Skip to Main Content
Santa Clara UniversityUniversity Library

MKTG 182: Analysis for Marketing Decisions

This guide is intended to assist students with their marketing team project.

Analysis Techniques

Analyze your company. Research and record information about what makes your company unique.

  • Short and long-term company goals
  • Names and types of major product lines or services provided
  • Unique brand attributes & differentiation from competitors products or services (USP)
  • Competitive advantages in the marketplace (e.g. company location, cash flow, staffing)

Analyze your customers. Research your current and potential customers to understand who they are and what they want.

  • Name the target audience (ideal customer)
  • Identify successful promotions and marketing strategies
  • Uncover customer praise about the company, products, or services
  • Understand which products receive good, bad, or no reviews

Consider your competitors. Choose companies that are similar in size to yours, as well as ones that offer similar products or target similar customers.

  • Investigate social media presence and channels 
  • Examine marketing strategies in the industry
  • Who are the direct competitors?

Review your collaborators. Make a list of everyone involved in the business's pipeline and the contributions they make to the company's success.

  • Identify the company stakeholders (partners, contractors)
  • Note the manufacturers, organizational partnerships, distributors, suppliers, etc.

Analyze your climate. What factors are affecting sales?

  • Examine social and economic trends
  • Review new or existing regulations

Evaluate the company's strengths. What do they do well?

  • How's the balance sheet? Explain.
  • What's unique about the product or service?
  • Does the company have a strong brand or loyal customer base? Explain.

Take stock of the company's weaknesses. Where could they improve?

  • Is there a higher than average turnover of staff?
  • Does the company have high levels of debt? Explain.
  • Is there (perhaps) an inadequate supply chain or lack of capital? Explain.

Create a pool of opportunities. Be creative.

  • Are there market developments?
  • Any competitor vulnerabilities?
  • Industry or lifestyle trends?
  • Any niche target markets?

Consider external factors, or threats that could harm the company.

  • Is there a tight labor supply? Explain.
  • Are raw material costs increasing? Explain.
  • Is competition increasing? Explain.

Divides the target market into approachable groups.

Demographic segmentation sorts customer elements by:

  • Age
  • Education
  • Household income
  • Marital status
  • Family size
  • Race
  • Gender
  • Occupation
  • Nationality

Geographic segmentation sorts target market elements by:

  • Climate
  • Location (city vs town)

Firmographic (company or account attributes) segmentation sorts by:

  • Industry classification
  • Ownership or legal status
  • Years in business
  • Finances

Behavioral segmentation sorts customers by:

  • Purchase intent
  • Loyalty
  • Benefits sought (relief, confidence)
  • Brand engagement

Psychographic segmentation sorts customers by:

  • Personality
  • Lifestyle
  • Attitudes
  • Opinions

Examine the value of the product or service.

  • What makes the brand stand out?
  • What value does it provide to the customer?

Determine whether the product or service is rare.

  • What resources does the company have that are hard to access by others?

Is the product or service inimitable (difficult to imitate)?

  • How much would it cost a competitor to duplicate the product or service?
  • Are your products or services similar or different to those in the same market?

How structured is the organization?

  • Reporting relationships
  • Compensation policies
  • Existing workflows

Determine the threat of new entrants in the marketplace for your product or service.

  • Is the industry tightly regulated?
  • Is your key product or service patent-protected?
  • Is there customer loyalty in the industry?

Examine the bargaining power of suppliers. If there are few suppliers, they will have stronger bargaining power. 

  • Who are your key suppliers?
  • How many competent alternative suppliers does your company have to choose from?
  • How difficult would it be to find a new supplier?

Examine the bargaining power of customers. Buyers have power when they are few in number with many sellers to choose from.

  • How many potential customers are there in your industry relative to the number of sellers?
  • Is the industry driven by large orders or many small orders?
  • How easy would it be for a customer to switch from one seller to another?

Determine the threat of substitute products or services. If there are many substitutes that can perform a similar function, then the threat is high!

  • How similar are substitute products from a functional standpoint?
  • What is the customer's cost of switching to another substitute? Is it high?
  • What differentiates your product or service from these substitutes?

Identify the competition.

  • Who is the biggest rival?
  • Is the industry shrinking or growing?

Analysis Examples

Company: The current goals of the Wood County Animal Hospital are to expand locations around the local area and provide veterinary services to rural areas further than 20 miles from the original animal hospital. Besides this, market research shows that veterinary clinics in these areas make higher profits when they perform home visits for livestock, which we hope to implement within the next year. Profits have gone up 36% since last year, which is 10% higher than the average for veterinary clinics in this area. We're prepared to raise the budget for marketing expenses because of this increase.

Customers: Current customers and locals appreciate the cleanliness and aesthetic of our Animal Hospital locations, the quality of care from our experienced veterinarians and the proximity to their homes. Our data shows that 68% of our current customers came from recommendations, so one goal is to extend marketing efforts to online reviews and provide discounts for customers who recommend our services.

Competitors: Competitors like Town Hall Animal Clinic and Riverbend Veterinarians are performing well in rural areas, although our research shows that customers prefer to live closer to their veterinarian. Due to the increased cost of certain medications, our competitors have raised their prices for service while we've kept them low because of our ability to order in bulk for our multiple locations. This lowered cost and closer proximity to customers gives us a competitive advantage in marketing.

Collaborators: A partnership with Vet World Pharmaceuticals allows us to purchase veterinary medications in bulk for lower prices than our competitors. In order to keep this partnership, Wood County Animal Hospital and its multiple locations must continue to purchase the minimum required bulk amount. To ensure our locations can use these medications before they expire, we plan to offer discounted services on certain days of the week to encourage new customers and increase demand for our medications.

Climate: Data shows that 47% of our customers value environmental action and its effects on their community, so we've hired an environmental consultant and partnered with the Wood County waste disposal department to improve our medical waste disposal and energy uses in the Animal Hospital boarding house. We've also added pamphlets to our waiting room describing how to keep pets in an eco-friendly way and published information about our environmental efforts on our website.

 

Indeed. (2023, February 3). Situation analysis of a marketing plan: Example and definition. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/situation-analysis-marketing-plan-example

Southwick Associates, Inc. (2017, January). First time firearms buyers segmentation. https://www.southwickassociates.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/NSSF-First-Time-Firearm-Buyers-Segmentation-Summary-1-6-17.pdf 

 

Geereddy, N. (n.d.). Strategic analysis of starbucks corporation. https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/nithingeereddy/files/starbucks_case_analysis.pdf

 

Kleweno, S. (2022, November 24). Strategy frameworks: Porter's five forces (2023): The definitive overview (+ Examples). Cascade. https://www.cascade.app/blog/porters-5-forces