Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation
3M Canada (3M) has been a corporate sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF, or the Foundation) since 2005. In support of the CBCF, 3M has produced and sold "pink products" (products that bear the pink ribbon, such as Post-it-Notes and flag pens, Nexcare bandages, and Scotch-Brite sponges), with a contribution of each sale benefiting the CBCF. This case examines the corporate sponsorship relationship, specifically how 3M's brand manager for Post-it brand office products can further activate the relationship with CBCF. The brand manager's marketing campaign for 2009 was successful; however, she now needs to determine the best approach for her 2010 campaign.
Swot Analysis of "Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation" written by Allison Johnson, Laurie Dudo includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cbcf 3m facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social responsibility and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cbcf 3m, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cbcf 3m 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 Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cbcf 3m
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 Cbcf 3m
Strengths Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cbcf 3m in Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cbcf 3m to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cbcf 3m to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cbcf 3m in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Cbcf 3m has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cbcf 3m to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Cbcf 3m
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cbcf 3m does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cbcf 3m 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 Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 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 recruit top talent
– Cbcf 3m is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cbcf 3m 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 Cbcf 3m 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cbcf 3m 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 Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Cbcf 3m is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cbcf 3m is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 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.
Weaknesses Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Cbcf 3m 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. Cbcf 3m 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cbcf 3m is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, in the dynamic environment Cbcf 3m has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cbcf 3m has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 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 Cbcf 3m has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cbcf 3m is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Cbcf 3m needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cbcf 3m to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation HBR case study mentions - Cbcf 3m 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Allison Johnson, Laurie Dudo suggests that, Cbcf 3m 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Cbcf 3m products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Cbcf 3m needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Cbcf 3m 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, it seems that the employees of Cbcf 3m 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 Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation | 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 Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cbcf 3m can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cbcf 3m 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cbcf 3m 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cbcf 3m has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cbcf 3m to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation case study. Cbcf 3m can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cbcf 3m 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, Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Cbcf 3m can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 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
– Cbcf 3m 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cbcf 3m 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 Cbcf 3m 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cbcf 3m can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cbcf 3m operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cbcf 3m is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 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.
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. Cbcf 3m 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. Cbcf 3m 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cbcf 3m 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 Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cbcf 3m 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cbcf 3m 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 Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation .
Increasing wage structure of Cbcf 3m
– 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 Cbcf 3m.
Regulatory challenges
– Cbcf 3m needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cbcf 3m 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.
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. Cbcf 3m needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Cbcf 3m business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, Cbcf 3m 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Cbcf 3m 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. Cbcf 3m can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cbcf 3m has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cbcf 3m 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.
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 Cbcf 3m in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 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 Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 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 Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 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 Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 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 Cause-Related Marketing: 3M as a Corporate Sponsor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 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 Cbcf 3m needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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