Marketing - SOWAT ANALYSIS

PLANNING DIRTY

SWOT ANALYSIS

OVERVIEW

SWOT Analysis are the foundation to any strategist toolbox. However we often make some simple mistakes when it comes

to creating a solid SWOT Analysis.

Enjoy, Siham, Dan, and Julian

This is the deck from the latest lecture in the Planning Dirty Academy. The Academy teaches the foundations of strategy

and how to progress to strategy leadership.

OVERVIEW

SIHAM ZERKAK is a London based

integrated account director who believes that

passion, empathy and authenticity are key to long lasting client relationships.

CREATED BY

JULIAN COLE is a strategy consultant

who works with brands and agencies to create world

class integrated campaigns.

DAN BOLLIN is an integrated marketing consultant who believes in

listening more, grandstanding less, and

laughing often.

WHAT IS A SWOT ANALYSIS? ● SWOT stands for Strength, Weakness,

Opportunity and Threat. ● Framework that helps businesses

identify and evaluate internal strengths and weaknesses against external opportunities and threats.

● A grid-like matrix with four distinct quadrants.

● Can be applied at different business levels e.g brand level or departmental

WHEN & WHY OF SWOT ANALYSIS

WHEN

● Starting on a new client ● Before the strategy ● During annual planning ● New product launch

WHY

● To evaluate the business and its environment

● To align the different stakeholders prior to starting the strategic planning phase

1. OPPORTUNITY/THREATS

Start with the opportunity and threats as this is what requires the most research.

2. PESTLE ANALYSIS

Political, Economical, Social-Cultural and Technological, Legal and Environmental provide buckets for opportunity and threats. Can be done by interviewing category professionals and desk research.

3. STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES

Working with the client or interview internal stakeholders. The one watch out here is that you need to account for the subjective agendas. It is something they know really well so you want to make sure that it is balanced. Also the strengths and weaknesses you list here must be known to the customers, competitors and all stakeholders.

4. CULL & VALIDATE

Get to three to five most important points per box. Make sure that you test and validate points. Evidence of each point is key.

STEPS TO CREATING A SWOT

0. SET UP

Create a grid and split it in four boxes (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity or Threat).

HELPFUL TOOLS

● Download the transcript of the last two quarterly earnings calls. The Q&A sessions with reporters is usually where you’ll find the most pressing issues facing a business—and the most candid answers

● Review the latest 10K report. Key nuggets can be found in Part 1, particularly the “Business,” “Risk Factors,” and “Property” sections

● Go to the Investor Section. Almost every website of a publicly traded company has an investor section area that’s rich with data, presentations, press releases, etc.

FOR PUBLIC COMPANIES, CORE TRUTHS ARE ON THE RECORD

HELPFUL TOOLS

● Scour the web to find the press releases, interviews with employees, product demos, etc

● Look to social: oftentimes you’ll find key truths in the posts, shares, and comments of the C-Suite, particularly on Linkedin

● Engage in forums and slack channels that feature professionals who may be connected to the company

FOR PRIVATE COMPANIES & STARTUPS, YOU’LL NEED TO GET CREATIVE

COMMON MISTAKES ● Watch out for the company strong

arm. Clients feel at home with strengths and weaknesses but this needs to be framed by external factors

● S/W known to competitors - make sure strengths and weaknesses are public and not a private strength

● Opportunity for everyone - opportunities exist for everyone, not related to just your company

OPPORTUNITY FOR CATEGORY ❌

Stable free cash flow provides opportunities to invest in adjacent product

segments.

Related to Dollar General and not to the competition

✅

Government green drive also opens an opportunity for procurement products

by the state as well as federal government contractors.

PLANNING DIRTY

SWOT EXAMPLES

DOLLAR GENERAL ● American retailer ● Variety/dollar stores ● 16.000 stores across 46 states ● Operates in rural areas

DOLLAR GENERAL SWOT WEAKNESSSTRENGTH

THREAT OPPORTUNITY

- Strong distribution network – 16,000 stores - Easy in and out shopping format vs. big box shopping - Compete in small markets with limited shopping alternatives (75% of shops are in towns with 20K or fewer people)

- Recession driving people to discount supermarkets - Awareness and local farmers appreciation ( e.g support your local farmers)

- Trade War with China - Rise of shopping online undercutting retailers

- Business success is correlated with income inequality and declining urban neighborhoods - Investment in Research and Development is below the fastest growing players in the industry. - Limited success outside core business

DEAKIN UNIVERSITY ● Public University in Australia ● Victoria/ Melbourne based ● 4 main campuses + online Cloud Campus ● Ranked 3rd university in Victoria

*source: Webometrics Ranking of World Universities

DEAKIN UNIVERSITY SWOT WEAKNESSSTRENGTH

THREAT OPPORTUNITY

- Quality progressive education. Focusing on practical & applied learning. - Strong study online platform - Solid & highly rated research departments

- Recession can bring people back to education for career swaps or upskilling - Investment in online learning platform and digitise all university services

- Economic uncertainty ~ e.g COVID, recession etc can threaten revenue and government fundings - Preference for face to face / on campus learning might impact value perception if only online learning can be provided because of the pandemic.

-Fairly young university so doesn’t have the same gravitas as older universities - 23% of students are international students who cannot return to Australia due to COVID

ENDEND PLANNING DIRTY