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 - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, increasing energy prices,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, 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 -
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Citigroup Branding 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 Citigroup Branding in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
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.
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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Citigroup Branding 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 Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Citigroup Branding is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Citigroup Branding 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 Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
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.
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.
High brand equity
– Citigroup Branding has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Citigroup Branding to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
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.
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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Citigroup Branding is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) 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.
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 -
Need for greater diversity
– Citigroup Branding 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.
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.
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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Citigroup Branding 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. Citigroup Branding 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A), it seems that the employees of Citigroup Branding 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) 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 Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Citigroup Branding is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Citigroup Branding 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 - Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
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. Citigroup Branding can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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.
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.
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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Citigroup Branding is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Citigroup: Re-Branding in 2007 (A) 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
– 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.
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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Citigroup Branding 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Citigroup Branding to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Citigroup Branding to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 -
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) .
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.
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.
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 Citigroup Branding in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Citigroup Branding 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.
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.
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 Citigroup Branding business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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.
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.