Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data
In October 2015, Squatty Potty's chief executive officer (CEO) launched the first viral video campaign in the U.S. company's history. In terms of cost, it represented the largest single marketing promotion ever for the company's home remedy for constipation-a foot stool that made going to the bathroom more ergonomic. Further raising the stakes of his decision, the CEO's three business partners had reservations and objections. The partners worried that an irreverent viral video could be expensive, ineffective, and even offensive to the target markets. For the good of the business, the strength of the partnership, and the efficacy of future marketing efforts, it was critical that the CEO be able to provide credible proof of the campaign's efficacy. In addition, his ability to critically assess the strengths, weaknesses, and outcomes of the campaign would provide precious insight to shape future promotion campaigns, both online and offline. John Dinsmore is affiliated with Wright State University.
Swot Analysis of "Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data" written by John Dinsmore includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Squatty Campaign facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social platforms and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Squatty Campaign, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Squatty Campaign 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 Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Squatty Campaign
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 Squatty Campaign
Strengths Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Squatty Campaign in Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Squatty Campaign in the sector have low bargaining power. Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Squatty Campaign to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Squatty Campaign is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Squatty Campaign is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Squatty Campaign 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 Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Squatty Campaign in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Squatty Campaign 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 John Dinsmore 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.
Organizational Resilience of Squatty Campaign
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Squatty Campaign does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Squatty Campaign digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Squatty Campaign 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.
Training and development
– Squatty Campaign has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data 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.
High brand equity
– Squatty Campaign has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Squatty Campaign to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Squatty Campaign is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data, it seems that the employees of Squatty Campaign 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data 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 Squatty Campaign 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, John Dinsmore suggests that, Squatty Campaign 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Squatty Campaign products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Squatty Campaign needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Squatty Campaign 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Squatty Campaign 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data, is just above the industry average. Squatty Campaign 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 Squatty Campaign is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Squatty Campaign needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Squatty Campaign to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Squatty Campaign, firm in the HBR case study Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Squatty Campaign supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Squatty Campaign vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data HBR case study mentions - Squatty Campaign 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.
Opportunities Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data | 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 Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Squatty Campaign 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Squatty Campaign 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.
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. Squatty Campaign can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Squatty Campaign has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Squatty Campaign to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data case study. Squatty Campaign can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Squatty Campaign 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, Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Squatty Campaign can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Squatty Campaign operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Squatty Campaign 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 Squatty Campaign 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.
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 Squatty Campaign 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.
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. Squatty Campaign 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. Squatty Campaign 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. Squatty Campaign 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Squatty Campaign 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.
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 Squatty Campaign in the consumer business. Now Squatty Campaign can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Squatty Campaign with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Squatty Campaign has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Squatty Campaign 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.
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.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Squatty Campaign in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Squatty Campaign is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Squatty Campaign
– 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 Squatty Campaign.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Squatty Campaign 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Squatty Campaign 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 Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data .
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 Squatty Campaign 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.
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 Squatty Campaign business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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 Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data, Squatty Campaign 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 .
Regulatory challenges
– Squatty Campaign 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 Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data 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 Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data 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 Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data 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 Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data 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 Squatty Potty: Assessing Digital Marketing Campaign Data 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 Squatty Campaign needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
