On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe

European municipalities, eager to increase the use of environmentally friendly forms of public transportation, offered bicycle sharing programs as adjuncts to their public transportation systems. This case focuses on the bicycle sharing systems in three mid-sized European cities: Mainz, Germany, Lille, France and Antwerp, Belgium. The case describes the market segments within each city and lays out the marketing mix variables-the 4Ps (product, price, place and promotion)-to allow students to compare and contrast the cities' opportunities and challenges. The protagonist in each city is charged with using the marketing mix to help his or her city reach its goals: in Mainz, to reach breakeven; in Lille, to increase bicycle usage from 2% to 10% and in Antwerp, to persuade drivers to commute by bicycle instead of by car. Case number 2030

Authors :: Nathalie Laidler-Kylander, Steven Strauss, Laura Winig

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Policy, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe" written by Nathalie Laidler-Kylander, Steven Strauss, Laura Winig includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bicycle Antwerp facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Policy and Sales & Marketing.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bicycle Antwerp, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bicycle Antwerp 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bicycle Antwerp
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 Bicycle Antwerp

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Strengths On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Bicycle Antwerp in On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe Harvard Business Review case study are -

Diverse revenue streams

– Bicycle Antwerp is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Bicycle Antwerp 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.

Analytics focus

– Bicycle Antwerp 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 Nathalie Laidler-Kylander, Steven Strauss, Laura Winig 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.

Organizational Resilience of Bicycle Antwerp

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bicycle Antwerp does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Bicycle Antwerp 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

– Bicycle Antwerp is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry

– On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bicycle Antwerp to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bicycle Antwerp to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field

– Bicycle Antwerp is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Bicycle Antwerp in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Bicycle Antwerp 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 On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Bicycle Antwerp has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bicycle Antwerp 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.

Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bicycle Antwerp digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bicycle Antwerp 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.

Innovation driven organization

– Bicycle Antwerp is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

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Weaknesses On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe are -

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe HBR case study mentions - Bicycle Antwerp 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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bicycle Antwerp 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Bicycle Antwerp 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.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Nathalie Laidler-Kylander, Steven Strauss, Laura Winig suggests that, Bicycle Antwerp is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Bicycle Antwerp 's lucrative customers.

Lack of clear differentiation of Bicycle Antwerp products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bicycle Antwerp needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe, in the dynamic environment Bicycle Antwerp has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bicycle Antwerp has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bicycle Antwerp is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe, it seems that the employees of Bicycle Antwerp 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.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Bicycle Antwerp 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. Bicycle Antwerp 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe, 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.

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Opportunities On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe | 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 On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe are -

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bicycle Antwerp to increase its market reach. Bicycle Antwerp 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Bicycle Antwerp 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bicycle Antwerp can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bicycle Antwerp operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.

Identify volunteer opportunities

– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Bicycle Antwerp can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Buying journey improvements

– Bicycle Antwerp can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bicycle Antwerp 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, On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe, 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 Bicycle Antwerp to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.

Loyalty marketing

– Bicycle Antwerp 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Bicycle Antwerp 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bicycle Antwerp 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.

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. Bicycle Antwerp can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Manufacturing automation

– Bicycle Antwerp 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bicycle Antwerp can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

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Threats On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe are -

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Bicycle Antwerp 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Bicycle Antwerp is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Bicycle Antwerp 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Bicycle Antwerp 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.

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 Bicycle Antwerp business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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 Bicycle Antwerp in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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 Bicycle Antwerp.

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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe, Bicycle Antwerp 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 .

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. Bicycle Antwerp needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Increasing wage structure of Bicycle Antwerp

– 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 Bicycle Antwerp.

Instability in the European markets

– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Bicycle Antwerp will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bicycle Antwerp 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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe 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 On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe 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 On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe 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 On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe 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 On Your Bike! Using Marketing Mix to Drive Successful Bicycle Sharing Programs in Europe 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 Bicycle Antwerp needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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