Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day
India has traditionally been a tea drinking nation. The association of youth culture and coffee drinking opened up exciting avenues for the cafe market that earlier used to have lower priced offerings from udupi (small restaurants) cafes. The organized cafe market-which was branded and professionally run in terms of its marketing efforts-in India, it was worth INR 93100 million and was growing at 25-30% annually. Sensorial experience was vital to a cafA? brand. Cafe Coffee Day had a striking lead in terms of pioneering the cafes in India. With brands such as Barista Lavazza, Gloria Jean's Coffees, and Au Bon Pain in the fray, the challenge for Cafe Coffee Day was to strengthen its strategic brand associations, taking several considerations into account. In categories such as beverages, brands need to build themselves on both symbolic and hedonic appeals besides offering good attributes and benefits. With cafes being associated with the urban youngsters, the challenge for brands is to ensure strong brand associations as they are a logical outcome of attributes, benefits, symbolism, and hedonism. With competitive brands of cafes offering quality of coffee that would no longer be a differentiator, Cafe Coffee Day had to establish itself on brand associations that would nurture its associations and give it a sustainable edge over the competitors. Such an approach proposes a few challenging questions : How should the brand differentiate itself from its competitors? What were the dominant associations of the brand, and how could it use these associations? How did loyal consumers of the brand perceive the brand? How could the brand develop unique associations and communicate these to its consumers? The case study emphasizes the importance of brand associations in a dynamic environment that is affected by competitive brands and changing lifestyles of consumers.
Swot Analysis of "Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day" written by S. Ramesh Kumar, Eric Minj includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Associations Cafe facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Emerging markets, Strategy and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Associations Cafe, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Associations Cafe 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 Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Associations Cafe
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 Associations Cafe
Strengths Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Associations Cafe in Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Associations Cafe 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 Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Associations Cafe
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Associations Cafe does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Associations Cafe 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.
High brand equity
– Associations Cafe has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Associations Cafe to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Associations Cafe in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Associations Cafe has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Associations Cafe has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Associations Cafe digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Associations Cafe 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Associations Cafe 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Associations Cafe 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 Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Associations Cafe is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Associations Cafe 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 Associations Cafe in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Associations Cafe is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Associations Cafe 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day HBR case study mentions - Associations Cafe 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Associations Cafe is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day 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 Associations Cafe has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Associations Cafe products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Associations Cafe needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Associations Cafe has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day, is just above the industry average. Associations Cafe 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Associations Cafe 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.
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 Associations Cafe supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Associations Cafe vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Associations Cafe 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Associations Cafe 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.
Opportunities Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day | 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 Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Associations Cafe 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 Associations Cafe to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Associations Cafe has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Associations Cafe to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Associations Cafe is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Associations Cafe can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Associations Cafe to increase its market reach. Associations Cafe 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Associations Cafe has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Associations Cafe to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day case study. Associations Cafe can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Associations Cafe 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 Associations Cafe 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Associations Cafe 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Associations Cafe 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Associations Cafe 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Associations Cafe 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Associations Cafe 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.
Threats Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day are -
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Associations Cafe in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Associations Cafe 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.
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. Associations Cafe 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.
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. Associations Cafe needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Associations Cafe 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. Associations Cafe can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Increasing wage structure of Associations Cafe
– 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 Associations Cafe.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Associations Cafe has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Associations Cafe 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Associations Cafe is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Regulatory challenges
– Associations Cafe 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.
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 Associations Cafe.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Associations Cafe 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day, Associations Cafe 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day 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 Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day 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 Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day 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 Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day 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 Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day 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 Associations Cafe needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.