Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable'
To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.Backchannelmedia (BCM), a three year old start-up, intended to completely disrupt the world of advertising by transforming the way Americans watched television. BCM had developed a technology to make television "clickable," enabling viewers to interact with the content on their television screens. By April 2009, BCM had conducted consumer studies and field tests and the results were very promising. However, the industry was dominated by large players who could impede the introductions of new technologies. BCM's founders would have to make critical decisions about how quickly to roll-out their technology, and to whom. Which industry players were allies? How would BCM monetize the value they would create? Would investors see as much potential in BCM as its founders? And how would the company's cash constraints impact the strategy in the current economic environment?
Swot Analysis of "Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable'" written by Sunil Gupta, Kavita Shukla, Zach Clayton includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bcm Clickable facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Disruptive innovation, Entrepreneurship, Joint ventures, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable'
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bcm Clickable, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bcm Clickable 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 Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bcm Clickable
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 Bcm Clickable
Strengths Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bcm Clickable in Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Bcm Clickable 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 Bcm Clickable is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Bcm Clickable 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bcm Clickable is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' 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.
Organizational Resilience of Bcm Clickable
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bcm Clickable does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bcm Clickable 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 Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Bcm Clickable is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Bcm Clickable has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
High brand equity
– Bcm Clickable has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bcm Clickable to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bcm Clickable in the sector have low bargaining power. Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bcm Clickable to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bcm Clickable to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bcm Clickable to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bcm Clickable is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bcm Clickable is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Bcm Clickable needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bcm Clickable to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' 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 Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bcm Clickable is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable', is just above the industry average. Bcm Clickable 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable', 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable', in the dynamic environment Bcm Clickable has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bcm Clickable 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, Bcm Clickable 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. Bcm Clickable even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bcm Clickable, firm in the HBR case study Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Bcm Clickable products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bcm Clickable needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Bcm Clickable 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Bcm Clickable 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Sunil Gupta, Kavita Shukla, Zach Clayton suggests that, Bcm Clickable 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.
Opportunities Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' | 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 Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bcm Clickable has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bcm Clickable to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' case study. Bcm Clickable can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Bcm Clickable 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Bcm Clickable can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' 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 Bcm Clickable in the consumer business. Now Bcm Clickable can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bcm Clickable 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.
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. Bcm Clickable can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bcm Clickable 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 Bcm Clickable to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Bcm Clickable can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Bcm Clickable 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.
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. Bcm Clickable 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. Bcm Clickable 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bcm Clickable 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bcm Clickable 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.
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 Bcm Clickable 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.
Threats Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bcm Clickable 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 Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' .
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.
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. Bcm Clickable can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bcm Clickable with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bcm Clickable 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 Bcm Clickable business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bcm Clickable 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.
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. Bcm Clickable 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bcm Clickable 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bcm Clickable 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Bcm Clickable 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.
Increasing wage structure of Bcm Clickable
– 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 Bcm Clickable.
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 Bcm Clickable in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' 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 Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' 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 Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' 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 Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' 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 Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable' 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 Bcm Clickable needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.