Shared Activity: Marketing Audits Using SWOT
A marketing audit analyses current marketing objectives and evaluates how well certain tactics are working to reach these objectives. It is composed of essentially two elements: an internal and an external analysis. Both attempt to capture how well an organisation is doing in terms of the skills, tactics and strategies used in marketing its products or services. Once this baseline is established, an organisation can develop a plan of action (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2013).
One tool for synthesizing information gathered through a marketing audit is a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This information is typically portrayed as a matrix in which each category is listed in its respective cell to give a quick overview of a business's strategic position (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2013). For example, an organisation might list a strength as being one of the first to develop a particular product, such as Amazon's Kindle, one of the first e-readers. Numerous other similar e-readers, such as Barnes and Noble's Nook, quickly threatened Amazon's market edge.
A SWOT analysis is a strategic tool that should not be viewed in a vacuum with only marketing in mind; an organisation's other business operations, such as its production and staffing capabilities, also affect and are affected by marketing strengths.
An external analysis can also be performed in a new market in order to establish what an organisation would need to do to be ready to break into that market, which will be the focus of Unit 5.
In this Shared Activity, you will be conducting an abbreviated marketing audit through a SWOT analysis focusing on the internal environment of the organisation you selected in Unit 1.
Reference
Dillon, W. R., T. J. Madden, A. Kirmani& S. Mukherjee, (2001) 'Understanding What's in a Brand Rating: A Model for Assessing Brand and Attribute Effects and Their Relationship to Brand Equity', Journal of Marketing Research, 38 (4) pp.415-429
Jobber, D. & F. Ellis-Chadwick, (2013) Principles and Practice of Marketing, 7th edition, Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education
Lee, M.-Y., D. Knight & Y.-K. Kim, (2008) 'Brand Analysis of a US Global Brand in Comparison with Domestic Brands in Mexico, Korea, and Japan', Journal of Product & Brand Management, 17 (3) pp.163-174
To prepare for this Shared Activity:
- Review the Readings. Focus on the module text chapters.
Review Figures 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4 in Chapter 2 of the module text. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation owning the brand you selected in Unit 1 from the Interbrand Web site.NOTE: THE CASE STUDY I PICKED IS STARBUCKS AND THE FICTITIOUS PRODUCT IS VANILLA CAFÉ.
- Review the Sample Marketing Audit Checklist in your Readings for ideas on what to analyse.
- Using online or other sources, explore SWOT analyses. Choose one or tailor one so that it makes sense to use for your organisation.
To complete this Shared Activity:
- Conduct an internal audit on your selected organisation's marketing strategy using a SWOT analysis. Identify the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities you identified in the organisation's internal environment using a SWOT matrix. Identify at least three items for each SWOT category.
Explain the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to the internal environment of your selected organisation at the overall organisational level. Could any of the items that you listed cross different cells? For example, could something be both a strength and a weakness, or a strength and an opportunity? If so, explain, using concrete examples.