The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales
The case illustrates an innovative integrated marketing campaign by Nokia to promote its new phone, the N8. In early January 2010, Stuart Wells, Integrated Global Campaign Lead at Nokia, initiated and supervised the execution of an ambitious integrated marketing campaign. The case follows the decision-making process step-by-step, with particular attention to the use of digital channels in the launch strategy and to social media measurement and ROI.
Swot Analysis of "The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales" written by David Dubois, Pal Kaur Mastak includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that N8 Nokia facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the N8 Nokia, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which N8 Nokia 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 The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of N8 Nokia
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 N8 Nokia
Strengths The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of N8 Nokia in The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For N8 Nokia digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. N8 Nokia 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– N8 Nokia 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 The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of N8 Nokia
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that N8 Nokia does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled N8 Nokia to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped N8 Nokia to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– N8 Nokia is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– N8 Nokia is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– N8 Nokia is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– N8 Nokia has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. N8 Nokia 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.
Innovation driven organization
– N8 Nokia is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- N8 Nokia 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 N8 Nokia is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– N8 Nokia 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 N8 Nokia in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales 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.
Weaknesses The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of N8 Nokia is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. N8 Nokia needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help N8 Nokia to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales 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 The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as N8 Nokia is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, N8 Nokia 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, N8 Nokia 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. N8 Nokia 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 strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales HBR case study mentions - N8 Nokia 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 N8 Nokia 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales, 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, David Dubois, Pal Kaur Mastak suggests that, N8 Nokia 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, N8 Nokia 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales, in the dynamic environment N8 Nokia has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. N8 Nokia has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales 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 N8 Nokia has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales | 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 The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– N8 Nokia 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.
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. N8 Nokia 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. N8 Nokia 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 N8 Nokia has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help N8 Nokia to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales case study. N8 Nokia can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, N8 Nokia is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for N8 Nokia in the consumer business. Now N8 Nokia can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– N8 Nokia 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 The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help N8 Nokia to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– N8 Nokia 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, N8 Nokia can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that N8 Nokia operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at N8 Nokia 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help N8 Nokia to increase its market reach. N8 Nokia 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.
Buying journey improvements
– N8 Nokia can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales 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.
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. N8 Nokia can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, N8 Nokia 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.
Threats The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that N8 Nokia is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for N8 Nokia 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.
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. N8 Nokia can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales, N8 Nokia 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 .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents N8 Nokia 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. N8 Nokia needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– N8 Nokia has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, N8 Nokia 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.
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. N8 Nokia 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– N8 Nokia 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.
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 N8 Nokia business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, N8 Nokia 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 The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales .
Environmental challenges
– N8 Nokia 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. N8 Nokia can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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 N8 Nokia in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales 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 The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales 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 The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales 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 The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales 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 The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales 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 N8 Nokia needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of The Nokia N8 'Push Snowboarding' Campaign: An Avant-Garde Social Media Strategy from Engagement to Sales
