Samsung Marketing
JOHN QUELCH ANNA HARRINGTON
Samsung Electronics Company: Global Marketing Operations
Company Background and Strategy
The Samsung conglomerate’s roots dated back to 1938 when the company produced agricultural products. In the 1970s, the company focused on shipbuilding, chemicals, and textiles. Samsung Electronics Company (SEC)2 was founded in 1969, primarily as a low-cost manufacturer of black and white televisions. In the 1970s, Samsung acquired a semiconductor business, thereby setting the stage for future growth in electronics. Throughout the 1980s, SEC supplied global markets with massive quantities of commodity products such as televisions, VCRs, and microwave ovens. The company sold its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that resold them under their
1 “Samsung Electronics Marketing Special: Brand Reloaded—analyzing the world’s fastest growing brand,” CLSA Emerging
Markets, May 2003.
Do
2 All references to Samsung or SEC refer to Samsung Electronics Company and not to other affiliate companies or the Samsung
conglomerate. ____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Professor John Quelch and Research Associate Anna Harrington prepared this case with the assistance of the HBS Asia Pacific Research Center. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Certain details have been disguised. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management.
Copyright © 2004 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
Samsung Electronics Company: Global Marketing Operations
Company Background and Strategy
The Samsung conglomerate’s roots dated back to 1938 when the company produced agricultural products. In the 1970s, the company focused on shipbuilding, chemicals, and textiles. Samsung Electronics Company (SEC)2 was founded in 1969, primarily as a low-cost manufacturer of black and white televisions. In the 1970s, Samsung acquired a semiconductor business, thereby setting the stage for future growth in electronics. Throughout the 1980s, SEC supplied global markets with massive quantities of commodity products such as televisions, VCRs, and microwave ovens. The company sold its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that resold them under their
1 “Samsung Electronics Marketing Special: Brand Reloaded—analyzing the world’s fastest growing brand,” CLSA Emerging
Markets, May 2003.
Do
2 All references to Samsung or SEC refer to Samsung Electronics Company and not to other affiliate companies or the Samsung
conglomerate. ____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Professor John Quelch and Research Associate Anna Harrington prepared this case with the assistance of the HBS Asia Pacific Research Center. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Certain details have been disguised. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management.
Copyright © 2004 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying,