Case Study Analysis- Marketing

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Generic Example of a Case Study Analysis Report

Executive Summary This document outlines the structure of the case study analysis report and the examples of basic tables/figures that could be considered for different analyses. The structure of these tables is simple and easy to produce in WORD. Students are encouraged to search for and use more advanced frameworks, tables, and/or figures for each analysis. This document also provides generic guidelines and examples based on information provided in the “Global ice cream wars” case study. In the executive summary, students can provide information about the Unilever in the ice cream market and a brief overview of the challenges discussed in the case study. Brief information about the industry emerging trends or the company’s vision/mission can be indicated in the executive summary. Executive summary should be no more than 200 words (not included in the word count). Please use font size 12 for the main body of the report and font size 10 for the text in the tables and figures (i.e., similar to this example report). Please do not use small fonts in the main text and tables/figures.

Table of Contents Contents Page(s) Executive Summary 1 Table of Contents 1 Situation Analysis – Analysis of Macro Environment 2 Situation Analysis – Analysis of Industry Competition and Competitors 3 Situation Analysis – Analysis of Customers 5 Internal Environment & SWOT Analysis 6 Evaluation of Current Strategies and Problem Statement 8 Alternative Strategies 9 References (optional) 10

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Situation Analysis – Analysis of Macro Environment Students should discuss key macro-environmental factors identified in Table 1 that influence the industry and the studied company in the case study. The conclusion of this section should be no more than 100 words. Identified factors can be presented as bullet points. If there is no information in the case study concerning a macro environment factor (i.e., political), students can leave the related row in the table blank. For instance, students can discuss the importance of ice cream global market growth and related opportunities for Unilever. Table 1. PESTLE Analysis Macro-Level Factors Importance of key factors to the market or the company Political Macro-level information related to the government

actions that may affect the business environment, such as tax policies, Fiscal policy, and trade tariffs.

XYZ

Economic Macro-level information related to inflation, employment, income, interest rates, taxes, trade restrictions, tariffs, business cycle, Willingness to spend, confidence, and spending patterns.

e.g., Economic growth in many countries results growing the global market for ice cream around 3 per cent annually. Market growth represent an opportunity for companies in this industry.

Socio-cultural Macro-level information related to cultural trends, demographics, and population analytics.

XYZ

Technological Macro-level information related to innovations in technology that may affect the operations of the industry and the market favourably or unfavourably.

XYZ

Legal Macro-level information related to consumer laws, safety standards, and labour laws. In some cases, political and legal issues can be grouped in one category.

XYZ

Environmental Macro-level information related to climate, weather, geographical location, global changes in climate, environmental offsets.

XYZ

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Situation Analysis – Analysis of Industry Competition and Competitors Students should discuss key micro-environmental factors that affect the industry competitive intensity and market attractiveness. Students should also identify and assess the competitors in the market. The conclusion of this section should be no more than 200 words. This section includes two analyses: First, the degree of industry competitive intensity and market attractiveness can be assessed using Porter’s Five Forces framework. This framework assesses the competitive intensity and, therefore, the attractiveness (or lack of it) of an industry in terms of its profitability. An "unattractive" industry is one in which the effect of these five forces reduces overall profitability. For instance, the global ice cream market is highly competitive due to high intensity of rivalry and bargaining power of customers, but it is attractive for existing companies -Unilever- given the high barriers for entry, low bargaining power of suppliers, moderate threat of substitute products, and growing the market size. This market is unattractive for new and small companies because of the high intensity of rivalry, bargaining power of customers, and barriers to entry. Students can adopt different templates (i.e., figures, tables) to present this framework and provide the conclusion of the analysis. Table 2. Five Forces Analysis

Force Related Factors Assessment Intensity of rivalry

§ Number of competitors § Sustainable competitive advantage through innovation § Competition between online and offline organizations § Powerful competitors and level of advertising expense

High, Moderate, or

Low

Threat of new entrants

§ Patents & rights § Government policy such as sanctioned monopolies § Capital requirements § Economies of scale § Product differentiation § Brand equity & customer loyalty § Access to distribution channels

High, Moderate, or

Low

Threat of substitutes

§ Relative price performance of substitute § Buyer switching costs and ease of substitution § Perceived level of product differentiation § Number of substitute products in the market § Availability of close substitute

High, Moderate, or

Low

Bargaining power of customers

§ Degree of dependency upon existing channels of distribution § Buyer switching costs § Buyer information availability § Availability of existing substitute products § Buyer price sensitivity § Differential advantage (uniqueness) of industry products

High, Moderate, or

Low

Bargaining power of suppliers

§ Supplier switching costs relative to focal company switching costs § Degree of differentiation of inputs § Impact of inputs on cost and differentiation § Presence of substitute inputs § Strength of distribution channel § Supplier competition

High, Moderate, or

Low

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Second, students should identify key competitors, analyse competitors’ current and future objectives (i.e., investment priorities), analyse competitors’ current strategies (i.e., current target markets and marketing mix strategies), and competitors’ current resource profile (i.e., tangible and intangible assets, competitive advantage). Students can adopt different templates (i.e., figures, tables) to outline competitors and provide the conclusion of the analysis. For instance, Tables 3 outlined key competitors indicated in the “Global ice cream wars” case study. The conclusion of this table should discuss the position of studied company (i.e., Unilever) in the market compared to its competitors, identify main current competitors (i.e., largest, strongest), and predict emerging competitors or emerging strategies of current competitors. Table 3. Competitor Analysis

Competitor Overview

Key success factors

Acquisition strategy

Heavily branded

product range

R&D and

patents

Flexibility to create new/local

flavours

Distribution channel

Nestle (incl. Dreyer and Haagen Dazs in USA, and Scholler/ Mövenpick)

§ Brand competitor – 15% world market share

§ Target market: Super-premium, premium branded, and regular.

++ +++ +++ +++ ++

Häagen Dazs – rest of world

§ XYZ § XYZ n/a

* + + n/a -

Mars § XYZ § XYZ n/a ++ ++ n/a -

Baskin Robbins § XYZ § XYZ n/a + + n/a -

Other (i.e., Supermarket brands)

§ XYZ § XYZ --- --- --- n/a -

Optional: Comparison with studied company – Unilever +++ +++ +++ +++ +++

* n/a: No applicable – Not indicated in the case study.

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Situation Analysis – Analysis of Customers This section is the conclusion of multiple principles/frameworks introduced in Chapter 4 (customer analysis), Chapters 7, 8, and 9 (Segmentation/Positioning/Selecting Target Markets). For instance, please review Figure 4.2, Table 7.4, Figure 9.3 across Chapters 4, 7, and 9 in the core textbook (Holley et al. 2017, 6th Edition) in order to define the segment’s profile/characteristics. Please bear in mind that students may need to use insights from the company’s resource portfolio (as part of internal environment analysis) before analysing and completing Table 9.5 in Chapter 9. The conclusion of this section should be no more than 100 words. In this section, students should: § define the customer segmentation criteria (e.g., see Table 4); § identify primary target markets, secondary target markets, possibilities, and avoid target

markets; and, § evaluate the current studied company’s current segmentation, positioning, and targeting

strategies for identified market segments. Table 4. Customer segmentation by price and quality

Segments Segment Profile/Characteristics *

(Who? What? Where?) Segment Preferences

(What? Why? How? When? Where?) Primary target: Premium branded

§ Lower-upper and upper-middle social classes

§ Mainly customers from developed economies (e.g., US and UK)

§ Relatively customers from developing economies (e.g., South Africa, China)

§ Good quality ingredients with individual, well- known branded names, such as Mars, Magnum and Extrême

§ Prices set above regular and economy categories but not as high as above: high value added

Secondary target 1: Super-premium

§ Upper-upper and lower-upper social classes

§ Customers from developed economies (e.g., US and UK)

§ High quality, exotic flavours, e.g. Häagen-Dazs Mint Chocolate Chip, Ben & Jerry’s Fudge

§ Very high unit prices: very high value added

Secondary target 1: Regular

§ Lower-middle and upper-lower social classes

§ Customers from developed economies (e.g., US and UK) and emerging economies (e.g., South Africa, China)

§ Standard-quality ingredients with branding relying on manufacturer’s name rather than individual product, e.g. Wall’s, Scholler

§ Standard prices: adequate value added but large- volume market

Possibilities: Ice cream for cold weather

§ Upper-upper, lower-upper, and upper-middle social classes

§ Customers from developed economies (e.g., US and UK)

§ Good quality ingredients with individual, well- known branded names

§ Prices set above regular and economy categories but not as high as above: high value added

Avoid targets: Economy

§ Lower-lower social class § Mainly customers from developing

economies (e.g., South Africa, China)

§ Relatively customers from developed economies (e.g., US and UK)

§ Manufactured by smaller manufacturers with standard-quality ingredients, possibly for supermarkets’ own brands

§ Lower price, highly price competitive: low value added but large market – perhaps high- quality ingredients

* Based on the information from the “Global ice cream wars” case study, this column is mainly based on logical assumptions. For instance, only upper-upper and lower-upper social classes afford to purchase super-premium products with high price tags.

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Internal Environment & SWOT Analysis Students should also identify and assess the competitors in the market. This section includes two analyses: First, identification of the company’s strategic type based on Porter’s generic strategy types. Second, SWOT analysis. This section should be no more than 350 words. Identification of the company’s current strategic type helps to better understand its position in the market (linked to competitor analysis) and its positioning and targeting strategies (linked customer analysis). It also helps to assess the company’s value propositions and strategic decisions. For instance, companies with “focused differentiation strategy” are more likely to heavily invest in R&D and develop premium products. It also plays a critical role in defining the company’s problems and proposing relevant alternative strategies. For instance, proposing focused low-cost strategies is not appropriate with for leading brand, such as Porsche and Apple. It is recommended to suggest minimum two alternative strategies for companies with hybrid strategy type (i.e., one differentiation strategy and one low-cost strategy – please review papers on organisational ambidexterity). No table or figure is required for this section. SWOT analysis is a technique to identify a company’s strengths and weaknesses and its opportunities and threats in the market. Students can use multiple techniques/frameworks introduced in Chapters 6 (i.e., resource portfolio) to identify a company’s strengths and weaknesses. Students also can use the findings in the previous analyses (i.e., PESTLE, competitive environment, competitor analysis, customer analysis) to identify opportunities and threats in the market. SWOT analysis is designed for use in the preliminary stages of decision- making and can be used as a tool for evaluation of a company’s current strategies, performance, and position in the market. Table 5. SWOT Analysis

Strengths - Heavily branded product range - Market share (27% of the world) - R&D and patents - Strong Distribution channel - Acquisition strategy

Weaknesses - Operations costs - Weak bargaining power to chain supermarkets as one of their major business customers - Lack of synergy with other Unilever’s brands/products compared to Nestle and Mars

Opportunities -Economic growth in many countries and therefore increase purchasing power of customers - Potential desire for local flavoured ice-creams - Emergence of new segmentations

Threats - Customer choices: Strong competitors - Merger of competitors - Lower demand in countries with cold winters - Emergence of low-cost focused competitors

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The conclusion of SWOT analysis should answer the following questions: § How do these strengths enable the company to meet customers' needs? How do these

strengths differentiate the company from its competitors? § How do these weaknesses prevent the company from meeting customers' needs? How do

these weaknesses negatively differentiate the company from its competitors? § How are these opportunities related to serving customers' needs? What is the time horizon

of each opportunity? § How are these threats related to serving customers' needs? What is the time horizon of

each threat?

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Evaluation of Current Strategies and Problem Statement The identification and definition of the problem(s)/challenge(s) facing the company is the most critical part of the analysis framework. Only a problem properly defined can be addressed. Define the problem too narrowly, or miss the key problem, and all subsequent framework steps will be off the mark. Getting a clear picture of the problem is one major benefit derived from the situation and internal analyses. The process of identifying problems is similar to the one people go through with their doctors. A nurse or assistant comes in to conduct a strength and weakness assessment on a patient. The patient’s vital signs are taken and the patient is asked about any symptoms he/she may be experiencing. Symptoms are observable manifestations or indications that a problem may be present. Symptoms are not the problem themselves. The most important question in the identification of any problem is Why?. Why questions should always be asked after a potential problem has been proposed. Student can ask Why questions for key symptoms related to a company’s strategies and performance. § Describe the company’s current marketing strategies. Which elements of the strategy are

working well? Which elements are not? Why? § Describe the company’s current performance (sales volume, market share, profitability,

awareness, brand preference) compared to other companies in the industry. Is the performance of the industry as a whole improving or declining? Why? If the company’s performance is declining, what is the most likely cause (e.g., environmental changes, flawed strategy, poor implementation)? Why?

Example from the “Global ice cream wars” case study: There are indications in the case study that the market share of supermarket brands is growing (Why?). The underlying reason is that supermarket brands offer similar products (i.e., new flavours) at a lower price, as they use their existing (but limited) distribution channels and sell products directly to customers with no cost intermediaries. When you can no longer devise a meaningful response to the Why question, the problem is probably revealed. In this instance, the problem is: Unilever faces growing competition from supermarket brands and their cheaper products, because of they sell products directly to customers using their existing (but limited) distribution channel. When the key problem is identified, students should state them concisely and precisely in this section. This section should be no more than 350 words. Due to the word limitation, it is recommended that students only identify and define one key problem in the case study (while there might be multiple key problems). No table or figure is required for this section.

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Alternative Strategies Once a problem is defined clearly and succinctly, students are in a position to develop a set of alternative strategies that have a reasonable potential to solve the identified problem. Alternative strategies should identify basic directions that a company may undertake to develop and offer new value propositions to the market, penetrate to new market segments, etc. Although students can consider novel alternative strategies to address the identified problem, an alternative strategy could be Status Quo with improvements. Once a single or a set of alternative strategies are developed, it is time to do evaluate each alternative. Three major criteria should be used in this evaluation process.

1. First, does the alternative strategy address the identified problem? Is there consistency between the alternative and the company’s strategic type?

2. The second criterion relates to the feasibility of an alternative strategy: How well does an alternative strategy match up with the internal and external environments of the company?

3. Students should also make an effort to estimate and evaluate the benefits, costs, and other implications of pursuing the suggested alternative strategy. For instance, does an alternative strategy enable a company to explore a market opportunity and increase the market share? Does it help a company to strengthen brand reputation? Does it help to minimize an environmental threat and defend the current market share?

To sum up, the proposed alternative strategies should be the best options for a company in terms of all three criteria: consistency with the strategic type, harmony with the internal and external environments, and strongest probable financial and other strategic outcomes. A useful technique to help align strategies and objectives is to present them together in a table, along with the insight developed from the situation and internal analyses which may have informed the strategy (see Table 6 – optional for the report). This section should be no more than 350 words. No table or figure is required for this section. Table 6. Evaluation and Justification of Alternative Strategies

Objectives Alternative Strategy Justifications

A specific objective to address the identified problem.

e.g., Distribute ice- cream through other outlets to compete with supermarket brands

Provide ice-cream kiosks and take the exclusive right to serve ice cream in different cinema chain companies (i.e., Vue, Showcase) across the UK.

Although impulse segmentation represents a secondary target market, the size of the overall market is growing and other competitors with limited distribution channel cannot cover multiple geographical regions. This strategy is also consistent with the Unilever’s strategic type and it provides the opportunity to sell premium and regular branded products in less competitive outlets. This strategy is feasible for Unilever given its strong distribution channels and financial resources to provide kiosks and supply ice-cream. This strategy might be also attractive for cinema chain companies given the Unilever ice-creams’ product range and brand reputation.

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References (Optional – Following references are used for this example report) - Hooley, G., Piercy, N., and Nicoulaud, B. (2017), Marketing Strategy & Competitive

Positioning, Prentice Hall, 6th Edition. - Ferrell, O., and Hartline M. D. (2014), Marketing Strategy, Cengage, 6th Edition. - MAN3106 Module handbook (2020) Surrey Learn. - MAN3106 Individual assignment handbook (2020) Surrey Learn. - MAN3106 Lecture/Seminar Slides (2020) Surrey Learn.