AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey

The case focuses on AccorHotels' ambitious digital transformation, aiming to put the customer back at the center of its strategy and operations. Responding to a powerful wave of digital disruptions in the hospitality ecosystem, from the emergence of review websites, online travel agents and active forums to the rise of new competitors such as Airbnb, the transformation entailed: (1) designing and implementing an innovative content marketing strategy (including online content creation or co-creation, curation and dissemination) (2) incorporating e-reputation as a core business objective, and (3) creating and/or adapting organizational structures - from management to operations - to support this new dynamic and maximize value creation. The case starts in Fall 2015, when Olivier Arnoux, SVP Customer Satisfaction at AccorHotels, and his team, are asked to devise an ambitious plan to address the new challenges facing major players in the hotel industry brought about by digital disruptions. It follows the decision-making process step by step, from (1) understanding the nature and impact of online content in the customer journey, to (2) building a strategic plan to integrate online insights into AccorHotels' core business objectives (in particular the importance of e-reputation), (3) redefining where and how value is created, and creating incentive structures aligned with the new objectives. Participants have multiple opportunities to put themselves in the shoes of the protagonists so as to understand the logic behind the decisions taken. What is novel is the systematic articulation of how digital and social media impact the customer journey, as well as the integration of online content into marketing strategy (i.e., content marketing) and organizational design (i.e., team structure, incentive system), underlining how embracing the digital revolution entails breaking traditional silos between functions such as marketing, strategy, finance and human resources.

Authors :: David Dubois, Chae InYoung, Joerg Niessing, Jean Wee

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Customer service, Customers, International business, Public relations, Social platforms, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey" written by David Dubois, Chae InYoung, Joerg Niessing, Jean Wee includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Accorhotels Content facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customer service, Customers, International business, Public relations, Social platforms and Sales & Marketing.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Accorhotels Content, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Accorhotels Content 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Accorhotels Content
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 Accorhotels Content

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Strengths AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Accorhotels Content in AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey Harvard Business Review case study are -

Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field

– Accorhotels Content 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 Accorhotels Content in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey 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.

Superior customer experience

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

Ability to recruit top talent

– Accorhotels Content is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

High brand equity

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

Analytics focus

– Accorhotels Content 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 David Dubois, Chae InYoung, Joerg Niessing, Jean Wee 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Accorhotels Content 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Accorhotels Content 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Accorhotels Content 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 AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry

– AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Accorhotels Content to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Accorhotels Content to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment

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

Learning organization

- Accorhotels Content 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 Accorhotels Content is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

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Weaknesses AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey are -

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Accorhotels Content 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 cash cycle compare to competitors

Accorhotels Content 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey 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 Accorhotels Content 's lucrative customers.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Accorhotels Content is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Accorhotels Content 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey 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 AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Accorhotels Content is planning to shift buying processes online.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey, in the dynamic environment Accorhotels Content has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Accorhotels Content has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey, it seems that the employees of Accorhotels Content don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, David Dubois, Chae InYoung, Joerg Niessing, Jean Wee suggests that, Accorhotels Content 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey, 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.

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 Accorhotels Content supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Accorhotels Content vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

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Opportunities AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey | 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 AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey are -

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Accorhotels Content 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Accorhotels Content 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.

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. Accorhotels Content 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. Accorhotels Content 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. Accorhotels Content 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Accorhotels Content 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Accorhotels Content to increase its market reach. Accorhotels Content 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.

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 Accorhotels Content 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Accorhotels Content can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Accorhotels Content 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Accorhotels Content 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 Accorhotels Content to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Loyalty marketing

– Accorhotels Content 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Accorhotels Content 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Accorhotels Content can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

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Threats AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey are -

Trade war between China and United States

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

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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Accorhotels Content with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Environmental challenges

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

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Accorhotels Content can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

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

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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Accorhotels Content 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 AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey .

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 Accorhotels Content in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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. Accorhotels Content 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey, Accorhotels Content 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 .

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Accorhotels Content is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Regulatory challenges

– Accorhotels Content 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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey 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 AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey 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 AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey 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 AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey 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 AccorHotels and the Digital Transformation: Enriching Experiences through Content Strategies along the Customer Journey 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 Accorhotels Content needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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