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Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness


To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.In 2003, the $654 million American Heart Association (AHA) approached Cone, Inc. (a brand and communications agency) to develop a corporate sponsorship strategy that would raise $75 million over three years. Within 12 months, the AHA launched the highly successful Go Red For Women campaign to help women understand their risk for heart disease. But Go Red became more than a fundraising vehicle. It energized the AHA and its 22 million volunteers, and potentially sparked a long-term movement focused on women and their prevention of heart disease. Traces the development of the relationship between Cone and the AHA and the development of the Go Red For Women campaign. Challenges students to assess the success of Go Red and its impact on the AHA and its goals. Concludes by summarizing three of the AHA's other health initiatives and questions the appropriate role for the AHA and cause marketing.

Authors :: V. Kasturi Rangan

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Managing organizations, Marketing, Social enterprise, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness" written by V. Kasturi Rangan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Aha Red facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Managing organizations, Marketing, Social enterprise and Sales & Marketing.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Aha Red, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Aha Red 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 Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Aha Red
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 Aha Red




Strengths Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Aha Red in Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness Harvard Business Review case study are -

Diverse revenue streams

– Aha Red is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Aha Red 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry

– Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Aha Red to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Aha Red to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Aha Red has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Aha Red 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Aha Red in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Learning organization

- Aha Red 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 Aha Red is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Analytics focus

– Aha Red 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 V. Kasturi Rangan 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.

Strong track record of project management

– Aha Red is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Aha Red is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Aha Red digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Aha Red 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.

High brand equity

– Aha Red has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Aha Red to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Aha Red 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.






Weaknesses Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness are -

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness 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 Aha Red 's lucrative customers.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Aha Red has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Aha Red 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 star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness 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 Aha Red has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness, it seems that the employees of Aha Red 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Aha Red 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Aha Red is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Aha Red needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Aha Red to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Lack of clear differentiation of Aha Red products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Aha Red needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Aha Red is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness, 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.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness HBR case study mentions - Aha Red 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.




Opportunities Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness | 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 Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness are -

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Aha Red 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, Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Aha Red 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.

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 Aha Red 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Aha Red 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 Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Aha Red to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Aha Red can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Aha Red 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 Aha Red 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 Aha Red to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Aha Red 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Aha Red 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Aha Red can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness 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.

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 Aha Red in the consumer business. Now Aha Red can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Developing new processes and practices

– Aha Red 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Aha Red is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Aha Red 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 Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness are -

Increasing wage structure of Aha Red

– 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 Aha Red.

Environmental challenges

– Aha Red 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. Aha Red can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness, Aha Red 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Aha Red 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 Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness .

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Aha Red 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.

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 Aha Red in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Aha Red 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.

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. Aha Red needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Aha Red 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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Aha Red has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Aha Red 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.

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. Aha Red 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 dependence on third party suppliers

– Aha Red 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Aha Red 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness 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 Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness 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 Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness 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 Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness 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 Go Red For Women: Raising Heart Health Awareness 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 Aha Red needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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