MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A)
To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.Selling an intangible like advertising services is a difficult task. The first step is to understand how brands buy these services. What are they looking for? What do they need to learn? How do they go about assessing things like creativity, trust, and loyalty? This set of cases puts the students into the roles of the seller (an advertising agency named Butler, Shine, Stern and partners) and the buyer (MINI USA) and asks them to develop a sales strategy for advertising services. As outlined in the (B) case, the agency developed an intriguing and original approach to assessing the intangibles and students are asked to react to it from a sales perspective and to attempt to generalize the approach to other sales domains.
Swot Analysis of "MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A)" written by David B. Godes includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Advertising Agency facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Presentations, Sales, Supply chain and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Advertising Agency, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Advertising Agency 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 MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Advertising Agency
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 Advertising Agency
Strengths MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Advertising Agency in MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Advertising Agency to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Advertising Agency to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Advertising Agency 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 Advertising Agency in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Advertising Agency
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Advertising Agency does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Advertising Agency 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 Advertising Agency is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Advertising Agency 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Advertising Agency in the sector have low bargaining power. MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Advertising Agency to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Advertising Agency is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Advertising Agency is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (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
– Advertising Agency has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Advertising Agency 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Advertising Agency 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 MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Advertising Agency 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 MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Advertising Agency 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 - MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Advertising Agency is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (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.
Need for greater diversity
– Advertising Agency 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) HBR case study mentions - Advertising Agency 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (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 Advertising Agency has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (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 Advertising Agency is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Advertising Agency needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Advertising Agency to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (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 MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Advertising Agency is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A), is just above the industry average. Advertising Agency 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 MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A), in the dynamic environment Advertising Agency has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Advertising Agency has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Advertising Agency has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Opportunities MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (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 MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Advertising Agency 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Advertising Agency 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.
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. Advertising Agency 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. Advertising Agency 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Advertising Agency can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Advertising Agency to increase its market reach. Advertising Agency 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Advertising Agency can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Advertising Agency 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 MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Advertising Agency to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Advertising Agency 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.
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. Advertising Agency can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Advertising Agency can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Advertising Agency has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Advertising Agency to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) case study. Advertising Agency can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Advertising Agency 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Advertising Agency can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (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 MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A) are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Advertising Agency 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.
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 Advertising Agency.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Advertising Agency 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.
Increasing wage structure of Advertising Agency
– 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 Advertising Agency.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Advertising Agency 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Advertising Agency is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Advertising Agency can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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. Advertising Agency needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Advertising Agency 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. Advertising Agency can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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. Advertising Agency 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.
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 Advertising Agency 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 MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (A), Advertising Agency 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (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 MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (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 MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (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 MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (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 MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (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 Advertising Agency needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
