Ramon Ecung's Personal Blog

Syntex is a discount high definition LCD maker that generates revenues by undercutting their name brand competitors. Their low prices and feature sets that are comparable to their competition are their unique selling points (USP). Every company has a marketing plan whether it’s formal or not. Let’s analyze Olevia’s use of the four P’s: Price, Promotion, Place, and Product.

Price
Syntex’s pricing strategy reflects their need to gain market share. They provide low cost TV sets that rival their premium competitors. They also discount their products below cost at times to drive sales. They realize word of mouth promotion about their USPs will drive sales and increase their mindshare.

Promotion
Syntex is using paid and non-paid indirect advertising by using mass market advertising and by being promoted by news stories about their low prices. They rely on non-paid advertising by word of mouth to build their brand and drive sales.

Place
The use of retailers to sell their merchandise is an effective choice because they can sell more units in a transaction. They can minimize the risk by using a JIT supply chain management structure. They also minimize risk by not holding inventory and utilizing external suppliers and manufacturing units to keep salary costs down.

Product
Syntex’s TVs core product is a display device that allows the viewer to watch television and other input devices. Their actual products include models that have different feature-sets like different input methods, features like QAM tuners, and picture-in-picture. Their augmented product includes warranty. Their value-added-resellers such as Best Buy offer services like installation and delivery. This allows the manufacturers to remove this cost from their balance sheet, allows the resellers to add value to their customers, and provide the end-customer with a valuable service.

Importance of Branding
Syntex needs to build the Olevia brand as quickly as possible to move their products to a demand based pricing scheme. They can utilize the prestige model to improve margins, much like Samsung did 15 years ago. (Darlin, 22)

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/12/technology/12olevia.html?_r=1&th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print