Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case)
When students have the English-language PDF of this Brief Case in a coursepack, they will also have the option to purchase an audio version.Cambridge Sciences Pharmaceuticals (CSP) expects final approval for its revolutionary weight loss drug, Metabical. Metabical will be the only weight loss drug with FDA approval that is also clinically proven to be effective for moderately overweight people. Barbara Printup, Senior Marketing Director for CSP, must develop the positioning strategy and marketing communications plan in preparation for the launch of the new drug. Printup must consider the consumer decision-making process and the interaction between the consumer who purchases the drug and the health care provider who prescribes the medication. Despite promising medical studies and consumer research, poor positioning of the drug in the highly competitive market for weight-loss solutions could spell disaster. Students analyze market research data and consider the optimal positioning strategy and marketing communications program.
Swot Analysis of "Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case)" written by John A. Quelch, Heather Beckham includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Metabical Weight facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Product development and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
technology disruption, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Metabical Weight, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Metabical Weight 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 Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Metabical Weight
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 Metabical Weight
Strengths Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Metabical Weight in Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Metabical Weight in the sector have low bargaining power. Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Metabical Weight to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Metabical Weight
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Metabical Weight does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Metabical Weight 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Metabical Weight 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Metabical Weight has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Metabical Weight 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.
Analytics focus
– Metabical Weight 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 John A. Quelch, Heather Beckham 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Metabical Weight 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 Metabical Weight in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Metabical Weight 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 Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Metabical Weight has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Metabical Weight to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Metabical Weight to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Metabical Weight to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Metabical Weight has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) 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.
Weaknesses Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Metabical Weight 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 - Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case), is just above the industry average. Metabical Weight 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Metabical Weight 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, John A. Quelch, Heather Beckham suggests that, Metabical Weight 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Metabical Weight 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 Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) 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 Metabical Weight has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Metabical Weight 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Metabical Weight is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Metabical Weight products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Metabical Weight needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case), in the dynamic environment Metabical Weight has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Metabical Weight has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Metabical Weight supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Metabical Weight vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) | 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 Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) are -
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. Metabical Weight 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. Metabical Weight 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. Metabical Weight 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Metabical Weight to increase its market reach. Metabical Weight 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Metabical Weight 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Metabical Weight can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Metabical Weight 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Metabical Weight is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Metabical Weight 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 Metabical Weight to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Metabical Weight 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Metabical Weight has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Metabical Weight to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) case study. Metabical Weight can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Metabical Weight 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
– Metabical Weight 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Metabical Weight 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.
Threats Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) are -
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. Metabical Weight 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.
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 Metabical Weight in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Metabical Weight 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 Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case), Metabical Weight may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Metabical Weight 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.
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 Metabical Weight.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Metabical Weight 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Metabical Weight 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Metabical Weight 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.
Environmental challenges
– Metabical Weight 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. Metabical Weight can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Increasing wage structure of Metabical Weight
– 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 Metabical Weight.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) 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 Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) 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 Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) 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 Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) 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 Metabical: Positioning and Communications Strategy for a New Weight Loss Drug (Brief Case) 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 Metabical Weight needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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