Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign
Managed word-of-mouth and viral marketing have emerged as one of the biggest trends of the decade. Every brand, big or small, wants its content to go viral. The backbone of successful campaigns is not limited to content or influencers who can make the message go viral. Marketers need to think of value creation at every stage. Jiten Gajaria, the convener of the social media cell of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Maharashtra, implemented a marketing transformation program for his political party while campaigning for the 13th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Election. He gained consumer insights, calibrated market segments, devised communication strategy, recruited and managed human resources, designed campaign implementation process and developed capabilities to execute it. The case details how Gajaria rolled out a successful influencer marketing program to create WOM communication on WhatsApp. It can serve as a classic example of devising a cost-effective customer outreach program where total marketing expense was reduced by about 199%.
Swot Analysis of "Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign" written by Ami Shah, Dinesh Kumar Unnikrishnan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bjp Gajaria facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Social platforms and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bjp Gajaria, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bjp Gajaria 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 Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bjp Gajaria
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 Bjp Gajaria
Strengths Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bjp Gajaria in Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Bjp Gajaria
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bjp Gajaria does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Bjp Gajaria 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 Bjp Gajaria in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Bjp Gajaria 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 Bjp Gajaria is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bjp Gajaria in the sector have low bargaining power. Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bjp Gajaria to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bjp Gajaria is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bjp Gajaria 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 Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bjp Gajaria is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bjp Gajaria 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.
Training and development
– Bjp Gajaria has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bjp Gajaria to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bjp Gajaria to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Bjp Gajaria is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign, is just above the industry average. Bjp Gajaria 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bjp Gajaria is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Bjp Gajaria needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bjp Gajaria to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign, in the dynamic environment Bjp Gajaria has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bjp Gajaria has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bjp Gajaria 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 Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign HBR case study mentions - Bjp Gajaria 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Bjp Gajaria products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bjp Gajaria needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Bjp Gajaria 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign 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 Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bjp Gajaria is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Bjp Gajaria 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, Bjp Gajaria 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ami Shah, Dinesh Kumar Unnikrishnan suggests that, Bjp Gajaria is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Opportunities Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign | 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 Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bjp Gajaria 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
– Bjp Gajaria 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.
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. Bjp Gajaria 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. Bjp Gajaria 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. Bjp Gajaria 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bjp Gajaria can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bjp Gajaria to increase its market reach. Bjp Gajaria 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bjp Gajaria 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 Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bjp Gajaria to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bjp Gajaria 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.
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 Bjp Gajaria in the consumer business. Now Bjp Gajaria can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bjp Gajaria has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bjp Gajaria to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign case study. Bjp Gajaria can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bjp Gajaria can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bjp Gajaria 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bjp Gajaria is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign 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.
Threats Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Bjp Gajaria can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bjp Gajaria 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bjp Gajaria 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
– Bjp Gajaria has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bjp Gajaria 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bjp Gajaria 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 Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bjp Gajaria with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bjp Gajaria 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.
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. Bjp Gajaria needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign, Bjp Gajaria 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 .
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. Bjp Gajaria 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 Bjp Gajaria in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign 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 Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign 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 Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign 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 Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign 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 Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign 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 Bjp Gajaria needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Feel free to connect with us if you need business research.
You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of Marketing Transformation Using Social Network on Digital Media: How BJP Used WhatsApp to Create a Successful WOM Campaign
