Jean-Noël Kapferer, expert marks, emeritus professor at HEC, a researcher at the Inseec Luxury Institute, author of “The end of the marks” (ed. Eyrolles), returns for a Match on the case of the Galaxy Note 7, the smartphone that took its toll on Samsung.
Paris Match. Before the scandal, how the Samsung brand was perceived?
Jean-Noël Kapferer. Samsung symbolizes all the strength of the industry in south korea and the “branding” Korea. Samsung includes a variety of activities : construction, electronics, the nuclear industry, the fashion… The conglomerate is a combination of the national economy. The French do not know about South Korea than K-Pop and a few brands : Samsung, Hyundaï, Kia, LG and Amore Pacific cosmetics. The obsession of the collective from South Korea, since its reconstruction, is to go beyond the Japan. This country is very good in quality and in speed of execution. The order is given in the morning, the same evening, it is done.
The trials and tribulations of the Note 7 represent the episode the most severe in the history of Samsung?
As this business has the obsession to beat Apple, it was able to short-circuit some of the steps. When to launch the product before the competitor becomes the major objective, the disaster is inevitable. We don’t know yet where the problem comes from. In these asian countries, there is a tendency to “déresponsabilité” individual, the frames often cover a series of errors.
Why this fight with Apple while Samsung has ten percentage points more of market share?
Nobody has an interest to have market share on products that do not emit sufficient margins. The battle focuses on the high-end, much more cost-effective. The industries of volume in the face of the rise of chinese brands cheap. There is also a strong demand from the young people, for mobile more and more sophisticated, in which the telephone function is now trivial.
A Samsung Galaxy Note 7 after it has burned, in Virginia, in the United States, on 9 October. © Shawn L. Minter/AP/SIPA
How do you rate the management of this scandal by Samsung since the first explosions of Note 7 in August?
It is a problem of a major technology, not a scandal. The case of Volkswagen, with the deliberate intention to hide things vis-à-vis the authorities can be described as a scandal. For Samsung, it is a disorder related to the speed that has led to this derailment. His real problem is in South Korea, where losing face is perceived as a humiliation. Within the company, this is the first time that such an event occurs. Samsung has managed it well, taking the decision to just stop. The economic cost of this choice is to the extent of the responsibility of a global group.
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They were not immediately able to identify the origin of the failure
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however, They first proposed an exchange with other Note 7 which are also proved to be defective…
They would not have been able to take the major decision to stop production as early as the first day. They were not immediately able to identify the origin of the failure, so they tried a plan B has not worked. Progress, it is change. The change is so rapid in this field that it does not allow to make tests. Before marketing a drug, it takes five years of testing. In technology, in six months, a product is launched. The system is based on planned obsolescence. The public knows it, it has become more tolerant.
do you Think that the consumer confidence in Samsung has been shaken?
It would take two accidents of this type the successive for put in danger the company. Those who use a Samsung for years and have had a satisfactory experience, are not going to forget it because of a problem with the Note 7. On the other hand, I think that no company makes the same mistake two times in a row. In contrast, consumers who do not wish to wait for the output of the model following turn, for one year, to the competitors.
reproduction prohibited
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