Case Study Description of Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing
Brooks West of Sweet Concepts has recently adopted a new brand strategy for Butterfields, the company's line of hard candy. West must decide how the new branding strategy should affect his trade-show marketing program
Authors :: Mark Parry, James R. Rubin, Melanie Jones
Swot Analysis of "Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing" written by Mark Parry, James R. Rubin, Melanie Jones includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sweet Butterfields facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Communication and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing casestudy better are - – technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sweet Butterfields, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sweet Butterfields 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 Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sweet Butterfields
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Sweet Butterfields
Strengths Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sweet Butterfields in Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Sweet Butterfields is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sweet Butterfields 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 Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sweet Butterfields 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sweet Butterfields has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sweet Butterfields 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.
Learning organization
- Sweet Butterfields 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 Sweet Butterfields is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Sweet Butterfields 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 Sweet Butterfields 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 Sweet Butterfields in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sweet Butterfields 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 Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sweet Butterfields is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing 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.
Training and development
– Sweet Butterfields has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sweet Butterfields is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sweet Butterfields in the sector have low bargaining power. Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sweet Butterfields to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sweet Butterfields, firm in the HBR case study Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Sweet Butterfields supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Sweet Butterfields vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing HBR case study mentions - Sweet Butterfields 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 Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing 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 Sweet Butterfields 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing 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 Sweet Butterfields has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sweet Butterfields 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 - Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing, is just above the industry average. Sweet Butterfields 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 Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing, in the dynamic environment Sweet Butterfields has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sweet Butterfields has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sweet Butterfields 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. Sweet Butterfields 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Sweet Butterfields has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Opportunities Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing | 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 Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Sweet Butterfields 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. Sweet Butterfields 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sweet Butterfields 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sweet Butterfields can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Sweet Butterfields can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Sweet Butterfields can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sweet Butterfields 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sweet Butterfields 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 Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sweet Butterfields to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Sweet Butterfields 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sweet Butterfields 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Sweet Butterfields in the consumer business. Now Sweet Butterfields can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sweet Butterfields in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sweet Butterfields can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sweet Butterfields operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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 Sweet Butterfields 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 Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing, Sweet Butterfields may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
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 Sweet Butterfields business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Sweet Butterfields in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline 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. Sweet Butterfields needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sweet Butterfields 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 Sweet Butterfields 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sweet Butterfields 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.
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. Sweet Butterfields 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sweet Butterfields 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 Sweet Butterfields.
Environmental challenges
– Sweet Butterfields 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. Sweet Butterfields can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Increasing wage structure of Sweet Butterfields
– 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 Sweet Butterfields.
Regulatory challenges
– Sweet Butterfields 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing 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 Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing 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 Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing 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 Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing 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 Sweet Concepts, Inc.: Trade Show Marketing 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 Sweet Butterfields needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
