Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously
As traditional television advertisements continue to lose their effectiveness, brand managers are being more pressured to think creatively by going undercover to reach consumers surreptitiously. To capture the attention of jaded, fickle consumers, they are urged to devise below-the-radar approaches that are harder to detect. Examines six stealth marketing techniques and shows how stealth marketing is a viable alternative to obtrusive conventional advertising. Some stealth efforts are so subtle that consumers do not know they are being pitched to. There are emerging ethical and legal issues raised by critics of these techniques. Although some stealth marketing campaigns are setting off alarms with consumer watchdog groups, these techniques will inevitably grow more common. They have a powerful role to play when they are tastefully implemented and respect consumers' intelligence. Brand managers are gambling that the benefits of stealth marketing will outweigh the complaints of its critics.
Swot Analysis of "Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously" written by Jack G. Kaikati, Andrew M. Kaikati includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Stealth Surreptitiously facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Stealth Surreptitiously, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Stealth Surreptitiously 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 Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Stealth Surreptitiously
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 Stealth Surreptitiously
Strengths Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Stealth Surreptitiously in Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Stealth Surreptitiously in the sector have low bargaining power. Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Stealth Surreptitiously to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Stealth Surreptitiously are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Stealth Surreptitiously is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Stealth Surreptitiously digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Stealth Surreptitiously 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Stealth Surreptitiously is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Stealth Surreptitiously 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 Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Stealth Surreptitiously is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Stealth Surreptitiously 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 Stealth Surreptitiously is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Stealth Surreptitiously in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Stealth Surreptitiously 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 Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Stealth Surreptitiously 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 Jack G. Kaikati, Andrew M. Kaikati 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.
Training and development
– Stealth Surreptitiously has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously 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.
Weaknesses Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously 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 Stealth Surreptitiously has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Stealth Surreptitiously 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Stealth Surreptitiously 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 - Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jack G. Kaikati, Andrew M. Kaikati suggests that, Stealth Surreptitiously 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Stealth Surreptitiously, firm in the HBR case study Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously HBR case study mentions - Stealth Surreptitiously 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously, it seems that the employees of Stealth Surreptitiously 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Stealth Surreptitiously is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Stealth Surreptitiously needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Stealth Surreptitiously to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Stealth Surreptitiously 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. Stealth Surreptitiously 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 Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously, 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Stealth Surreptitiously 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.
Opportunities Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously | 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 Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Stealth Surreptitiously 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, Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Stealth Surreptitiously in the consumer business. Now Stealth Surreptitiously can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Stealth Surreptitiously to increase its market reach. Stealth Surreptitiously will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Stealth Surreptitiously 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Stealth Surreptitiously 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.
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. Stealth Surreptitiously 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. Stealth Surreptitiously 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Stealth Surreptitiously is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Stealth Surreptitiously 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Stealth Surreptitiously can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Stealth Surreptitiously has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Stealth Surreptitiously to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously case study. Stealth Surreptitiously can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Stealth Surreptitiously 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.
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. Stealth Surreptitiously 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, Stealth Surreptitiously 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 Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Stealth Surreptitiously has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Stealth Surreptitiously 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Stealth Surreptitiously 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.
Environmental challenges
– Stealth Surreptitiously 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. Stealth Surreptitiously can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Stealth Surreptitiously 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.
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. Stealth Surreptitiously 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 Stealth Surreptitiously.
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 Stealth Surreptitiously business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Stealth Surreptitiously
– 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 Stealth Surreptitiously.
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.
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 Stealth Surreptitiously in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Stealth Surreptitiously 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. Stealth Surreptitiously can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Stealth Surreptitiously 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously 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 Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously 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 Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously 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 Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously 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 Stealth Marketing: How to Reach Consumers Surreptitiously 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 Stealth Surreptitiously needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
