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Richa Mishra

"Almost all brands today have an offering in the mini Hi-Fi /Hi-Fi with MP3 segment," says Mr Prashant Kolleri, Research Manager, NFO MBL India.

New Delhi , Sept. 2

ARE youth and music synonymous with each other? If consumer electronics companies are to be believed, the best marketing mantra for their audio range is to `target youth'.

And a company has done just that to build an association between its audio range and the target segment, the youth, to `waltz' through the cash counters.

Samsung India Electronics Ltd (SIEL) has launched a youth marketing initiative `Target Yo!' in an effort to consolidate its position in the segment.

"Targeting the youth has been done in the past. Even Philips had focussed attention on the same market with ads on `partying with Philips Hi-Fi systems'.

The fact that most of the print ads talk about product features to communicate their offerings is a clear indication of these brands targeting the younger, technology-savvy audience, which is more familiar with digital formats and a key influencer segment for purchase.

"Almost all brands today have an offering in the mini Hi-Fi /Hi-Fi with MP3 segment," says Mr Prashant Kolleri, Research Manager, NFO MBL India.

"From a key target point of view it does make sense communicating/ targeting the youth audience. The entire music industry itself is a lot younger in terms of the genre of music (pop, remixes) and the need for good technology to enjoy it," he told Business Line.

According Mr M.B. Lee, Vice-President, Marketing, Samsung India, the company's, "youth marketing initiative is symbolised by `Witz', the character who as much epitomises the spirit of youth as he represents Samsung's youth marketing programme.

The whole idea of creating `Witz' is to create a character young people can identify with and relate to, in terms of the caricature itself and audio as a product category."

Samsung, which entered the audio category in the fourth quarter of last year, has strengthened its line-up last week by launching three mini models and one micro model.

The new audio range is priced between Rs 11,990 to Rs 21,990.

Samsung India expects to double its sales volumes for audios this year. The company projects a sale of 100,000 units this year.

Even as `Witz' will be spearheading the company's communication for its audio products, Samsung has gone in for a new positioning for its audio product category, Mr Lee said.

Thus, the new tagline to be seen in all Samsung audio communication, across channels, will be `Samsung Sound -Are you listening?'

Samsung is also rolling out a case study competition for its audio product category across business schools in the country. Samsung India has also tied up with a leading music company and plans to roll out an `R U Listening' music CD.

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