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Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition


This study profiles the changing demographics and unique consumption patterns of the African-American consumer segment of the financial services market. When it comes to the selection and purchase of financial products and services, African-American consumers differ markedly from their white counterparts. This is especially apparent in the case of relatively high-risk, high-return financial assets, resulting in a diminished rate of wealth accumulation over time in African-American households. This article offers suggestions to marketers seeking to render more effective service to this attractive and growing segment of the financial services marketplace. For example, promotional materials should reflect the key role of African-American women in determining household consumption patterns. Moreover, successful marketing to African-American households requires a strong educational component.

Authors :: Thomas H. Stevenson, D. Anthony Plath

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Race, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition" written by Thomas H. Stevenson, D. Anthony Plath includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that African American facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Race and Sales & Marketing.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the African American, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which African American operates in.

According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.




SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix


SWOT analysis of Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of African American
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of African American




Strengths Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of African American in Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition Harvard Business Review case study are -

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– African American has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of African American in the sector have low bargaining power. Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps African American to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the African American are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.

Organizational Resilience of African American

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that African American does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For African American digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. African American has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.

Highly skilled collaborators

– African American has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Analytics focus

– African American is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Thomas H. Stevenson, D. Anthony Plath can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that African American has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.

Ability to recruit top talent

– African American is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Training and development

– African American has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.

Learning organization

- African American is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at African American is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field

– African American is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled African American in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.






Weaknesses Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition are -

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, African American has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, African American needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition, in the dynamic environment African American has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. African American has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Products dominated business model

– Even though African American has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract African American 's lucrative customers.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, African American has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. African American even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of African American, firm in the HBR case study Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though African American has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Need for greater diversity

– African American has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at African American has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.




Opportunities Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition are -

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of African American has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help African American to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition case study. African American can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Manufacturing automation

– African American can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for African American in the consumer business. Now African American can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help African American to increase its market reach. African American will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for African American to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.

Buying journey improvements

– African American can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. African American can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. African American can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at African American can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Sales & Marketing segment.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, African American is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for African American in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Identify volunteer opportunities

– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. African American can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Leveraging digital technologies

– African American can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.

Developing new processes and practices

– African American can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.




Threats Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition are -

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for African American in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.

Instability in the European markets

– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. African American will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.

Backlash against dominant players

– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of African American business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents African American with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Capital market disruption

– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of African American.

Regulatory challenges

– African American needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Sales & Marketing industry regulations.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– African American can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.

Consumer confidence and its impact on African American demand

– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– African American has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, African American needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition, African American may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .

Increasing wage structure of African American

– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of African American.

Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. African American can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition Template, Example


Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants. We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –

First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.

Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.

Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Marketing Financial Services to the African-American Consumer: A Comparative Analysis of Investment Portfolio Composition is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that African American needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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