In March 2015, the founder and chief executive officer of Nyassa Retail Private Limited - a manufacturer of premium natural and luxury bath and body products based in Mumbai - was contemplating how to ensure the company's future growth. Product acceptance had been phenomenal, allowing the company to build up a reasonable market share, with healthy profit margins. Although Nyassa had experimented with franchising as a quick way to gain a foothold in and cater to new target markets, it had quickly realized that the odds of losing control over the process due to lack of infrastructure were too high and might result in dissatisfaction and poor service. Thus, it had focused on developing its chain of exclusive retail stores, kiosks, and "shops in shops." As competition from both Indian and international companies increased, the company was exploring online marketing options, return policy, packaging changes, and cross-selling for its new ultra-premium products. Should it penetrate deeper in India, skim the markets that showed high potential, launch the brand in overseas markets, or accept venture capital funding to achieve its goals? Neeraj Pandey is affiliated with NITIE Mumbai. Gaganpreet Singh is affiliated with National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE). Sandeep Puri is affiliated with Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad. .
Swot Analysis of "Marketing at Nyassa" written by Neeraj Pandey, Gaganpreet Singh, Sandeep Puri includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nyassa Nitie facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Marketing at Nyassa case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, International business, Marketing, Pricing, Product development and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Marketing at Nyassa casestudy better are - – technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Marketing at Nyassa
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Marketing at Nyassa case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nyassa Nitie, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nyassa Nitie 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 at Nyassa can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Marketing at Nyassa case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nyassa Nitie
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 Nyassa Nitie
Strengths Marketing at Nyassa | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nyassa Nitie in Marketing at Nyassa Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Nyassa Nitie digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Nyassa Nitie 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Marketing at Nyassa 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Nyassa Nitie 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 Nyassa Nitie in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Nyassa Nitie 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.
Analytics focus
– Nyassa Nitie 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 Neeraj Pandey, Gaganpreet Singh, Sandeep Puri 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.
Training and development
– Nyassa Nitie has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Marketing at Nyassa 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Nyassa Nitie has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Nyassa Nitie 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Nyassa Nitie 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 Marketing at Nyassa - 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
– Marketing at Nyassa firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Nyassa Nitie to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Nyassa Nitie to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Nyassa Nitie 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
– Nyassa Nitie is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Marketing at Nyassa are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Nyassa Nitie in the sector have low bargaining power. Marketing at Nyassa has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Nyassa Nitie to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Marketing at Nyassa | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Marketing at Nyassa are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Nyassa Nitie 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Nyassa Nitie 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Nyassa Nitie products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Nyassa Nitie needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Marketing at Nyassa, is just above the industry average. Nyassa Nitie 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 Nyassa Nitie is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Nyassa Nitie needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Nyassa Nitie to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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 Nyassa Nitie supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Marketing at Nyassa, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Nyassa Nitie vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Marketing at Nyassa 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 at Nyassa can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Nyassa Nitie is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Nyassa Nitie 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Marketing at Nyassa 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 Nyassa Nitie has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Nyassa Nitie 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Nyassa Nitie is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Marketing at Nyassa 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 Marketing at Nyassa | 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 at Nyassa are -
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. Nyassa Nitie can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Nyassa Nitie 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Nyassa Nitie 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Nyassa Nitie 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Nyassa Nitie has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Nyassa Nitie to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Marketing at Nyassa case study. Nyassa Nitie can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Nyassa Nitie 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. Nyassa Nitie can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Nyassa Nitie to increase its market reach. Nyassa Nitie 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Nyassa Nitie 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, Marketing at Nyassa, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Nyassa Nitie can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Nyassa Nitie 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 Nyassa Nitie to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Nyassa Nitie is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Marketing at Nyassa 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Nyassa Nitie 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 Nyassa Nitie can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Sales & Marketing segment.
Threats Marketing at Nyassa External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Marketing at Nyassa are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Nyassa Nitie 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Nyassa Nitie is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Nyassa Nitie
– 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 Nyassa Nitie.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Nyassa Nitie has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Nyassa Nitie 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Nyassa Nitie 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Nyassa Nitie with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Nyassa Nitie needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Nyassa Nitie.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Nyassa Nitie 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Nyassa Nitie 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.
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 at Nyassa, Nyassa Nitie 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Nyassa Nitie 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.
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 Nyassa Nitie business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Marketing at Nyassa 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 at Nyassa 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 at Nyassa 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 at Nyassa 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 at Nyassa 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 Nyassa Nitie needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
