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 - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, 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 -
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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Rocket Taskabella in the sector have low bargaining power. Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Rocket Taskabella to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Rocket Taskabella has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Training and development
– Rocket Taskabella has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising 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.
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.
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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Rocket Taskabella is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising 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.
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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Rocket Taskabella 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 Rocket Taskabella in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
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.
High brand equity
– Rocket Taskabella has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Rocket Taskabella to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
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 -
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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising 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 Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Rocket Taskabella is planning to shift buying processes online.
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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Rocket Taskabella 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.
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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Zsolt Katona, Brian Bell suggests that, Rocket Taskabella is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising, in the dynamic environment Rocket Taskabella has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Rocket Taskabella has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising, 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising, is just above the industry average. Rocket Taskabella needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Slow 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 -
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.
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.
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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Rocket Taskabella 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 Rocket Taskabella to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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.
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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Rocket Taskabella 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.
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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Rocket Taskabella is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising 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.
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.
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.
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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Rocket Taskabella has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Rocket Taskabella to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Rocket Fuel: Measuring the Effectiveness of Online Advertising case study. Rocket Taskabella can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 -
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.
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. Rocket Taskabella needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Rocket Taskabella 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Rocket Taskabella with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Rocket Taskabella needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
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.
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.
