BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand
BBVA, a bank recently created through the merger of BBV and Argentaria, has recently experienced a drop in customer satisfaction, a serious cause for concern to the chairman. The case presents the branding work done at BBVA and poses several alternative brand positions that are being considered by BBVA. The case's decision focus is on choosing among the positioning alternatives and the development of both a strategy to communicate the identity and positioning to consumers as well as to employees, with greater emphasis on the latter.
Swot Analysis of "BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand" written by Amitava Chattopadhyay, Nina Paavola includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bbva Argentaria facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bbva Argentaria, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bbva Argentaria 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 BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bbva Argentaria
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 Bbva Argentaria
Strengths BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bbva Argentaria in BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Bbva Argentaria 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 Bbva Argentaria is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bbva Argentaria 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 BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Bbva Argentaria 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 Bbva Argentaria in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bbva Argentaria to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bbva Argentaria to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bbva Argentaria digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bbva Argentaria 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Bbva Argentaria is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bbva Argentaria in the sector have low bargaining power. BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bbva Argentaria to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bbva Argentaria 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 BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bbva Argentaria 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.
Analytics focus
– Bbva Argentaria 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 Amitava Chattopadhyay, Nina Paavola 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
High brand equity
– Bbva Argentaria has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bbva Argentaria to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bbva Argentaria 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 - BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand, in the dynamic environment Bbva Argentaria has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bbva Argentaria has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Bbva Argentaria 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. Bbva Argentaria 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand HBR case study mentions - Bbva Argentaria takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand 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 Bbva Argentaria 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand, is just above the industry average. Bbva Argentaria needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bbva Argentaria is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand, it seems that the employees of Bbva Argentaria don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Bbva Argentaria supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bbva Argentaria vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bbva Argentaria, firm in the HBR case study BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand, 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.
Opportunities BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand | 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 BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bbva Argentaria can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bbva Argentaria is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bbva Argentaria can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Bbva Argentaria 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. Bbva Argentaria 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.
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. Bbva Argentaria can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Bbva Argentaria to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bbva Argentaria can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bbva Argentaria to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Bbva Argentaria to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Bbva Argentaria 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bbva Argentaria 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bbva Argentaria has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bbva Argentaria to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand case study. Bbva Argentaria can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Bbva Argentaria 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.
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 Bbva Argentaria in the consumer business. Now Bbva Argentaria can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bbva Argentaria high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bbva Argentaria 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.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Bbva Argentaria needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bbva Argentaria 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 Bbva Argentaria.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bbva Argentaria 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bbva Argentaria is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Bbva Argentaria business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand, Bbva Argentaria 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 .
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.
Environmental challenges
– Bbva Argentaria needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Bbva Argentaria can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Bbva Argentaria 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.
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. Bbva Argentaria 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 BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand 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 BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand 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 BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand 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 BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand 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 BBVA: From Selling Services to Being a Brand 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 Bbva Argentaria needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
