Case Study Description of Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice
This case is designed to highlight the vital role of promotion, the fourth "P" of the marketing mix, in a brand reinvention exercise. Using the context of the brand reinvention journey of Officer's Choice Whisky (OCW), the case highlights the importance and need for syncing brand objectives and communication objectives so as to build brand relevance in a competitive environment, increase revenue and enhance customer loyalty. The case also highlights the importance of systematic market research in identifying brand weaknesses and providing direction for effective marketing communications.Ahmed Rahimtoola, Head of Marketing at Allied Blenders and Distillers (ABD), was leading the process of conducting an extensive brand reinvention exercise for Officer's Choice. Market research had established the need for brand reinvention, indicating that Officer's Choice had to overcome the challenges of low brand salience, lack of emotional connect with customers, and outdated brand communication. Accordingly, the best advertising agencies in India were invited to come up with creatives that would answer the following question: How should Officer's Choice reposition and repackage itself and reconnect with consumers? ABD had the tough task of choosing the creative that held the magic recipe that would strategically weave brand objectives and communication objectives to yield optimal benefits. In discussing the firm's creative options, the case brings to light the crucial aspects of a brand reinvention process, the role of communication objectives in brand reinvention, and the mechanics of a successful marriage of marketing communication and brand strategy objectives.
Swot Analysis of "Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice" written by Tanuka Ghoshal, Geetika Shah, Arun Pereira includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Reinvention Officer's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Market research and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Reinvention Officer's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Reinvention Officer's 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 Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Reinvention Officer's
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 Reinvention Officer's
Strengths Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Reinvention Officer's in Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Reinvention Officer's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Reinvention Officer's 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Reinvention Officer's 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 Reinvention Officer's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Reinvention Officer's 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Reinvention Officer's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Reinvention Officer's 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
– Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Reinvention Officer's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Reinvention Officer's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Reinvention Officer's 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 Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Reinvention Officer's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Reinvention Officer's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice 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 brand equity
– Reinvention Officer's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Reinvention Officer's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Reinvention Officer's 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 Tanuka Ghoshal, Geetika Shah, Arun Pereira 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.
Weaknesses Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Reinvention Officer's, firm in the HBR case study Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Reinvention Officer's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Reinvention Officer's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Reinvention Officer's 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Reinvention Officer's 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice HBR case study mentions - Reinvention Officer's 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Reinvention Officer's 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Reinvention Officer's 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. Reinvention Officer's 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Reinvention Officer's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Reinvention Officer's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Reinvention Officer's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Reinvention Officer's 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice, is just above the industry average. Reinvention Officer's 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Reinvention Officer's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice | 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 Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Reinvention Officer's 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Reinvention Officer's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Reinvention Officer's 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 Reinvention Officer's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Reinvention Officer's 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.
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 Reinvention Officer's in the consumer business. Now Reinvention Officer's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Reinvention Officer's 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, Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Reinvention Officer's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Reinvention Officer's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice case study. Reinvention Officer's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Reinvention Officer's 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 Reinvention Officer's 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Reinvention Officer's 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.
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 Reinvention Officer's 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Reinvention Officer's 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Reinvention Officer's to increase its market reach. Reinvention Officer's 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.
Threats Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice 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. Reinvention Officer's 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 Reinvention Officer's 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.
Environmental challenges
– Reinvention Officer's 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. Reinvention Officer's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Reinvention Officer's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Reinvention Officer's
– 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 Reinvention Officer's.
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 Reinvention Officer's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Reinvention Officer's 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice, Reinvention Officer's 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 .
Regulatory challenges
– Reinvention Officer's 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Reinvention Officer's is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Reinvention Officer's 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 Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice .
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. Reinvention Officer's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice 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 Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice 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 Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice 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 Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice 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 Reinventing Officer's Choice Whisky: Spoiled for Choice 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 Reinvention Officer's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
