Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry
Renzo Rosso, the president and founder of Diesel SpA, the innovative Italian casual wear company famous for its controversial 'For Successful Living' advertising campaign, is pondering how to brand its new upscale line of clothing: StyleLab. The objectives set for StyleLab are: (1) to enter the new and attractive high casual wear market; (2) to create an aura of prestige for the core D-Diesel line; and (3) to provide Diesel's designers with the opportunity to experiment with new cuts and fabrics, which may eventually trickle down to the main D-Diesel brand. Please visit the http://cases.insead.edu/diesel/ (copy and paste the url into a browser) to access Diesel's television commercials and PowerPoint presentations of all case exhibits and print advertising campaigns.
Swot Analysis of "Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry" written by Vadim Grigorian, Pierre Chandon includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Diesel Diesel's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Diesel Diesel's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Diesel Diesel's 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 Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Diesel Diesel's
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 Diesel Diesel's
Strengths Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Diesel Diesel's in Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Diesel Diesel's 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 Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Diesel Diesel's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Diesel Diesel's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Diesel Diesel's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Diesel Diesel's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Diesel Diesel's 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 Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Diesel Diesel's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Diesel Diesel's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Diesel Diesel's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Diesel Diesel's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Diesel Diesel's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Diesel Diesel's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Diesel Diesel's 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 Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Diesel Diesel's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Diesel Diesel's 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 Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Diesel Diesel's has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry 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 Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Diesel Diesel's is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry, 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 Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry HBR case study mentions - Diesel Diesel's 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Diesel Diesel's 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Diesel Diesel's 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. Diesel Diesel's 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, Diesel Diesel's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Diesel Diesel's, firm in the HBR case study Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Diesel Diesel's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Diesel Diesel's 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 Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry, is just above the industry average. Diesel Diesel's 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Diesel Diesel's 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.
Opportunities Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry | 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 Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Diesel Diesel's 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Diesel Diesel's 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.
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. Diesel Diesel's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Diesel Diesel's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Diesel Diesel's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Diesel Diesel's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Diesel Diesel's 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 Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Diesel Diesel's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Diesel Diesel's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Diesel Diesel's 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Diesel Diesel's 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, Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Diesel Diesel's 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Diesel Diesel's to increase its market reach. Diesel Diesel's 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.
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 Diesel Diesel's 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Diesel Diesel's can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Threats Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry are -
Increasing wage structure of Diesel Diesel's
– 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 Diesel Diesel's.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Diesel Diesel's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Diesel Diesel's 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.
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 Diesel Diesel's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Diesel Diesel's 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. Diesel Diesel's 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 Diesel Diesel's.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Diesel Diesel's is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Diesel Diesel's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Diesel Diesel's 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.
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 Diesel Diesel's in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Diesel Diesel's 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry, Diesel Diesel's 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry 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 Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry 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 Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry 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 Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry 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 Diesel for Successful Living: Branding Strategies for an Up-market Line Extension in the Fashion Industry 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 Diesel Diesel's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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