Case Study Description of Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A)
The four founding members of Bazaart-a young Israeli company whose sole product was its eponymous mobile application (app) which allowed users to create collages from photographs and other images-face an important strategic decision in June 2014. Since its founding roughly two years earlier, the company had raised very little money from outside investors. Gili Golander, one of the founders and Bazaart's chief marketing officer, utilized a number of "growth hacking" techniques to generate downloads and build awareness at minimal cost. These techniques had proven successful and helped the firm reach 1 million downloads by June 2014. However the four founders debated whether to stay focused on growing Bazaart's user base and worry about driving revenue later, or try and monetize the app (by introducing in-app purchases, native advertising, or moving to a subscription model) and bring in some much needed revenue. Would growth hacking alone be enough to grow the company or should it utilize (and pay for) more traditional marketing? What approach would make the company more attractive to investors?
Swot Analysis of "Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A)" written by Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Matthew Preble includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hacking Bazaart facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Marketing, Sales, Technology and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hacking Bazaart, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hacking Bazaart 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 Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hacking Bazaart
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Hacking Bazaart
Strengths Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hacking Bazaart in Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Hacking Bazaart in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Hacking Bazaart is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Hacking Bazaart in the sector have low bargaining power. Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hacking Bazaart to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Hacking Bazaart are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Hacking Bazaart 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Hacking Bazaart digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Hacking Bazaart 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Hacking Bazaart to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Hacking Bazaart to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Hacking Bazaart has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Hacking Bazaart 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.
Organizational Resilience of Hacking Bazaart
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Hacking Bazaart does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Hacking Bazaart has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Hacking Bazaart is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) 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
– Hacking Bazaart 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 Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Hacking Bazaart 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 Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A), it seems that the employees of Hacking Bazaart 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) HBR case study mentions - Hacking Bazaart 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) 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 Hacking Bazaart 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) 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 Hacking Bazaart has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) 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 Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Hacking Bazaart is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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
Hacking Bazaart 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Matthew Preble suggests that, Hacking Bazaart 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Hacking Bazaart 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 - Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Hacking Bazaart is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) | 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 Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Hacking Bazaart 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 Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hacking Bazaart to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Hacking Bazaart can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Hacking Bazaart can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Hacking Bazaart to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Hacking Bazaart to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Hacking Bazaart can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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, Hacking Bazaart 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, Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A), 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, Hacking Bazaart can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Hacking Bazaart operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Hacking Bazaart can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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 Hacking Bazaart 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Hacking Bazaart has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Hacking Bazaart to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) case study. Hacking Bazaart can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Hacking Bazaart 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 Hacking Bazaart 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Hacking Bazaart can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) are -
Regulatory challenges
– Hacking Bazaart 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Hacking Bazaart 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Hacking Bazaart 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, Hacking Bazaart 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 Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) .
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. Hacking Bazaart needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Hacking Bazaart in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Hacking Bazaart 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hacking Bazaart has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hacking Bazaart needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Hacking Bazaart can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Hacking Bazaart in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A), Hacking Bazaart may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
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. Hacking Bazaart 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.
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 Hacking Bazaart.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) 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 Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) 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 Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) 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 Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) 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 Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A) 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 Hacking Bazaart needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.