Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B)
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) had always focused on new and innovative ways to connect with rural customers in India. However, like many players in the market, the company found it challenging to reach certain areas. Popular media channels like television and radio were limited in rural India, and power cuts further reduced the reach of electronic media. Yet mobile penetration was relatively high and growing. Inspired by the success of its mobile "missed call" marketing campaign for Wheel detergent, HUL was considering extending the campaign to all of its brands. Should it introduce a dedicated mobile marketing channel, whereby customers could receive both entertainment and advertising by making missed calls? Were customers likely to choose a mobile phone-based entertainment channel? Would it be a sustainable media for creating long-term brand awareness among target customers? Rakhi Thakur is affiliated with SP Jain Institute of Management and Research.
Swot Analysis of "Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B)" written by Rakhi Thakur includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mobile Hul facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mobile Hul, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mobile Hul 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 Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mobile Hul
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 Mobile Hul
Strengths Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mobile Hul in Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Mobile Hul
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mobile Hul does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Mobile Hul has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mobile Hul to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Mobile Hul is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mobile Hul 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 Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mobile Hul is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) 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 Mobile Hul in the sector have low bargaining power. Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mobile Hul to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Mobile Hul has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Mobile Hul 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 Mobile Hul 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 Mobile Hul 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Mobile Hul is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) 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.
Learning organization
- Mobile Hul 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 Mobile Hul is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mobile Hul in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Rakhi Thakur suggests that, Mobile Hul 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Mobile Hul 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Mobile Hul, firm in the HBR case study Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) HBR case study mentions - Mobile Hul 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Mobile Hul 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. Mobile Hul 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.
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 Mobile Hul supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Mobile Hul vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mobile Hul 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Mobile Hul has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Mobile Hul 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Mobile Hul is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Mobile Hul needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mobile Hul to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B), it seems that the employees of Mobile Hul 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.
Opportunities Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) | 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 Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) are -
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. Mobile Hul can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mobile Hul can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mobile Hul can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mobile Hul 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 Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mobile Hul 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 Mobile Hul 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.
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 Mobile Hul 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Mobile Hul 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Mobile Hul 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 Mobile Hul to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mobile Hul 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.
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. Mobile Hul can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mobile Hul can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mobile Hul operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mobile Hul to increase its market reach. Mobile Hul 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, Mobile Hul 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, Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) are -
Regulatory challenges
– Mobile Hul needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Mobile Hul 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 Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B), Mobile Hul 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 .
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.
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 Mobile Hul business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mobile Hul 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.
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.
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. Mobile Hul can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mobile Hul 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 Mobile Hul
– 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 Mobile Hul.
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 Mobile Hul in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Mobile Hul 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. Mobile Hul can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mobile Hul is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) 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 Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) 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 Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) 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 Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) 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 Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B) 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 Mobile Hul 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 Hindustan Unilever Limited: Mobile Marketing in Rural India - Kan Khajura Tesan (B)