Strategy and Positioning
Differentiate. That is the essential exhortation Dave Smith is employing to gain a foothold in North America’s crowded and hotly contested video surveillance market. As executive vice president of Samsung Techwin America — CCTV division, Smith has chosen to take his technologies to market exclusively through the dealer-integrator channel. While all of his biggest competitors also sell via distribution, Smith finds benefits from the exclusion.
“By not using distribution we are relinquishing that segment of the market, but we are repositioning our product line into the high-end of the market,” he says. “You have to have a product that distinguishes itself in terms of technology and performance, but you also have to have a channel plan that appeals to the high-end integrators.”
Samsung Techwin America was unveiled in the U.S. in September 2008, following the termination of its relationship with Samsung 360°, the independent firm that marketed Techwin products for the past several years.
“We have developed a new strategy and are repositioning our products in a way we feel will be more successful,” Smith says.
Sophisticated technologies, especially digital signal processing, are now accentuated in marketing efforts to underscore Samsung Techwin product’s state-of-the-art lineage: The Korean government for years has worked with the company, funding billions of dollars of image science research. It is that unique intellectual property that is spun into Techwin CCTV products.
“We feel the integrator is going to recognize those technological benefits and help us develop our brands faster,” Smith says.
Technologies And Markets
Sectors Served:
Video surveillance
Product Lines:
IP and analog cameras, monitors, DVRs, NVRs, central management software
Marquee Offerings:
High performance day/night cameras; high performance day/night mini domes; high resolution/high performance 4TB DVRs
Product Availability:
Authorized dealers and systems integrators
Reseller Value-Adds:
A broad range of customer services, including qualified live technical support, training and systems design.
