• The company ranked fifth in Interbrand’s 100 Best Global Brands with a brand value of USD 74.6 billion, achieving a 20% increase compared to 2020 Samsung Electronics today announced that it had reaffirmed its position as a top-five brand in Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2021. According to the Best Global Brands list announced by the global consulting firm Interbrand on October 20 (local time), Samsung ranked fifth with a brand value of USD 74.6 billion, a 20% increase compared to last year. On the back of its strong financial performance, which has recovered to reach pre-pandemic levels, the company’s brand value surged by 20% this year, twice the average brand value growth rate among the top 100 brands in 2021. Since entering the top five for the first time last year, Samsung has maintained its position for two consecutive years with its largest increase in brand value since 2013. According to Interbrand, major factors that played a critical role in Samsung’s growth include
• • Its transition to a customer-centric management system, highlighted by the establishment of a new CX (customer experience) team dedicated to prioritizing customer experience and values
• • Its ongoing efforts for sustainable development, including various campaigns guided by its CSR vision, ‘Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People,’ as well as company-wide initiatives that promote sustainability, such as the use of eco-packaging for TVs and the Galaxy Upcycling program
• • The launches of innovative products including the Galaxy Z Flip3, Neo QLEDs, and the Bespoke lineup of home appliances
• • Technology leadership as a solid number one in the Memory market and the launches of innovative System LSI products
• • Leading the development of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, automotive, and robotics through consistent investment “It is very encouraging to see Samsung Electronics reach the top five in the world last year and then achieve enormous double-digit growth this year — our biggest leap in brand value since 2013,” said YH Lee, CMO of Samsung Electronics. “We promise to leverage our customer-centric management model to keep listening to our customers. This is how we will repay the massive support we have received from customers around the globe.” Interbrand evaluates businesses’ brand value based on a comprehensive analysis of multiple factors including financial performance, brand influence on purchase and brand competitiveness. Meanwhile, on October 12, Samsung was also ranked No.1 by Forbes as the World’s Best Employers 2021 for the second consecutive year.
• As a global organization with employees and businesses around the world, Samsung has, once again, been chosen as the number one employer. Each year, Forbes surveys around 150,000 employees from 58 countries working for businesses with operations in multiple nations or regions, and this year asked respondents to rank their satisfaction with their employers’ COVID-19 responses and score their employers on the image, economic footprint, talent development, gender equality, and social responsibility. Source: Samsung Newsroom, 2021.
• “Technology leadership as a solid number one in the Memory market and the launches of innovative System LSI products.” Analyze the statement and article above and discuss the technology leadership/e-Leadership approach as well as its impact on Samsung Electronics. Conduct your own desktop research to substantiate your answer.
• Following an analysis of the article above and your own online desktop research, critically discuss five (5) key success factors that contribute to the growth of Samsung Electronics.
• “Interbrand evaluates businesses’ brand value based on a comprehensive analysis of multiple factors including financial performance, brand influence on purchase and brand competitiveness.” Examine the statement above. Evaluate the significance of creating of competitive advantage for a multinational electronics corporation such as Samsung.
• “We promise to leverage our customer-centric management model to keep listening to our customers. This is how we will repay the massive support we have received from customers around the globe.” In light of the statement above, evaluate two leadership styles/theories or models in terms of their effectiveness in the context of Samsung.