Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird
Thunderbird has built a strong and efficient Internet presence in the past five years. The effort was supported by a consistent effort to develop its internal online marketing capabilities, resources, and technical infrastructure. As the MBA recruitment process becomes increasingly dependent on its online marketing strategy, the ability to buy media effectively, measure performance, and adjust plans quickly acquire incredible relevance. Kelly Santina, the school's online marketing director, must assess the Google Analytics data covering the past seven months of website activity. Thunderbird's online marketing goals are defined as follows: (a) to improve the effectiveness of display/sponsored ads placement; (b) to increase traffic to the programs pace by 25%; (c) to improve conversions, measured by the downloading of an application form, by 30%. For spreadsheet information, please contact john.zerio@thunderbird.edu.
Swot Analysis of "Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird" written by John Zerio, Arvind Deshmukh includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Online Thunderbird facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Online Thunderbird, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Online Thunderbird 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 Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Online Thunderbird
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 Online Thunderbird
Strengths Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Online Thunderbird in Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Online Thunderbird is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird 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 Online Thunderbird in the sector have low bargaining power. Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Online Thunderbird to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Online Thunderbird 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Online Thunderbird in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Online Thunderbird is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Online Thunderbird 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 Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Online Thunderbird 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 Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Online Thunderbird digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Online Thunderbird 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.
High brand equity
– Online Thunderbird has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Online Thunderbird to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Online Thunderbird is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Online Thunderbird 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 Online Thunderbird is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, John Zerio, Arvind Deshmukh suggests that, Online Thunderbird 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird 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 Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Online Thunderbird is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Online Thunderbird products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Online Thunderbird needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Online Thunderbird 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Online Thunderbird is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Online Thunderbird needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Online Thunderbird to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Online Thunderbird supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Online Thunderbird vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird, 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Online Thunderbird, firm in the HBR case study Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Online Thunderbird 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Online Thunderbird 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 - Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird, in the dynamic environment Online Thunderbird has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Online Thunderbird has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird | 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 Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird are -
Manufacturing automation
– Online Thunderbird 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Online Thunderbird can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Online Thunderbird operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Online Thunderbird 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Online Thunderbird 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Online Thunderbird 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Online Thunderbird can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Online Thunderbird 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.
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 Online Thunderbird 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Online Thunderbird 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, Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Online Thunderbird 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 Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Online Thunderbird to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Online Thunderbird 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. Online Thunderbird 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Online Thunderbird has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Online Thunderbird to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird case study. Online Thunderbird can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Online Thunderbird 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 Online Thunderbird to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird are -
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. Online Thunderbird needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Online Thunderbird 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Online Thunderbird
– 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 Online Thunderbird.
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. Online Thunderbird 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
– Online Thunderbird 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Online Thunderbird is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Online Thunderbird 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Online Thunderbird 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.
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 Online Thunderbird in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Online Thunderbird has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Online Thunderbird 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Online Thunderbird 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 Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird 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 Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird 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 Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird 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 Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird 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 Online Ad Targeting at Thunderbird 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 Online Thunderbird needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.