What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo
What are the timeless truths of advertising? How can agency leaders manage their teams, creative talent, and clients? To answer these and other questions, the mythology of the "Golden Age of Advertising" is examined and analyzed herein. Specifically, using ad-man Don Draper-protagonist of the fictional but already culturally iconic television series Mad Men-as a mythic archetype, lessons are extracted for contemporary advertising practitioners. Ten timeless rules are proposed and explicated in the areas of managing intra-agency leadership processes, managing creative processes, and managing client relationships.
Swot Analysis of "What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo" written by David Strutton, David G Taylor includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Draper Timeless facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Sales and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Draper Timeless, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Draper Timeless 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 What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Draper Timeless
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 Draper Timeless
Strengths What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Draper Timeless in What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Draper Timeless has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Draper Timeless 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Draper Timeless in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Draper Timeless to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Draper Timeless to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Draper Timeless is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo 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 Draper Timeless 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Draper Timeless 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 What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo - 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 Draper Timeless
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Draper Timeless does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Draper Timeless 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 What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Draper Timeless 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 Draper Timeless in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Draper Timeless 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.
Analytics focus
– Draper Timeless 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 David Strutton, David G Taylor 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Draper Timeless is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Draper Timeless 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo, is just above the industry average. Draper Timeless needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Draper Timeless, firm in the HBR case study What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo HBR case study mentions - Draper Timeless 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Draper Timeless is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Draper Timeless needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Draper Timeless to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Draper Timeless 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 - What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Draper Timeless supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Draper Timeless vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Draper Timeless 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Draper Timeless has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Draper Timeless has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo 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 Draper Timeless 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo | 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 What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Draper Timeless 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Draper Timeless 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Draper Timeless 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, What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Draper Timeless has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Draper Timeless to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo case study. Draper Timeless can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Draper Timeless can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Draper Timeless can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Draper Timeless 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.
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. Draper Timeless 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. Draper Timeless 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Draper Timeless 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 What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Draper Timeless to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Draper Timeless to increase its market reach. Draper Timeless will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Draper Timeless 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Draper Timeless 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Draper Timeless 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.
Threats What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo are -
Increasing wage structure of Draper Timeless
– 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 Draper Timeless.
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. Draper Timeless 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 Draper Timeless 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Draper Timeless 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 What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo .
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.
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. Draper Timeless can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Draper Timeless 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Draper Timeless has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Draper Timeless 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.
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 Draper Timeless.
Environmental challenges
– Draper Timeless 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. Draper Timeless 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 Draper Timeless in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo, Draper Timeless 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 .
Regulatory challenges
– Draper Timeless 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 What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo 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 What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo 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 What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo 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 What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo 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 What Would Don Draper do? Rules for Restoring the Contemporary Agency Mojo 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 Draper Timeless needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.