Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada
In Canada, the Budweiser brand of beer was managed by Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.'s Labatt Breweries subsidiary in Toronto, Canada. In 2016, a senior manager noticed that fewer younger consumers-those aged 19 to 24-were drinking Budweiser beer. In response, the brand increased its investment in television advertising and initiated price incentives, but the sales volumes did not respond accordingly. The senior manager's brand and research teams were tasked with determining which key messages to emphasize and which advertising vehicles to use to gain market share for this segment of the beer market. They started their work by reviewing consumer research on Budweiser's television advertisements. What could the teams do to increase Budweiser's engagement with this young demographic?
Authors :: Michael Taylor, Miranda Goode, Ken Mark
Swot Analysis of "Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada" written by Michael Taylor, Miranda Goode, Ken Mark includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Budweiser Budweiser's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Budweiser Budweiser's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Budweiser Budweiser's 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 Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Budweiser Budweiser's
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 Budweiser Budweiser's
Strengths Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Budweiser Budweiser's in Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Analytics focus
– Budweiser Budweiser's 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 Michael Taylor, Miranda Goode, Ken Mark 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Budweiser Budweiser's 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 Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Budweiser Budweiser's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Budweiser Budweiser's 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 Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Budweiser Budweiser's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Budweiser Budweiser's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Budweiser Budweiser's in the sector have low bargaining power. Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Budweiser Budweiser's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Budweiser Budweiser's 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 Budweiser Budweiser's 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 Budweiser Budweiser's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Budweiser Budweiser's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Budweiser Budweiser's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Budweiser Budweiser's 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 Budweiser Budweiser's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada, 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada 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 Budweiser Budweiser's 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada, it seems that the employees of Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada, in the dynamic environment Budweiser Budweiser's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Budweiser Budweiser's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada HBR case study mentions - Budweiser Budweiser's takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High dependence on 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 Budweiser Budweiser's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Budweiser Budweiser's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada, is just above the industry average. Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
Opportunities Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada | 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 Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada are -
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. Budweiser Budweiser's 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. Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
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 Budweiser Budweiser's in the consumer business. Now Budweiser Budweiser's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Budweiser Budweiser's 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 Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Budweiser Budweiser's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Budweiser Budweiser's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Budweiser Budweiser's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Budweiser Budweiser's to increase its market reach. Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
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. Budweiser Budweiser's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Budweiser Budweiser's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Budweiser Budweiser's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada case study. Budweiser Budweiser's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
Threats Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Budweiser Budweiser's in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Budweiser Budweiser's.
Environmental challenges
– Budweiser Budweiser's 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. Budweiser Budweiser's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada, Budweiser Budweiser's 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
– Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
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. Budweiser Budweiser's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Budweiser Budweiser's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Budweiser Budweiser's 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Budweiser Budweiser's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Budweiser Budweiser's 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 Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Budweiser Budweiser's is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada 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 Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada 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 Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada 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 Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada 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 Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.: The Budweiser Brand in Canada 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 Budweiser Budweiser's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.