Re: Samsung Loyalty Fiona van Iersel MSc Marketing — King's College London Module: Marketing Strategy and Planning (7QQMO515X) Date: 29 March 2025 https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=746956 Re: Samsung Loyalty Submitted: 29 March 2025 8:56 AM Hey Anastasia, You’ve done a fab job jumping into the loyalty hunger games—Samsung-style. You picked strong, sensible tactics and made a clear case for each one. Honestly, this is the kind of practical thinking a real-life marketing team would appreciate. But because we’re in the land of Master’s-level marketing, where theory meets strategy meets “please References So, let’s help your piece shine like a Galaxy Ultra on display mode. ⸻ 1. Add a Little Theory—Nothing Too Scary, I Promise Your instincts are great. But to really hit that top grade, we need to give the professor some proof that you’re connecting your ideas to academic foundations. Think of it like giving your arguments a spine. Or always answering “yes, but why? And who that’s recognized as intelligent in the academic world, agrees with you?” • Your loyalty program suggestion connects nicely with Relationship Marketing theory, which stresses the importance of ongoing engagement over single transactions (Grönroos, 1994). • The cohesion point can be linked to Switching Costs (Porter, 1985) and Network Effects (Katz & Shapiro, 1985)— customers are more likely to stay loyal when products and services interconnect smoothly. • Emotional ties through consistent messaging? That’s Keller’s Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) Model in action —specifically the brand resonance layer (Keller, 2003). You don’t need to go full textbook—just weave in a few references like proof that what you’re saying is not nonsense. ⸻ 2. Dig a Little Deeper—You’re Almost There Each of your points is clear and grounded, but adding a layer of “why this works” will really set them apart. • Consumers stick to product ecosystems not just for convenience but due to status quo bias (Samuelson & Zeckhauser, 1988) and the endowment effect (Kahneman, Knetsch & Thaler, 1991). remember when we talked about once someone’s invested in a tech brand, they overvalue what they already own. • Your customer service point could be underpinned with Customer Satisfaction and Retention Theory—Zeithaml et al. (1996) show that responsive, accessible service builds trust and long-term loyalty. • Also, adding Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) would support the idea that loyalty efforts drive long-term profitability (Kotler & Keller, 2012). If I could have a shot for every time, I quoted Kotler and Keller! Adding a few behavioural insights like these makes your points feel even more considered. ⸻ 3. Make it More Samsung, Less Any-Brand-Ever You’re already on the right track with the kiosks and product quality. Push it further by zooming in on what makes Samsung’s loyalty landscape unique. • Samsung operates in a diverse product environment (phones, TVs, appliances), which calls for an omnichannel loyalty strategy (Verhoef et al., 2015) to unite customer experiences across platforms. • Their rivalry with Apple makes differentiation through customer experience criticalisimo! (Porter, 1985), especially since both brands aim to lock consumers into their respective product ecosystems. Sounds pretty creepy now that I think about it. The more you tie it to Samsung’s real-world situation, the more you show your strategic awareness—and that’s APL7 scoring. ⸻ 4. Just a wee More Structure Right now, your piece is a great list—but give it a light narrative and you’ve got a story. Start with a short intro that frames the challenge Samsung faces so they understand what’s going on. It’s like that this is what I’m gonna tell you hypothesis. This is how I break it down, and this is my conclusion findings. Don’t use these because I’m just copying with other people have done as an example: “In a mature tech market saturated with choice, building customer loyalty requires more than specs—it demands emotional connection, seamless experiences, and perceived value” (Reichheld & Schefter, 2000). Then wrap up with a strong conclusion: “By anchoring loyalty efforts in service quality, technological cohesion, and emotionally resonant branding, Samsung can convert customers into long-term brand advocates.” That framing gives your reader a journey to follow—and your professor a clear, structured answer that he was talking about in the webinar when he talked about how we can get points. ⸻ 5. Add a Hint of Risk or Challenge—Very Pro-Level Now this is in the KCL grading structure, top grades, if you Want to sound like someone who truly gets strategic marketing? Add a sentence or two about the potential risks or trade-offs. • Loyalty programs can backfire if they attract purely price-sensitive consumers, leading to artificial loyalty (Dowling & Uncles, 1997). • Over-reliance on ecosystem cohesion could alienate non-core users, especially if they feel “locked in”—which leads to negative affective loyalty (Dick & Basu, 1994). • And let’s not forget post-purchase dissonance—even loyal customers can jump ship after a bad tech experience (Oliver, 1999) and Fiona van Iersel after their flip phone broke on day one. Mentioning these kinds of risks shows academia and critical thinking. ⸻ I hope this helps and if not, just ignore it, but I think You’re really close, Anastasia. You’ve got the bones of a great piece —your ideas are smart and grounded. With a little theory, deeper insight, and more Samsung-specific thinking, this could easily go from a pass to a distinction. Saludos, Fi ⸻ APL7 References • Dick, A. S., & Basu, K. (1994). Customer loyalty: Toward an integrated conceptual framework. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 22(2), 99–113. • Dowling, G. R., & Uncles, M. (1997). Do customer loyalty programs really work? Sloan Management Review, 38(4), 71– 82. • Grönroos, C. (1994). From marketing mix to relationship marketing: Towards a paradigm shift in marketing. Management Decision, 32(2), 4–20. • Kahneman, D., Knetsch, J. L., & Thaler, R. H. (1991). Anomalies: The endowment effect, loss aversion, and status quo bias. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5(1), 193–206. • Katz, M. L., & Shapiro, C. (1985). Network externalities, competition, and compatibility. The American Economic Review, 75(3), 424–440. • Keller, K. L. (2003). Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity. Prentice Hall. • Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2012). Marketing Management (14th ed.). Pearson. • Oliver, R. L. (1999). Whence consumer loyalty? Journal of Marketing, 63(Special Issue), 33–44. • Porter, M. E. (1985). Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. Free Press. • Reichheld, F. F., & Schefter, P. (2000). E-loyalty: Your secret weapon on the web. Harvard Business Review, 78(4), 105– 113. • Samuelson, W., & Zeckhauser, R. (1988). Status quo bias in decision making. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 1(1), 7– 59. • Verhoef, P. C., Kannan, P. K., & Inman, J. J. (2015). From multi-channel retailing to omni-channel retailing: Introduction to the special issue on multi-channel retailing. Journal of Retailing, 91(2), 174–181. • Zeithaml, V. A., Berry, L. L., & Parasuraman, A. (1996). The behavioral consequences of service quality. Journal of Marketing, 60(2), 31–46.