Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship
On April 6, 2005, Sony Corporation announced the signing of a global partnership program contract with the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the organizer of the FIFA World Cup. The contract, which represented the first global marketing and communications platform for the Sony Group, would run from 2007 to 2014 with a contract value (excluding services and product leases) of 33.0 billion yen (approximately $305 million). This was a very significant marketing investment for Sony, since the cost of event sponsorship with advertising was typically two or three times the cost of the sponsorship rights; hence, Sony was potentially investing a billion dollars or more on FIFA-related marketing campaigns over the next several years. Many Sony senior executives were questioning the return on investment (ROI) of the FIFA sponsorship opportunity.
Swot Analysis of "Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship" written by Mark Jeffery, Saurabh Mishra includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Fifa Sony facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Performance measurement, Strategy and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fifa Sony, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fifa Sony 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 Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fifa Sony
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 Fifa Sony
Strengths Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Fifa Sony in Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Fifa Sony is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Fifa Sony has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Fifa Sony is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Fifa Sony
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Fifa Sony does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Fifa Sony 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 Mark Jeffery, Saurabh Mishra 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.
Learning organization
- Fifa Sony 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 Fifa Sony is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Fifa Sony digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Fifa Sony has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
High brand equity
– Fifa Sony has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Fifa Sony to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Fifa Sony to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Fifa Sony to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Fifa Sony in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Fifa Sony is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship 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
– Fifa Sony is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship 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 Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Fifa Sony, firm in the HBR case study Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Fifa Sony 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. Fifa Sony 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Fifa Sony 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Fifa Sony is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship 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 Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Fifa Sony is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship, 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Fifa Sony 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 - Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship, it seems that the employees of Fifa Sony 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Fifa Sony 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Fifa Sony is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Fifa Sony needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Fifa Sony to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Fifa Sony has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Opportunities Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship | 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 Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Fifa Sony 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Fifa Sony 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Fifa Sony to increase its market reach. Fifa Sony 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Fifa Sony 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Fifa Sony can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Fifa Sony 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 Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Fifa Sony to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Fifa Sony 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 Fifa Sony to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Fifa Sony has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Fifa Sony to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship case study. Fifa Sony can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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, Fifa Sony can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Fifa Sony operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Fifa Sony 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, Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Fifa Sony is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Fifa Sony 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.
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 Fifa Sony 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.
Threats Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship are -
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
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. Fifa Sony can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Fifa Sony
– 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 Fifa Sony.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Fifa Sony has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Fifa Sony 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Fifa Sony 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 Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship .
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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Fifa Sony 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.
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 Fifa Sony business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship, Fifa Sony 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 .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Fifa Sony 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 Fifa Sony 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Fifa Sony 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.
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 Fifa Sony.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship 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 Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship 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 Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship 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 Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship 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 Sony-FIFA Partnership Marketing Program: The Value of Sponsorship 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 Fifa Sony needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.