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SCMP Reporter

The electronics firm is intent on winning the hearts of consumers

Its South Korean parent firm is a world leader in semiconductors, finance, and trade and services. Yet Samsung Electronics Hong Kong's driving ambition is to become consumers'  first choice when buying a mobile  telephone, television  or stereo component.

Kim Young-ha, managing director of Samsung Electronics' Hong Kong operations, said increasing brand awareness in the city's  consumer electronics market remained a work in progress for the company.

'The Samsung brand has not yet reached a satisfactory level of awareness in Hong Kong,' said Mr Kim, who was transferred to Hong Kong in March, having been at the helm of the    company's marketing team in the mainland since 1996.

To date, electronics giant Sony has had the upper hand when it comes to capturing  the hearts of Hong Kong's electronics buyers - the Japanese firm's name is usually the first  a buyer will ask for when  hunting for a TV  or notebook computer.

This was the  type of instant name recognition and brand trust  that Samsung wanted to achieve, Mr Kim said, adding that it could be done.

Samsung has already made significant headway in the  mobile-phone market, where Nokia, Motorola and Ericsson used to be the only choices.

Recent market estimates from research firm Gartner showed that Samsung had become the world's third-largest supplier of mobile telephones, behind Nokia and Motorola.

The South Korean firm is also  ahead of Siemens, the Sony Ericsson joint venture and hometown rival LG Electronics.

Samsung has milked this rise in market share,  with aggressive marketing and promotional campaigns that have spanned print, billboards, television, radio, the Web, sporting events and  cinema placements.

Remember Nokia's banana-shaped telephone in the first Matrix film?  Samsung has  elbowed Nokia  out of the picture in the  sequel with its own mobile phones, while  pitching its flat screens. This is an example of the   intense, value-added campaign  Mr Kim brought to Samsung on the mainland and the type he is  undertaking in Hong Kong.

'Samsung is committed to growing its brand equity through an institutionalised approach to marketing and continued investment in its people, products and the communities in which it operates,' he said.

In the mainland, Mr Kim spearheaded the buildup of Samsung's brand image by  sponsoring  the World Cyber Games,  the Beijing International Marathon  and the Chinese delegations which attended the most recent Olympic and Asian Games.

In Hong Kong, the company sponsored this month's Action Asia Challenge   for running, hiking, ocean kayaking, climbing, abseiling and mountain biking enthusiasts.

'But it is with the big retail chains in Hong Kong, like Fortress, where we need to do the most  ... to enhance our brand,' Mr Kim said. 'We want to strengthen our channel relationships.'

Samsung's  revenue in Hong Kong last year reached  HK$1.2 billion on the back of rising demand for its  mobile phones, colour televisions, computer monitors, notebook computers and  refrigerators.

Despite the Sars outbreak and the lingering economic downturn, the company expected to record a  40 per cent increase in sales this year, Mr Kim said.

He said the company's 63-inch, PS-63P3H plasma television display, which cost about  $150,000, had  become a huge seller in Hong Kong, even with its hefty price tag.

Dozens of the  televisions  have been installed  in many MTR stations, including  Admiralty, Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay.

Mr Kim said the high demand for this product proved Hong Kong remained 'a sophisticated market' which could be counted on  to become a showcase for high-technology  products.

Samsung's Hong Kong operation, established about 10 years ago, was  set up to    focus on  sales and marketing initiatives to promote  the company's consumer electronics goods throughout the mainland,  Mr Kim said.

Since then, the company has managed to post an average  growth of 50 per cent a year  in Hong Kong.

It is Samsung's hope the Hong Kong  market would  also become a standard bearer for the company's brand worldwide,  Mr Kim said.

Global consultant Interbrand has ranked Samsung's brand as the 'fastest growing' in the world for the second consecutive year.

It said Samsung's brand value had more than doubled in  three years, from US$5.2 billion in 2001 to   $10.8 billion this year, making it the world's 25th most valuable  brand.

This Christmas, Mr Kim and the Hong Kong operation's  more than 100  staff will discover  whether their work is paying off - if  buyers flock to  stores and ask  for the Samsung brand.



Samsung in drive to be HK buyers' first choice