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 - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, 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 -
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.
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.
Learning organization
- Associations Cafe 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 Associations Cafe is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Associations Cafe is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
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.
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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Associations Cafe in the sector have low bargaining power. Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Associations Cafe to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
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.
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.
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 -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, S. Ramesh Kumar, Eric Minj suggests that, Associations Cafe is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Associations Cafe is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Associations Cafe needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Associations Cafe to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Associations Cafe, firm in the HBR case study Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day 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 Associations Cafe 's lucrative customers.
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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day, 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Associations Cafe 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 - Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day, it seems that the employees of Associations Cafe 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 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.
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 -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Associations Cafe 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, Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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.
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.
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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Associations Cafe can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Associations Cafe operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Associations Cafe 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. Associations Cafe 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Associations Cafe can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Associations Cafe 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.
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 -
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 .
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.
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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Associations Cafe can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Exploring Brand Associations in the Indian Context: Cafe Coffee Day .
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 Associations Cafe 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 Associations Cafe with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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.
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. Associations Cafe can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Associations Cafe 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. Associations Cafe needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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.
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.