Samsung, LG Show Opposite Global Strategies

Two electronics powerhouses ― Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics ― has adopted opposite strategies in their global marketing.

While Samsung Electronics has yet to fix the date of its annual ``Global Strategic Meeting'' where chief executives of its key local and overseas units gather to discuss business plans, LG Electronics has held its internal meetings as planned.

On Tuesday, LG Electronics said it held this year's first ``Global Managers Meeting'' in central Seoul with the company's 400 key local and overseas officials including its Vice Chairman Nam Yong.

At the two-day meeting, which started Monday, Nam painted a rather gloomy outlook for the global consumer electronics market amid deepening woes over the subprime mortgage crisis.

``Truly, this year will be much tougher for us. Japanese manufacturers have been strengthening their competitiveness by pitching up the ongoing restructuring efforts, while Chinese players have been allocating massive amounts of money for `brand marketing','' Nam told participants.

``What we need now is to reinforce the backbone of each business unit to overcome market uncertainties,'' he said, adding the company will push design- and brand-focused strategies on its products.

The comment follows LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo's request to 40 CEOs of the group's flagship units to build a creative organizational culture in a bid to raise its brand recognition around the globe.

LG Electronics, which competes with Samsung Electronics in handsets, televisions and home appliances, is expected to turn around its earnings in 2008, driven by soaring demand for flat screens and impressive performances of its pricey handsets.

In contrast, Samsung Electronics has postponed its global strategic meeting, possibly to February, according to insiders.

``We don't rule out the possibility that this year's `Global Strategic Meeting' may not take place mostly due to the effects of the ongoing probe by special investigators of a bribery scandal,'' an official from Samsung Electronics said.

Samsung Electronics usually holds the strategic meeting at its compound in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, over one week. Some 180 key executives, including its CEO Yun Jong-yong, usually discuss its rivals' best practices and share information.


Nam Yong, CEO and vice chairman of LG Electronics, claps during his presentation at the firm’s annual Global Managers Meeting held at Grand Hilton Hotel in northwestern Seoul, Tuesday.

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