Samsung S4: The winner takes it all

Samsung's penchant for pie-in-the-sky technology, ably supported by innovative pricing, ensures its S4 smart phone is No.1 in this year's Brand Derby

If there's one company that has consistently surprised Indian consumers by challenging their long-held perception about Korean brands being 'cheap', it is Samsung. Experts and competitors alike say Samsung's innovations in the mobile phone space and aggressive pricing have contributed significantly to its transformation into a premium brand. Samsung's presence in the winners list in the Brand Derby continues this year with two brands in the top three. This year Galaxy S4 has topped the survey with more than 72 per cent respondents voting for the launch as very successful. In last year's survey, Samsung Galaxy Note II claimed the third position. Its predecessor, Samsung Note, made it to the list of top 10 launches in the survey conducted in 2012.

Let us take a quick look at the product. S4's 1.9GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor makes it one of the fastest smartphones available in the market today. With minimal physical buttons, S4 is stuffed with features like Air Gesture, Air View and Smart Pause. Its 13MP rear camera attracted the photographer in the average smartphone user. The brand took a leap here from its predecessor S3, which comes with an 8MP camera. There was no major change in the product design barring a few crucial tweaks to improve its fit and finish.

The S4 got rave reviews around the world from Day 1 of its launch in April last year. It sold 20 million handsets in first 60 days. Globally Samsung's launch strategy for smartphones is all about creating awareness in a short span of time. Industry estimates peg its average media budget on a premium smartphone launch at Rs 40 crore. This could go up to Rs 50 crore if the brand chooses to associate itself with any televised property related to General Elections, annual Budget or cricket. Samsung's initial media burst is usually followed up with digital initiatives.

Anwesh Bose, managing director, Havas Media's Arena Indonesia, says it is important for Samsung to stick to such a plan because it is present directly in retail. "This is different from Apple which sells through a network of resellers," he says. "Samsung has a huge retail network to support every launch that ensures volumes. With the same commercial running across different markets, the brand appeals to the "I-got-it-first" instinct in consumers."

Samsung also rode the fantastic performance of the smartphones category in India last year. Driven by lower priced models from domestic handset makers, smartphone sales in India grew over three-fold to touch 12.8 million units in the October-December quarter of 2013 cannibalising the feature phone market, IDC says. Says Jaideep Mehta, vice-president and general manager, South Asia, IDC, "Star products will continue to sell with the launch of new phones in a particular series. Even after the launch of iPhone 5s and 5c, Apple continued to drive significant volumes for the iPhone 4 series in India." A similar trend was seen with the Samsung Note II and the S3.

WHERE IT STANDS
Launch budget Rs 30-40 crore
Sales: 20 million units
(April -May 2013)
WHAT WORKED
Fast processor
Aggressive pricing
Smart design