Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising
The case describes an experiment designed to measure the effectiveness of an online display advertising campaign. After running the campaign for their client, Rocket Fuel's analysts are tasked with proving that the campaign was effective and had a positive return on investment (ROI). The experiment involves randomly assigning Internet users to a test or a control group based on cookies that uniquely identify each user visiting a site where Rocket Fuel can place an ad. Users in the test group see an ad for a newly released handbag by TaskaBella, Rocket Fuel's client. Users in the control group are shown a public service announcement (PSA) that is unrelated to the advertised product. Based on the unique IDs, Rocket Fuel is able to track which user eventually purchased a handbag from TaskaBella, allowing the analysts to discern the effectiveness of the campaign. A detailed data set (rocketfuel_data.csv) is provided with the case that allows students to conduct their own analysis.
Swot Analysis of "Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising" written by Zsolt Katona, Brian Bell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Rocket Taskabella facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Sales and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Rocket Taskabella, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Rocket Taskabella 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 Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Rocket Taskabella
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 Rocket Taskabella
Strengths Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Rocket Taskabella in Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Rocket Taskabella digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Rocket Taskabella 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Rocket Taskabella in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Rocket Taskabella is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Rocket Taskabella 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.
Learning organization
- Rocket Taskabella 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 Rocket Taskabella is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Rocket Taskabella is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Rocket Taskabella is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Rocket Taskabella 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 Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Rocket Taskabella 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 Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Rocket Taskabella 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 Zsolt Katona, Brian Bell 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Rocket Taskabella has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Rocket Taskabella 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Rocket Taskabella to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Rocket Taskabella to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Rocket Taskabella 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. Rocket Taskabella 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Rocket Taskabella 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 - Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Rocket Taskabella products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Rocket Taskabella needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Rocket Taskabella 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Rocket Taskabella has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Rocket Taskabella is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Rocket Taskabella needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Rocket Taskabella to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Rocket Taskabella, firm in the HBR case study Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising 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 Rocket Taskabella supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Rocket Taskabella vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising 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 Rocket Taskabella 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising 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 Rocket Taskabella has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Rocket Taskabella is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising | 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 Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising are -
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. Rocket Taskabella can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Rocket Taskabella 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, Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Rocket Taskabella can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Rocket Taskabella operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Rocket Taskabella can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Rocket Taskabella can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Rocket Taskabella can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Sales & Marketing segment.
Developing new processes and practices
– Rocket Taskabella 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.
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. Rocket Taskabella can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Rocket Taskabella 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
– Rocket Taskabella can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Rocket Taskabella 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.
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. Rocket Taskabella 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. Rocket Taskabella 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Rocket Taskabella 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 Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Rocket Taskabella to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Rocket Taskabella 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 Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising .
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. Rocket Taskabella can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Rocket Taskabella 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. Rocket Taskabella 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. Rocket Taskabella 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Rocket Taskabella 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising, Rocket Taskabella 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 .
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 Rocket Taskabella in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Rocket Taskabella
– 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 Rocket Taskabella.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Rocket Taskabella 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Rocket Taskabella 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 Rocket Taskabella is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Rocket Taskabella has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Rocket Taskabella 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising 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 Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising 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 Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising 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 Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising 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 Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising 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 Rocket Taskabella needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.