"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 - – geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, 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 -
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.
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 lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Grooming Men'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 Grooming Men's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
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.
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.
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.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Grooming Men's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Grooming Men's 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.
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.
Learning organization
- Grooming Men'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 Grooming Men's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Grooming Men'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.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight, it seems that the employees of Grooming Men'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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight, is just above the industry average. Grooming Men'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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Grooming Men's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Grooming Men's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Grooming Men's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Grooming Men's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Grooming Men's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Grooming Men'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.
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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight 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 "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Grooming Men's is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight, 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 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.
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 -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Grooming Men'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 "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Grooming Men's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Grooming Men's 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.
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.
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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Grooming Men's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. "No More Uncle": Asian Men's Beauty in the Marketing Spotlight 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.
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.
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.
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. Grooming Men's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Grooming Men'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.
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. Grooming Men'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. Grooming Men'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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
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 .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Grooming Men's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Grooming Men's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Grooming Men's 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.
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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Grooming Men's 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.
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.
