Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat
In 2009-2010 Procter & Gamble's Old Spice brand had to respond to two important challenges. First, after a successful rebranding of the Glacial Falls scent into Swagger (see Kellogg Case #5-411-752), Old Spice's core brand team had to determine its next step in advertising. The options being considered included continuing to advertise Swagger, switching to advertising a different scent, advertising the umbrella brand, or placing an emphasis on body wash instead of on deodorant. This decision also involved proposing both the messaging and the media buy for the option selected. Second, in conjunction with this issue, the brand team had to decide whether the messaging of its advertising should respond to competitor Unilever's new advertising for Dove for Men, which would be kicked off in an upcoming Super Bowl spot. Students will step into the shoes of Mauricio O'Connell-one of the assistant brand managers of Old Spice-as he and his team brainstorm how to position the brand for another big success.
Swot Analysis of "Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat" written by Derek D. Rucker, Mauricio O'Connell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Spice Swagger facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Spice Swagger, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Spice Swagger 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 Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Spice Swagger
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 Spice Swagger
Strengths Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Spice Swagger in Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Spice Swagger is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Spice Swagger 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 Derek D. Rucker, Mauricio O'Connell 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Spice Swagger is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Spice Swagger digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Spice Swagger 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Spice Swagger in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Spice Swagger has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Spice Swagger 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Spice Swagger is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Spice Swagger to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Spice Swagger to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Spice Swagger
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Spice Swagger does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Spice Swagger 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 Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Spice Swagger in the sector have low bargaining power. Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Spice Swagger to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Spice Swagger 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.
Weaknesses Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Spice Swagger 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Spice Swagger 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Spice Swagger is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Spice Swagger needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Spice Swagger 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 Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat, in the dynamic environment Spice Swagger has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Spice Swagger has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Spice Swagger 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat HBR case study mentions - Spice Swagger 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Spice Swagger has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High 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 Spice Swagger supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Spice Swagger vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Spice Swagger 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat 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 Spice Swagger has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat, 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.
Opportunities Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat | 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 Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Spice Swagger 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, Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Spice Swagger 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.
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. Spice Swagger 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. Spice Swagger 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Spice Swagger 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 Spice Swagger 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 Spice Swagger to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Spice Swagger 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
– Spice Swagger 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Spice Swagger 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Spice Swagger to increase its market reach. Spice Swagger 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Spice Swagger 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Spice Swagger can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Spice Swagger can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Spice Swagger operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Spice Swagger can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat 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.
Threats Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Spice Swagger 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. Spice Swagger needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Spice Swagger 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.
Environmental challenges
– Spice Swagger 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. Spice Swagger can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Spice Swagger 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat, Spice Swagger 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Spice Swagger 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.
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 Spice Swagger in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Spice Swagger has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Spice Swagger 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Spice Swagger is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Spice Swagger 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Spice Swagger 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat 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 Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat 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 Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat 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 Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat 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 Old Spice: Repeating Success in the Face of Competitive Threat 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 Spice Swagger needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.