David Richards

UPDATED: A major marketing restructure is tipped to be announced by Samsung later today that will see Lambro Skropidis take over all marketing roles in the Company under a centralised structure.

A major marketing restructure is tipped to be announced by Samsung later today that will see Lambro Skropidis take over all marketing roles in the Company under a centralised structure.

Mark Leathan the recently departed head of consumer electronics marketing will not be replaced.

The marketing restructure at Samsung comes as arch rival LG gets set to announce the appointmentv of a new marketing director to replace the dumped David Brand who was in charge of marketing when false marketing statements were made about LG appliances that is set to attract a multi million dollar Australian Competition and Consumer Commission fine.

In a statement issued later today, Samsung confirmed that Lambro Skropidis, the current Head of Marketing for the Corporate Marketing Division will take over the running of the newly formed marcomms and corporate marketing team which will include all marcomms marketing staff from each of Samsung’s product divisions across AV, Mobile, Home Appliances, IT and Digital Imaging.

Samsung said that the newly centralised marketing team will work collaboratively on growing Samsung’s brand in Australia.

“Our ambition to build the most iconic, leading and consumer loved brand is quite aggressive.  We want our brand to be transformed into this position over the next few years.  To do that, we believe we will need to approach our marketing activities in a different way.  Our aspiration from a marketing perspective is not only to be the best in the industry, but to be the best in class overall,” said Lambro Skropidis, Head of Marketing for Marcomms and Corporate Marketing, Samsung Electronics Australia.

“The formation of our new Marcomms and Corporate Marketing team will help drive our marketing communications to the next level and help stimulate consumer demand and trade support to deliver an ongoing leadership and growth position in the years to come.”

Samsung has increasingly become known for its world firsts in cutting edge innovation and excellence across multiple categories in consumer electronics. In 2010 Samsung was the first manufacturer to launch 3DTV in Australia; was the first to launch and create the new category of compact DSLR cameras with the debut of the Samsung NX10; and launched the smartphone that globally holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest texting with the new Samsung Galaxy ‘s’ smartphone.

The structural change to the marketing team symbolically comes on the eve of the launch of the inaugural Samsung masterbrand TV campaign featuring Simon Baker as brand ambassador in Australia, which also brings all of Samsung’s product categories under one banner. Bringing the strengths of all of the Samsung marketing teams together under one lead marks a sign of things to come for this world-leading consumer electronics giant.

Australian book chains Angus & Robertson and Borders have been placed into administration only hours after Borders in the USA was placed into Chapter 11. Neither company has a relationship other than a common name.

Also placed into voluntary administration by its private equity owners (PEP), is the Whitcoulls chain of newsagencies in New Zealand. It was only six months ago that the Managing Director of REDgroup Retail Pty Ltd Dave Fenlon was spruiking new $199 Kobo eReader in Australia. At the time he categorically denied that the Borders chain of stores in Australia was in trouble.

At the time Fenlon said that the launch of Kobo ‘would change the way we read forever’. “Through our partnership with global eBook retailer Kobo, we are bringing a whole new level of choice, control, and flexibility to Australian book lovers,” said Fenlon.

The local group of companies have a combined staff of over 2,400 who are today waiting to see what their future holds.

 During the past six months the REDgroup has been desperately trying to compete with Amazon in Australia, who is selling books online at up to 80% cheaper than what the local book stores can offer the same books for in Australia.

PEP is the same Company that was sued after they sold the George Patterson Agency to European based WPP.

They have also had trouble in the past with previous Companies that they owned when they breached a number of lending covenants with its banks.

REDgroup insiders said that the Borders chain of stores is expected to remain open in the short term, following a board meeting earlier today when directors were told that the group was facing the possibility of trading while insolvent.  Ferrier Hodgson partners have been appointed voluntary administrators.

One source told ChannelNews that the recent hype concerning a 10% GST on overseas web site purchases under $1000 had not helped as a “lot of consumers” suddenly discovered that books were significantly cheaper on Amazon.co.

One franchisee said “The book Companies also have to be held responsible for this collapse as they are selling books to Australia book stores at significantly higher prices than they do to the likes of Amazon and European and US bookstores. This is going to have a devastating impact in Australia if the chain is not acquired and is closed down”.

Angus & Robertson has operated in Australia since1886 when David Angus and George Robertson opened a bookshop in Sydney.

Ferrier Hodgson partner Steve Sherman said that as far as possible it would be business as usual while the administrators conducted an urgent assessment of the business’s financial status and to prepare for the first meeting of creditors, according to a statement.

Digital camera vendors who are struggling to grow sales in Australia must change their “one brand one policy” approach and start tailoring their product range to different retail groups, claims the general manager of Camera House, Australia’s premier specialist camera chain.

Paul Shearer, General Manager of Camera House, said that demand for SLR type cameras is growing as demand for sub $299 digital camera’s slump. He forecasts a move back to the specialist retailers as consumers move to more complex cameras. “Mass retailers don’t want to spend too much time selling a sub $299 camera – they want this category to be cash and carry. There are also issues with margin in this category”. He said.

“Right now the mass retailers want to play in all parts of the market, this won’t work. The new generation of digital cameras needs to be sold; they need to be explained, especially as the market and profitability move to SLR type cameras with separate lenses”.

“Vendor’s needs to work closer with retailers to identify the market they reach. Brands like Nikon are doing this and as a result they have seen market share gains. They are spending time identifying retailer’s needs”.

“We need to work closer with vendors to marry market research on a given target audience or demographic to determine which are the best models to stock. Some vendors are still taking the “one brand one policy approach” with retailers and this will not work going forward”, he said. 

Shearer said that that several vendors like Panasonic with their Lumix brand, and Samsung with their new NX10, are introducing a new class of camera with mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras. Some experts say that this will be make up 75% of the market in three years time.

John Swainston, Managing Director of Maxwell International, the former distributor of Nikon Cameras, said that the market is changing “The new generation of mirrorless cameras are growing and could well make up three quarters of the market over the next three years”.

When asked who is buying the new generation of SLR type cameras, Shearer said, “Women, soccer mums with two children who want a more sophisticated digital camera. They want better quality pictures, along with the ease of use that the new cameras are delivering.”

He said that the other big market was men 25+ he also said that women were still buying compact cameras as opposed to using their mobile phones to shoot pictures.

“The young girl who is going out with her friends is still investing in a digital camera despite a new generation of Smartphones” said Shearer.

He claimed that too many retailers were following GFK this resulted in them often stocking the same model cameras as their competitors. “GFK data is dangerous and not always accurate. Each retailer has specialist needs and they need to tailor their range not to what their competitors are doing but what is best for their local store”.

When it came to categories, Shearer said that certain categories, such as the HD video camera from brands like Sony, Cisco and JVC, were not working. “The Cisco Flip and the JVC Piciso along with the Sony Bloggie are struggling. The consumer has not taken to this category despite it being a success in the USA. We see growth coming from the new compact SLR category and new SLR cameras. These models allow us to sell both additional lenses and accessories: he said.

In January GFK reported that the average selling price for several digital cameras was climbing however they are forecasting overall decline for compact cameras in 2010.

Panasonic who in Australia have both Sony and Samsung worried because of their strong performance and high marketing spend are set to chase consumers who frequent social network sites with Company CEO Steve Rust claiming that the Company is learning how to “Twitter”.

The move to expand their online marketing came after Sydney research group Polinate identified several new online marketing opportunities for the Japanese Consumer Electronic Company who 18 months ago dumped their long time advertising agency George Patterson for the Campaign Palace.

Using the tag line “Built In Genius” Panasonic is set to start using social network marketing to develop peer group synergy for their products while also developing blogs and forums that allow consumers to communicate directly with their 35 Sydney based customer service staff.   

 
 To help them cut through into what Panasonic describe as “a digitally switched on audience” the Company spent months researching marketing Companies that had the “knowledge and an understanding” of the social network audience so that they could put together a shortlist of Companies to pitch for their business said Gemma Lemieux Marketing director at Panasonic.

“Research showed that we had to connect with the audience that were frequenting social network sites and rather than second guess this market we decided to go out and find who in the market had the marketing skills to help us. This was not an easy task as some agencies had everything including creative execution and strategy while others were more focused on strategy and execution”.

In the end and after a lengthy process Panasonic chose Sydney based agency Suede who currently work with clients such as 3, Mercedes Benz, Dell, The NRMA and Thrifty. 

“This is unknown territory for Panasonic however we feel it is important that as part of our overall marketing strategy that we have programs in place that reach the Twitter and Facebook audiences. We literally are learning the value of Twitter communication while also allowing consumers to quickly reach people within our Company with knowledge that can help them ” said Rust.

During the past 12 months Panasonic has seen significant growth across all aspects of their consumer portfolio including flat panel TV’s Blu ray and digital camera offerings with the Company reporting one of their “best years ever” according to CEO Steve Rust.

Now the Company is on a mission to grow their brand at a time when long time consumer electronics Icon is faltering under a mountain of debt.

Martin Hoegh Guldberg the CEO of Suede said “Our role is to help Panasonic create a better relationship within social networks that today, have a lot of influence. People are using these environments to find out information and they are following closely what their peers are saying about a particular brand or service”.

“We are going to help Panasonic to develop blogs and forums as well as Twitter communication that allow consumers to communicate directly with people inside Panasonic who have the knowledge and information on Panasonic products that consumers want. We are going to let them talk directly with the geniuses inside Panasonic”.
   

Australian research Company Nielsen, has launched a new mobile Internet audience measurement intelligence service which they are describing as a world first in online audience measurement methodology.

LG Electronics ,who claim that they are the #1 consumer electronics brand in Australia, have reported higher quarterly sales and profits due to strong mobile phone and flat-panel TV sales. In their latest report sales have jumped 22.1 percent to $12.534 billion and operating profit was $843 million, which results in a 6.7 percent profit margin for its fiscal second quarter, ended June 30.

One of the strong performers was the LG  mobile communications company which posted  record sales of $3.788 billion, up 34.3 percent from the second quarter 2007. From handset business, sales reached $3.695 billion, up 38.6 percent from a year earlier. Operating profit margin improved to 13.9 percent, 14.4 percent in handset division due to growth in high-end models and improvements in operational efficiency, the company said.

However analysts are forcasting that the Companies mobile phone operations have peaked and will be impacted by the new Apple 3G iphone.

Shipment of handsets also recorded the highest in unit sales as well, a total of 27.7 million mainly from North America (33 percent) and emerging markets including Middle East Asia, CIS and Central & South America, thanks to strong sales of “Secret,” “Viewty,” “Venus” and other premium phones.

Sales in the digital appliance company increased 4.9 percent to $3.721 billion year-on-year, and operating margin was 7.2 percent despite challenging business environment such as higher raw material prices, economic slowdown and U.S. market contraction from sub-prime effect.

Sales in the digital display company jumped 37.2 percent to $3.683 billion, powered by a rise in sales of flat TVs, with an 86 percent increase in LCD TVs and 31 percent in plasma TVs from a year earlier. The PDP module sales grew 22 percent. Following profitability turnaround in the previous quarter, operating profit in the second quarter successfully remained profitable at $37.4 million, the company said.

Sales from the digital media company was 2.1 percent lower on year, to $1.201 billion, due to low seasonality, but operating profit and margin increased to $12.8 million, or 1 percent, by a strong effort for cost innovation, LG noted.