[Sponsored Report] Samsung Electronics at top of this year’s index

Kim Hyun-seok, head of Samsung Electronics’ television business, introduces the company’s new SUHD TV, featuring the latest quantum-dot display technology. [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

The marketing performance of each domestic brand is expected to become much more important to overcome current slow economic growth. Therefore, aggressive and differentiated marketing is needed for brands to further enhance their value.

Samsung Electronics has the record of ranking No. 1 in television sales for 10 consecutive years, leading innovative changes and strengthening its brand competitiveness.

It has also ranked first in this year’s National Brand Competitiveness Index (NBCI) rankings and scores. It came in fourth place last year.

The current television market has entered a maturing stage, making it hard for companies to create new market demands. Regardless, Samsung Electronics has achieved an NBCI score of 80, the highest score this year.

According to statistics by information services company IHS Markit, Samsung Electronics achieved a global market share of 27.5 percent based on annual sales and 21 percent based on quantity in 2015. The company has achieved a “double crown,” which refers to ranking No. 1 in both sales and quantity, for 10 years in a row.

In particular, the Samsung SUHD TV, which features the latest quantum-dot display technology, has been awarded “The Best of Innovation” for two straight years.

The television shows colors as they originally are, as nano-sized particles of semiconductors can express colors most accurately. The colors featured on the SUHD TV are 64 times more diverse than those on existing ultra high-definition televisions.

Through its “High Dynamic Range 1000” technology, the SUHD TV can display “colors hidden in the light, details hidden in the dark” with a wider contrast range.

Another company, Cuckoo Electronics, experienced a 71.3 percent year-on-year increase in sales in July after releasing its induction heating pressure cooker “Full Stainless 3.0 Eco Vacuum.” Despite the difficulties in the current domestic home appliances market, Cuckoo Electronics took fourth place in the 2016 NBCI rankings.

The key technology of the pressure cooker is its thermal function that makes use of a vacuum layer. The inner caldron, where the rice is cooked and contained, comprises three layers with a stainless outside layer, a vacuum layer inside and another stainless inner layer to preserve warmth for a long period of time.

Since the product prevents heat from escaping, it also saves energy. By minimizing the number of times that it needs to reheat rice, the cooker saves 38 percent more energy compared to existing induction heating pressure cookers. Even when it is turned off, the rice remains warm for up to three hours.

In the distribution business, despite the slow economy, the duty-free industry is keeping up its high growth based on the increasing number of Chinese tourists. Lotte Duty Free is leading the duty-free market, ranking first in the category of the NBCI for two consecutive years.

The competency of Lotte Duty Free in attracting Chinese and other foreign tourists is unbeatable. From April to June, the number of foreign tourists that the duty-free shop directly attracted numbered 40,000.

“Family Festival,” a Korean Wave-themed event organized by Lotte Duty Free, is considered a successful case of “entertourment,” a portmanteau of “entertainment” and “tourism,” having attracted tens of thousands of foreign tourists to Korea. The number of spectators at its 23 rounds of Family Festivals since 2006 is estimated to top 90,000, earning 240 billion won ($217.16 million) in added value.

Other factors driving the brand power of Lotte Duty Free include its leading logistics and information technology systems. The duty-free shop is administering Korea’s biggest integrated distribution center, measuring 54,000 square meters (580,000 square feet).

The duty-free shop also recently opened a mobile shopping service on ICON, a smartphone app by China’s most-used mobile payment service Alipay. These efforts led Lotte Duty Free to be selected by Chinese consumers as the “Brand of the Year Korea” in both 2015 and 2016.