as some in-person interviews to see what customers currently think about Samsung’s Smart TV. With this information, we developed a SWOT analysis for the product to determine its current positioning in the consumer marketplace.
Based on our research, we refined and embellished upon the target audience suggested and created an overall strategy highlighting the single most important thing that we want consumers to remember, namely that with Samsung’s Smart TV, consumers can “Invest in an interactive experience that everyone can enjoy.” Due to Samsung’s already outstanding website with well-displayed interactive content, we decided to attempt to drive consumers from applications they already use on the web to the website, and then into the stores.
After researching and strategizing, we put together a few recommendations for a digital campaign promoting the product that include some rough creative suggestions as well as recommendations on the media channels to use to better reach the target. Our campaign includes web ads and banner ads placed strategically on websites within certain categories (television, music, sports, etc.) that will tell consumers that they can experience the content they are currently enjoying in a whole new interactive way. It also includes an event put on in retail stores and promoted by Facebook that will drive people into stores and convince them to share their experiences with the product via their social networks with the incentive of entering a raffle to win a free TV.
We believe that we have developed the best possible strategy for Samsung to implement moving forward with their advertising efforts for this product. By promoting the Samsung Smart TV’s unique, all-encompassing entertainment experience as “not just another new TV,” we believe that we will be able to break through the barriers of doubt within our target market and convince them to go out and buy a Samsung Smart TV.
RESEARCH
TVs and Smart TVs: Industry Analysis
The television industry seems to have fallen into a downward slope over the past five years as revenues have fallen 49%; however, at the same time, volume sales have actually increased (“Televisions”). This anomaly was due to an overproduction period that resulted in a price dive for TVs, which consumers were more than eager to snap up at such low prices (“Televisions”). Though revenues are expected to continue decreasing for the time being, interest in televisions with new and more numerous functions (such as the Samsung Smart TV) are expected to create an upturn in both the revenues and the sales of televisions between 2015 and 2017 (“Televisions”).
Currently, Vizio, LG, and Samsung sell the majority of television sets, accounting for 44% of the television market collectively (“Televisions”). Vizio, the newest brand, is considered the low-cost brand, and is right behind Samsung in terms of volume sales (“Televisions”). LG and Samsung, on the other hand, are considered technology leaders; both companies released Smart TVs in 2012 (“Televisions”). Both Best Buy’s and Wal-Mart’s brick-and-mortar stores weigh in as the distributors selling the highest number of TVs, while online retailers as a whole are struggling due to consumers’ wariness of online purchases (“Televisions”).
New television purchases are planned for 50% of households with children (“Televisions”). While “married with children” households spend the highest dollar amount per television set, “single with children” households contain the largest number of individual TV sets (“Televisions”). Men are more likely to purchase a television set than women, and consumers aged 25-44 show the most interest in keeping up with the latest technology (“Televisions”).
Smart TVs have become a hot commodity as they represent intriguing innovation and top-notch machinery. They are commonly known and respected for their capability to connect to the internet and mobile devices. Interestingly enough, many different electronic brands are taking advantage of the advances in technology by creating Smart TVs in order to keep up with the time period and competitively stay afloat. Although it can be seen as a great attribute to the electronic industry, it can create clutter in the consumer’s eyes because of many different companies essentially selling the same product.
Overall, many consumers themselves currently seem to be happy with the regular 2D TVs that they have, even as the television industry starts to push newer technology at them (“Televisions”). However, a growing need for multitasking among millennials may change this mindset. Entering the television market, manufacturers should consider either streamlining the production of Smart TVs so that they can sell at lower costs that are more competitive with regular TV prices or focusing solely on high-income households as targets (“Televisions”).
Samsung: Company Analysis
Samsung has grown significantly since its first production of black and white televisions, which brought about its success as the first company in the world to mass-produce digital televisions in 1999 (Kovach). Over time, Samsung’s brand name has developed a strong presence in the consumer electronics market along with building a reputation that connotes reliability, uniqueness, and innovation (Rothman). Today, Samsung remains the leader in the flat panel TV industry with 25.2% of the global market share (“Global”).
The company continues to innovate and develop new technologies that are revolutionizing the way people watch TV. Samsung has taken notice of the market growth in “high value LED TVs,” and is capitalizing on this fact by creating an untapped market of innovation (Rothman). The now-called Samsung Smart TV, which was rolled out as the Internet TV in 2007, is currently the headliner and leader in the smart TV industry (Kovach). With its combination of advanced features and trusted name brand, consumers are undoubtedly getting the true Samsung experience in the convenience of their own home.
Samsung Smart TV: Product Analysis
Samsung launched their first line of Smart TVs in 2009 and hasn’t failed to impress the consumer electronic market since by unveiling new and improved products that top previous ones (Rothman). Samsung Smart TVs advertise and market themselves as “different” in that they revolutionize how people interact with TV by putting consumers in control (“Are...”). The individual is given the power to “navigate menus, use phone apps, browse, and search” as other Smart TVs can, but they are the only products that are also capable of “voice control, gesture control, and face recognition” through their top-of-the-line models (“Are...”). These new and improved attributes that the TV has to offer are steering Samsung away from selling a Smart TV that is capable of having the same features as other TVs in the marketplace and towards providing an interactive experience in which consumers can directly communicate with their electronic devices (“Are...”).
Competition
Through our research, we found that the five biggest competitors of the Samsung Smart TV are LG, Panasonic, Toshiba, Vizio, and Apple TV. Below, we will describe the different features of each of the competitors to fully understand the competitive market that Samsung is currently a part of.
LG’s Smart TV is one of Samsung’s biggest competitors in the smart TV market. LG’s product does not only focus on the application side of their smart TV, but also their networking side. Some competitive features this TV include 4 HDMI ports, Clear Voice II, and a dual core processor (“6 Best”). The 4 HDMI ports allow the user to connect multiple devices without feeling limited and help them remain connected to their different networks. The Clear Voice II feature helps user’s voice to remain audible for commands (“6 Best”). LG TV’s dual core processor helps with faster application operation and allows multitasking to go smoothly. LG’s TVs aren’t only plasma made either; they also offer LED televisions, which provide consumers with the choice of the picture quality they prefer (“6 Best”).
Panasonic’s Viera Connect Smart TV is a competitor to Samsung because of its vast app marketplace, and it is styled in a way that is user friendly. Panasonic sells a variety of plasma and LED TVs to their consumers, and they all contain shortcuts on the remote that make using the TV easier to navigate (“6 Best”). The TV itself is arranged in a three by three grid wit