SWOT examples

Found on marketingteacher.com

Amazon:

Strengths.

• Amazon is a profitable organization. In 2005 profits for the three months to June dipped 32% to $52m (£29.9m) from $76m in the same period in 2004. Sales jumped 26% to $1.75bn. Until recent years Amazon was experiencing large losses, due to its huge initial set up costs. The recent dip is due to promotions that have offered reduced delivery costs to consumers.
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Information Technology (IT) support Amazon's business strategy. The company carefully records data on customer buyer behaviour. This enables them to offer to an individual specific items, or bundles of items, based upon preferences demonstrated through purchases or items visited.
• Amazon is a huge global brand. It is recognisable for two main reasons. It was one of the original dotcoms, and over the last decade it has developed a customer base of around 30 million people. It was an early exploiter of online technologies for e-commerce, which made it one of the first online retailers. It has built on nits early successes with books, and now has product categories that include electronics, toys and games, DIY and more.

Weaknesses.

• As Amazon adds new categories to its business, it risks damaging its brand. Amazon is the number one retailer for books. Toy-R-Us is the number one retailers for toys and games. Imagine if Toys-R-Us began to sell books. This would confuse its consumers and endanger its brands. In the same way, many of the new categories, for example automotive, may prove to be too confusing for customers.
• The company may at some point need to reconsider its strategy of offering free shipping to customers. It is a fair strategy since one could visit a more local retailer, and pay no costs. However, it is rumoured that shipping costs could be up to $500m, and such a high figure would undoubtedly erode profits.

Opportunities.

• The company is now increasingly cashing in on its credentials as an online retail pioneer by selling its expertise to major store groups. For example, British retailer Marks and Spencer announced a joint venture with Amazon to sell its products and service online. Other recent collaborations have been with Target, Toys-R-Us and the NBA. Amazon's new Luxembourg-based division aims to provide tailored services to retailers as a technology service provider in Europe.
• There are also opportunities for Amazon to build collaborations with the public sector. For example the company announced a deal with the British Library, London, in 2004. The benefit is that customers c an search for rare or antique books. The library's catalogue of published works is now on the Amazon website, meaning it has details of more than 2.5m books on the site.
• In 2004 Amazon moved into the Chinese market, by buying china's biggest online retailer, Joyo.com . The deal was reported to be worth around $75m (£40m). Joyo.com has many similarities to its new owner, in that it retails books, movies, toys, and music at discounted prices.

Threats

• All successful Internet businesses attract competition. Since Amazon sells the same or similar products as high street retailers and other online businesses, it may become more and more difficult to differentiate the brand from its competitors. Amazon does have it s brand. It also has a huge range of products. Otherwise, price competition could damage the business.
• International competitors may also intrude upon Amazon as it expands. Those domestic (US-based) rivals unable to compete with Amazon in the US, may entrench overseas and compete with them on foreign fronts. Joint ventures, strategic alliances and mergers could see Amazon losing its top position in some markets.
• The products that Amazon sells tend to be bought as gifts, especially at Christmas. This means that there is an element of seasonality to the business. However, by trading in overseas markets in different cultures such seasonality may not be enduring.

Ben & Jerry's:

Strengths

• Prestigious, established, successful, global operation, with sales in USA, Europe and Asia, which is synonymous with social responsibility and environmentalism. For example, its products are packed in unbleached cardboard containers.
• Ben & Jerry's also donates a minimum of $1.1 million of pretax profits to philanthropic causes yearly. The company sponsors PartnerShops, which are Ben & Jerry outlets independently owned and operated by nonprofit organizations such as Goodwill Industries. The company is also involved in other good causes, including global warming, gun control and saving family farms.

• The company sells its colorfully named ice cream, ice-cream novelties, and frozen yogurt under brand names such as Chunky Monkey, Phish Food, and Cherry Garcia. It also franchises some 750 Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops worldwide.
• Ben and Jerry's were bought by consumer products manufacturer Unilever in 2000, but were still able to retain their social responsibility platform and kept both co-founders closely involved with product development. Their brands complement Unilever's existing ice cream brands.
• In 2009 Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream flavor was named in a top ten list of the best ice cream in London.
• In 2007 Ben and Jerry's co-founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were asked to join Lance Armstrong in speaking about clean technology and alternative energy at the Ernst and Young national entrepreneur of the year awards.
• In 2008, their market share was second only Haagen-Dazs who had a 44% market share while Ben and Jerry's had 36%. This was achieved in spite of a premium price point. The premium price of the product was supported by a high quality image, and high quality products.

Weaknesses

• In 2006, former CFO Stuart Wiles was convicted of embezzling some $300,000 from the company during his tenure at Ben & Jerry's, which ran from 2000 to 2004.
• In 2006 they had to stop using Michael Foods as their egg supplier, due to bad PR from the Humane Society, which alleged that Michel Foods treated chickens inhumanely.
• They achieved success despite several corporate weaknesses. The most obvious was a lack of professionalism in its management, and no clear mission statement (which they have amended). They reinvested huge amounts of property and equipment in 1994 increasing their long-term debts by almost 45% in 1993. They increased marketing and selling expenses and administrative infrastructure, which increased 28% to $36.3 million in 1994 from $28.3 million in 1993 and increased as a percentage of net sales to 24.4% in 1994 from 20.2% in 1993. They took out a vast amount of capital lease in their aim to automate their production to keep up with the intense competition.
• Their clear focus on multiple social responsibility issues could hurt the company by shifting the focus away from important business matters, and also add unnecessary costs.
• They need more experienced management to fuel aggressive growth in a downturned economy and change flat sales in their premium product lines.

Opportunities

• In today's health conscious societies the introduction of more fat-free and healthy alternative ice cream and frozen yogurt products.
• Provide allergen free food items, such as gluten free and peanut free.
• In 2009 Ben & Jerry's announced plans to roll out the country's first HFC-free freezers; freezers that would be sold to grocery stores and would not emit harmful chemicals into the atmosphere.
• In 2008 they acquired Best foods and Slim-fast which will allow them to enter a new industry of weight loss products. In turn they can now expand into new geographic markets-more countries, like Europe, where the weight loss/management trend is taking hold.
• They could expand their existing product lines to compete with the 'private-in house brands' offered by supermarkets, and in developing countries.
• Selling Ben and Jerry's premium ice cream in South America (which is an emerging market that has yet to be capitalized upon). There is a growing demand for premium ice cream in new markets like Asia.

Threats

• Much of their target market is constantly changing its product preferences (desiring to prevent diabetes, obesity etc.). That, coupled with a decrease in household sizes and discretionary income, has left sales flat in recent years.
• Consumers are concerned about fattening dessert products. Especially Ben and Jerry's target market, which are accustomed to reading nutrition labels.
• Any contamination of the food supply, especially e-coli.
• Major competitors, like Nestle (Pillsbury), Kraft Foods, Dunkin Donuts, and Dean Foods. They also have competition from global food companies with similar products and any grocery store label products. Much of their competition seems to be merging together, in order to remain marketable in this tough economy.
• Experts say that animal feed prices are rising, partly because biofuel crops are replacing cow fodder. In turn, the high priced animal feed pushes up the cost of milk. Prices of all milk products are rising worldwide, due to what some call a "perfect storm" of low supply and high demand. There is a distinct possibility that their may not be enough milk to meet demand, and that there could be a global milk shortage.
• Agricultural economists say today's milk shortage is basically a case of low supply and high demand worldwide. Supply is down for many reasons. A bad drought in Australia dried up the grass that the country's cows eat. New export taxes were added on Argentina's milk in an attempt to keep the country's food prices under control. Also, European farmers can't significantly increase production until a quota system is phased out eight years from now. The U.S. and Europe always used to have spare dairy products to sell cheaply around the globe, but that's no longer the case, says market expert Erhard Richarts.
• Skim Milk powder (which is easier to transport than fresh milk) is used in a wide range of foodstuffs, and in 2007 its price shot up to record levels worldwide - almost twice as high as the year before. Then retail prices went up, a butter shortage, cheese prices went up, and then wholesale prices went up, and there doesn't seem to be an end to it.

Starbucks:

Strengths.

• Starbucks Corporation is a very profitable organization, earning in excess of $600 million in 2004.The company generated revenue of more than $5000 million in the same year.
• It is a global coffee brand built upon a reputation for fine products and services. It has almost 9000 cafes in almost 40 countries.
• Starbucks was one of the Fortune Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2005. The company is a respected employer that values its workforce.
• The organization has strong ethical values and an ethical mission statement as follows, 'Starbucks is committed to a role of environmental leadership in all facets of our business.'

Weaknesses.

• Starbucks has a reputation for new product development and creativity. However, they remain vulnerable to the possibility that their innovation may falter over time.
• The organization has a strong presence in the United States of America with more than three quarters of their cafes located in the home market. It is often argued that they need to look for a portfolio of countries, in order to spread business risk.
• The organization is dependant on a main competitive advantage, the retail of coffee. This could make them slow to diversify into other sectors should the need arise.

Opportunities.

• Starbucks are very good at taking advantage of opportunties. In 2004 the company created a CD-burning service in their Santa Monica (California USA) cafe with Hewlett Packard, where customers create their own music CD.
• New products and services that can be retailed in their cafes, such as Fair Trade products.
• The company has the opportunity to expand its global operations. New markets for coffee such as India and the Pacific Rim nations are beginning to emerge.
• Co-branding with other manufacturers of food and drink, and brand franchising to manufacturers of other goods and services both have potential.

Threats.

• Who knows if the market for coffee will grow and stay in favour with customers, or whether another type of beverage or leisure activity will replace coffee in the future?
• Starbucks are exposed to rises in the cost of coffee and dairy products.
• Since its conception in Pike Place Market, Seattle in 1971, Starbucks' success has lead to the market entry of many competitors and copy cat brands that pose potential threats.

Re-cap Research

The 4 P's:



































Courtesy of www.thetimes100.co.uk, here is a simple way that helped me understand the 4 P's better, with two different examples of how it works in a real business.

To create the right marketing mix, businesses have to meet the following conditions:

• The product has to have the right features - for example, it must look good and work well.

• The price must be right. Consumer will need to buy in large numbers to produce a healthy profit.

• The goods must be in the right place at the right time. Making sure that the goods arrive when and where they are wanted is an important operation.

• The target group needs to be made aware of the existence and availability of the product through promotion. Successful promotion helps a firm to spread costs over a larger output.
  
  Kellogg's Example:
  A company like Kellogg's is constantly developing new breakfast cereals - the product element is the new product itself, getting the price right involves examining customer perceptions and rival products as well as costs of manufacture, promotion involves engaging in a range of promotional activities e.g. competitions, product tasting etc, and place involves using the best possible channels of distribution such as leading supermarket chains.The product is the central point on which marketing energy must focus. Finding out how to make the product, setting up the production line, providing the finance and manufacturing the product are not the responsibility of the marketing function. However, it is concerned with what the product means to the customer. Marketing therefore plays a key role in determining such aspects as:
  
  • the appearance of the product - in line with the requirements of the market
  • the function of the product - products must address the needs of customers as identified through market research.
  The product range and how it is used is a function of the marketing mix. The range may be broadened or a brand may be extended for tactical reasons, such as matching competition or catering for seasonal fluctuations. Alternatively, a product may be repositioned to make it more acceptable for a new group of consumers as part of a long-term plan.
  
  Price
  Of all the aspects of the marketing mix, price is the one, which creates sales revenue - all the others are costs. The price of an item is clearly an important determinant of the value of sales made. In theory, price is really determined by the discovery of what customers perceive is the value of the item on sale. Researching consumers' opinions about pricing is important as it indicates how they value what they are looking for as well as what they want to pay. An organisation's pricing policy will vary according to time and circumstances. Crudely speaking, the value of water in the Lake District will be considerably different from the value of water in the desert.
  
  Place
  Although figures vary widely from product to product, roughly a fifth of the cost of a product goes on getting it to the customer. 'Place' is concerned with various methods of transporting and storing goods, and then making them available for the customer. Getting the right product to the right place at the right time involves the distribution system. The choice of distribution method will depend on a variety of circumstances. It will be more convenient for some manufacturers to sell to wholesalers who then sell to retailers, while others will prefer to sell directly to retailers or customers.
  
  Promotion
  Promotion is the business of communicating with customers. It will provide information that will assist them in making a decision to purchase a product or service. The razzmatazz, pace and creativity of some promotional activities are almost alien to normal business activities.
  
  The cost associated with promotion or advertising goods and services often represents a sizeable proportion of the overall cost of producing an item. However, successful promotion increases sales so that advertising and other costs are spread over a larger output. Though increased promotional activity is often a sign of a response to a problem such as competitive activity, it enables an organisation to develop and build up a succession of messages and can be extremely cost-effective.
  
  
  Manchester United's Example:
  
  What are the main elements of the marketing mix of Manchester United? First of all the product includes providing an excellent football team that plays and wins in an exciting way. However, there are other ingredients of the product including merchandising such as the sale of shirts, and a range of memorabilia. The product also relates to television rights, and Manchester United's own television channel. In one respect the place is Old Trafford where home games are played, but Manchester United also plays at a range of other venues. And, of course its products are sold across the globe, through the club's website and a range of other sales media.
  
  Manchester United markets itself as a global brand. The club also engages in a range of joint promotional activities, for example with the mobile phone company Vodafone. Manchester United books, shirts, programmes, keyrings and many other items are sold and promoted through its website. The club has positioned itself at the upmarket premier end of the market and, as a result, it tends to charge premium prices as evidenced by the high cost of a season ticket to watch home league games.
  
  Positioning or repositioning a product - refers to locating that product within a market for example presenting it is an upmarket or downmarket product. Positioning it as a product for younger consumers or older consumers etc.

PEST analysis research

[From marketingteacher.com]

Political Factors.

The political arena has a huge influence upon the regulation of businesses, and the spending power of consumers and other businesses. You must consider issues such as:

1.How stable is the political environment?

2.Will government policy influence laws that regulate or tax your business?

3.What is the government's position on marketing ethics?

4. What is the government's policy on the economy?

5. Does the government have a view on culture and religion?

6. Is the government involved in trading agreements such as EU, NAFTA, ASEAN, or others?

Economic Factors.

Marketers need to consider the state of a trading economy in the short and long-terms. This is especially true when planning for international marketing. You need to look at:

1. Interest rates.

2. The level of inflation Employment level per capita.

3. Long-term prospects for the economy Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, and so on.

Sociocultural Factors.

The social and cultural influences on business vary from country to country. It is very important that such factors are considered. Factors include:

1.What is the dominant religion?

2.What are attitudes to foreign products and services?

3.Does language impact upon the diffusion of products onto markets?

4.How much time do consumers have for leisure?

5.What are the roles of men and women within society?

6.How long are the population living? Are the older generations wealthy?

7.Do the population have a strong/weak opinion on green issues?

Technological Factors.

Technology is vital for competitive advantage, and is a major driver of globalization. Consider the following points:

1. Does technology allow for products and services to be made more cheaply and to a better standard of quality?

2.Do the technologies offer consumers and businesses more innovative products and services such as Internet banking, new generation mobile telephones, etc?

3.How is distribution changed by new technologies e.g. books via the Internet, flight tickets, auctions, etc?

4.Does technology offer companies a new way to communicate with consumers e.g. banners, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), etc?