Case Study Description of Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A)
With its history of growth through acquisition, Citigroup has a conglomeration of sub-brands that need to be integrated and rationalized. Ajay Banga, CEO of Citi's Global Consumer Group International, chairs a task force to work through the process of re-branding the entire Citi house of brands while maintaining a focus on being focused on customers. The case describes the history of branding and re-branding at Citigroup at a time of increasing global competition in financial services.
Swot Analysis of "Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A)" written by Rohit Deshpande, Carin-Isabel Knoop includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Citigroup Branding facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Organizational culture and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Citigroup Branding, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Citigroup Branding 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 Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Citigroup Branding
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 Citigroup Branding
Strengths Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Citigroup Branding in Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Citigroup Branding in the sector have low bargaining power. Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Citigroup Branding to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Citigroup Branding 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
- Citigroup Branding 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 Citigroup Branding is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Citigroup Branding in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Citigroup Branding
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Citigroup Branding does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Citigroup Branding has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Citigroup Branding to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Citigroup Branding to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Citigroup Branding is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Citigroup Branding has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Citigroup Branding 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Citigroup Branding 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
– Citigroup Branding 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 Rohit Deshpande, Carin-Isabel Knoop 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.
Weaknesses Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) 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 Citigroup Branding has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Citigroup Branding, firm in the HBR case study Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Citigroup Branding is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A), is just above the industry average. Citigroup Branding 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A), in the dynamic environment Citigroup Branding has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Citigroup Branding has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Citigroup Branding is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Citigroup Branding needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Citigroup Branding to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) HBR case study mentions - Citigroup Branding 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) 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 Citigroup Branding 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A), 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 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 Citigroup Branding supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Citigroup Branding vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Citigroup Branding products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Citigroup Branding needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) | 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 Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Citigroup Branding can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Citigroup Branding 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, Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Citigroup Branding 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 Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Citigroup Branding to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Citigroup Branding 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.
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. Citigroup Branding can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Citigroup Branding to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Citigroup Branding 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, Citigroup Branding can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Citigroup Branding operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Citigroup Branding has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Citigroup Branding to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) case study. Citigroup Branding can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Citigroup Branding 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
– Citigroup Branding 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.
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 Citigroup Branding 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Citigroup Branding can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) 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.
Threats Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Citigroup Branding with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Citigroup Branding 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.
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. Citigroup Branding can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Citigroup Branding.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Citigroup Branding 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.
Environmental challenges
– Citigroup Branding 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. Citigroup Branding can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Citigroup Branding 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.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Citigroup Branding 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 Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Citigroup Branding 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.
Increasing wage structure of Citigroup Branding
– 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 Citigroup Branding.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Citigroup Branding has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Citigroup Branding 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Citigroup Branding is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) 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 Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) 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 Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) 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 Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) 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 Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) 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 Citigroup Branding needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.