Georgia Millar

Samsung SoundbarS : Strategic Recommendation

BACKGROUND

Samsung’s soundbars have had a 10-year ongoing reputation of being the leaders in soundbars in the global market. However, this has been predominantly due to their premium models and their loyal customer base. Samsung's entry-level soundbars had to date not achieved the same level of success as their premium models, despite the brand's strong reputation in the soundbar market.

With a shift in the 2024 marketing budget to give soundbars a prioritisation earlier in the year, we were tasked to investigate the market and see where might be opportunities to increase attachment of these entry-level soundbars and to confirm who might be best to target in the market to win in the category for entry-level as well as premium soundbars.

Problem statement:

While Samsung is a leader in high-end soundbars, there’s a missed opportunity to capture market share with their more budget-friendly soundbars and to explore what might need to be considered to expand the existing loyal customer base.

Objective:

Identify what is driving the lack of acquisition of entry-level soundbars, who the domestic target market is for these lower-tier soundbars and where in the target market’s purchase funnel is the best place to recommend to purchase.

Audience:

Artefacts provided identified there were new, existing customers and soundbar intenders to consider. With those entering the market for the first time, research found that ‘new’ meant people who didn’t even realise they needed a soundbar as well as those who’d considered it but thought it was a ‘nice to have’ purchase.

My Role:

My role was to research and generate insights and recommendations for the brief. It was overseen by my boss, the CX Strategy Director and Strategy Director for the Samsung account. I worked with a media strategist in the agency too to include a media recommendation once findings were found. I defined the experience principles, opportunities and included media recommendations in the framework approach.

Constraints:

Unfortunately 3/4 of us on the project were made redundant prior to being able to capture results. While I transitioned from the project before its completion, I was responsible for this initial phase and lead the design of the recommendation with overseeing by my direct and the account’s strategic leads.

APPROACH

To identify the opportunities on where Samsung could differentiate itself and gain a competitive edge, I used the 4Cs of Strategy to start my strategic discussion.

• We were provided with a Brand Tracking report on soundbars, which helped for Company and Category.

• To understand Consumer and Culture, I did desk research by looking at trend reports and studies on consumer spending, latest news on consumers’ mindset during the cost of living crisis (2023), and electronic industry articles.

• We added a 5th C - Competitors - where I did an online audit how their direct competitors Sonos, Bose and LG were showing up both online and on social media.

• As a part of this audit, I did customer journey testing to see who and what came up online and on social media as a consumer considering buying a soundbar for the first time.

Research data and findings were collected in Miro to help me synthesize my research. I generated 3-4 key insights per category in the landscape, each supported by data. These insights informed the overarching observation and implication for each category. How might we questions and Jobs to be Done were then identified based on these implications, helping to drive the generation of the requested opportunities to be found.

KEY LEARNINGS

1. Lack of sales for entry-level Samsung soundbars was a category issue not a Samsung issue. New customers as a customer group were one of three types of customers:

   1. Knew of soundbars but felt they were a ‘nice to have’ purchase.

   2. Existing Samsung’s TV customers who were churning with their TV’s sound quality being their biggest friction reason for churning. This in turn, was seeing TV sales fall YoY.

   3. Didn’t know soundbars could eliminate a poor sound experience.

2. There’s an S-curve in soundbar purchase behaviour, as once customers felt the difference of having a soundbar, they were sold. 50% of people who owned a soundbar were more likely to purchase one again or upgrade.

3. Watching TV with subtitles has become an ‘accepted behaviour’ in TV viewing culture in Australia, with the majority of shows being watched being speaking-shows and movies (incl. 59% Comedies, Dramas 54% and Documentaries 52%.) This identified a rational pain point to explore: convincing new soundbar customers to address this friction with a purchase.

4. The cost of living crisis didn’t stop Australians spending in 2023. Instead, it made them more selective. Including 73% of the hardest hit in the crisis, 9 out of 10 Australian consumers were exhibiting ‘deal-seeking behaviour’ by researching more to try and find ‘a good deal’ and help mentally justify the purchase to themselves. (CommBank, Consumer Insights Report, Sept 2023)

5. This ‘finding a deal’ buying behaviour is not just only rational, it’s emotional. To find customers’ must-have value, we need to understand how they self-justify and who helps them in their purchase decision. 92% of customers believed friends and family recommendations, or online recommendations with 41% of TikTok users being 1.5x more likely to purchase a product they saw recommended on TikTok (Spiralytics, 2023).

CONCLUSION

While affordability is certainly an attractive feature, particularly during a cost-of-living crisis, the research revealed a deeper challenge:

Overcoming the perception of soundbars as a nice-to-have, rather than a necessity.

Samsung’s affordable soundbars address real pain points - having to use subtitles and poor TV sound. But to win new customers, we need to go beyond function and price.

By leveraging trusted recommendations (friends, family, online reviews) alongside a compelling value proposition, we could transform these soundbars from a nice-to-have to the must-have accessory customers need for their home entertainment experience.

By tapping into the emotional power of trust, not only can we increase growth in sales for Samsung’s entry-level soundbars, but we can also further establish Samsung as the go-to brand for soundbars, further strengthening their title as the leader in the category.