"No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight
This descriptive case discusses an emerging global market trend and opportunity - the increasing use of beauty products by men, especially those in Asia. "No More Uncle" captures the emotional motivation behind unappealing and/or older-looking men to transform themselves. Ironically, Asian men were late to grooming compared to those in Western societies but they are making up for it by becoming much more aggressive in adopting their products and services. No country is a better example of this than South Korea, which has attained a "lead" market status such as in soap operas, popular music, women's beauty products and now even men's grooming. The case introduces segments such as NOMU (No More Uncle), JUBAEK (Weekend Department Store Warriors), and YUMMY (Young Urban Males) and describes an important retailing venue for grooming - the updated barbershop. The case wraps up with information about new dimensions on which men's grooming can innovate and grow. Men's grooming represents not only an economically viable industry that is growing almost in double digits, but shows dynamic consumer behaviour - marketing should not stick to centuries-old assumptions of gender or else significant opportunities will be lost.
Swot Analysis of ""No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight" written by Dae Ryun Chang, Jin K. Han includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Grooming Men's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Grooming Men's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Grooming Men'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 "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Grooming Men'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 Grooming Men's
Strengths "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Grooming Men's in "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Grooming Men's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Grooming Men's in the sector have low bargaining power. "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Grooming Men's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Grooming Men's 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Grooming Men's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Grooming Men'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 Dae Ryun Chang, Jin K. Han 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Grooming Men'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 "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Grooming Men's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Grooming Men's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Grooming Men's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Grooming Men's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Grooming Men's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Grooming Men's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Grooming Men's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Grooming Men's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Grooming Men's 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.
Weaknesses "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Dae Ryun Chang, Jin K. Han suggests that, Grooming Men's 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight HBR case study mentions - Grooming Men'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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Grooming Men's 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Grooming Men's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Grooming Men's has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Grooming Men'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.
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 Grooming Men's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Grooming Men's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Grooming Men's 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. Grooming Men's 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 Grooming Men's 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 - "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight 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 Grooming Men's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Grooming Men's, firm in the HBR case study "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight | 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 "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Grooming Men's 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, "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Grooming Men's to increase its market reach. Grooming Men'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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Grooming Men's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Grooming Men's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Grooming Men's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Grooming Men's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Grooming Men'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.
Manufacturing automation
– Grooming Men'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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Grooming Men's 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.
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 Grooming Men'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.
Buying journey improvements
– Grooming Men's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Grooming Men's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Grooming Men's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight case study. Grooming Men's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Grooming Men's in the consumer business. Now Grooming Men's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Grooming Men'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 "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight 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 "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight, Grooming Men'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 .
Increasing wage structure of Grooming Men's
– 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 Grooming Men's.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Grooming Men's 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.
Environmental challenges
– Grooming Men'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. Grooming Men's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Grooming Men'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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Grooming Men'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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Grooming Men's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Grooming Men'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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Grooming Men'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 "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight .
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Grooming Men's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Grooming Men's.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
High 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. Grooming Men's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight 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 "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight 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 "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight 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 "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight 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 "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight 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 Grooming Men's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.