Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics
Sponsorship of large sporting and cultural events has become a major marketing communication tool, particularly when firms obtain exclusive rights and garner the hype associated with this honor. Concomitantly, ambush marketing-defined as attempts by competitors to exploit the event-has also increased in prominence. This article outlines what is known as the Li Ning affair, whereby major Olympic sponsor Adidas was ambushed by lesser-known Chinese sportswear company Li Ning, whose namesake founder was the most decorated Chinese Olympian and who lit the Olympic flame at the 2008 Beijing Olympiad. Data collected immediately following the closing of the Beijing Games isolates what we call the Li Ning effect-or, being incorrectly identified as an official sponsor-and the positive effects this has on measures of brand attitude and recommendation likelihood. As presented herein, seven lessons about ambush marketing can be derived from the Li Ning affair, which sponsors and those considering sponsorship opportunity might wish to learn.
Authors :: Leyland Pitt, Michael Parent, Pierre R. Berthon, Peter G. Steyn
Swot Analysis of "Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics" written by Leyland Pitt, Michael Parent, Pierre R. Berthon, Peter G. Steyn includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ning Ambush facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ning Ambush, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ning Ambush 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 Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ning Ambush
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 Ning Ambush
Strengths Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ning Ambush in Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Ning Ambush 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 Ning Ambush in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ning Ambush 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 Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Ning Ambush
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ning Ambush does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Ning Ambush has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ning Ambush to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ning Ambush has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Ning Ambush 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 Leyland Pitt, Michael Parent, Pierre R. Berthon, Peter G. Steyn 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ning Ambush in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ning Ambush digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ning Ambush 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Ning Ambush is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ning Ambush in the sector have low bargaining power. Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ning Ambush to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ning Ambush 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ning Ambush to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ning Ambush to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics, 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 Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics, in the dynamic environment Ning Ambush has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ning Ambush has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Ning Ambush 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ning Ambush 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics HBR case study mentions - Ning Ambush 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics 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 Ning Ambush has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ning Ambush 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ning Ambush 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 - Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics 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 Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics, is just above the industry average. Ning Ambush 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.
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 Ning Ambush supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ning Ambush vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics 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 Ning Ambush 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics | 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 Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ning Ambush has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ning Ambush to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics case study. Ning Ambush can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ning Ambush 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.
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. Ning Ambush 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 Ning Ambush 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 Ning Ambush to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ning Ambush 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ning Ambush 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ning Ambush can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ning Ambush can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ning Ambush operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Ning Ambush can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ning Ambush 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Ning Ambush 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Ning Ambush has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ning Ambush 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 Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ning Ambush to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics 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. Ning Ambush 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.
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 Ning Ambush.
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 Ning Ambush in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Ning Ambush 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. Ning Ambush can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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 Ning Ambush business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ning Ambush 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.
Increasing wage structure of Ning Ambush
– 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 Ning Ambush.
Regulatory challenges
– Ning Ambush 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.
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. Ning Ambush needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ning Ambush 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 Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ning Ambush 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ning Ambush has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ning Ambush 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ning Ambush with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics 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 Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics 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 Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics 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 Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics 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 Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics 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 Ning Ambush needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
