Last time, I took you through the basics of situational analysis, and introduced you to frameworks for analysing your micro-environment: SWOT and SWOTELL.
Now, it’s time to get into the macro factors. Here, I’ll show you how the PESTLE framework can help you to understand your campaign’s wider environment.
Then, I’ll dive into competitor and strategy analysis with the COMPETE and VRIO frameworks.
For your campaign to have a fighting chance of succeeding, you need to be prepared. SWOT, SWOTELL, PESTLE, COMPETE, and VRIO will prepare you for whatever the world might (and will!) throw at it.
So, let’s get into it:
PESTLE analysis
PESTLE is a popular and well known acronym highlighting the major external factors affecting your campaign:
| POLITICAL | Regulations Governmental policies Political events (for example, elections, instability, protests, war) |
| ECONOMIC | Market trendsImport/export regulationsTaxesInterest |
| SOCIO-CULTURAL | Wealth distributionCurrent trendsEducationLifestylesCultural attitudes |
| TECHNOLOGICAL | Relevant tech (for example, what platform or device will people use to access your campaign?) Technological awarenessAutomationsInnovationR&D |
| LEGAL | Relevant laws (for example, data protection, antitrust legislation, licences etc) |
| ENVIRONMENTAL | WeatherClimateConsumer attitudes re the environment and corporate ethics |
Usually, there is not much you can do to change these factors. But it’s still important to understand them. Why? Well, in my book ‘Marketing Strategy’, I use two figurehead examples to contrast the ways in which a good PESTLE analysis can make or break a campaign.
In 2018, Nike adopted American football star Colin Kaepernick as their figurehead. Kaepernick had become a controversial figure after refusing to stand for the US National Anthem. He instead ‘took a knee’ in protest at police violence against African Americans.
Hiring a polarising player like Kaepernick as a figurehead was a brave move on the part of Nike - and it could have backfired had the marketing team not done a thorough PESTLE analysis.
However, by using PESTLE Nike were able to manoeuvre their way through a complex socio-political environment, and come out with a ‘sensitive, profound, and valuable message’ (Tiffany, 2021).
Consumers loved it, and Nike’s stock prices hit an all time high.
Nike were able to leverage the politically turbulent environment of the time to their advantage, both boosting their own profile and giving a signal-boost to an important socio-political movement. Contrast this with Pepsi, just a year earlier.
In 2017, Pepsi chose Kendall Jenner as their figurehead. A now infamous advert saw Jenner crossing picket lines to offer cans of Diet Pepsi to both police and protestors.
The aim was similar to that of Nike - to leverage political tensions in order to make a point and to sell their product.
However, unlike Nike, they hadn’t conducted a proper PESTLE analysis. As such, they didn’t have ‘the deep understanding of the social and political environment into which the campaign would be released’ (Tiffany, 2021).
The ad was pulled, and Jenner was forced to apologise for undermining the Black Lives Matter movement.
COMPETE analysis
There’s another major factor that will impact your campaign: your competitors. Your competition plays a huge role in your marketing environment. Understanding your competitors is crucial to building yourself a competitive advantage.
To help you analyse your competition, I recommend the COMPETE framework. This framework provides a detailed overview of both your competitors and your marketplace. You’ll gain a greater understanding of your position in the market, niches you could move into, ways you can grab a competitive advantage, and major competitors to watch out for.
| CURRENT OPERATORS | Who are your competitors? |
| OFFERING | What are your competitors providing? |
| MARKET SHARE | How is the market divided between your competitors? |
| PRICE | What pricing strategies do your competitors have? |
| EXPERTISE | How long has each competitor existed? How respected and well-known are they in the industry? |
| TARGET | Who are your competitors targeting? What are their ideal consumer personas and profiles? |
| EMPLOYEES | Is their workforce skilled and experienced? What can their employees provide that yours cannot (and vice versa)? |
You can find a deep dive into the COMPETE framework in my book, ‘Marketing Strategy’. There, I go through each point in detail, explaining questions to ask and ways to draw insights from the answers.
VRIO analysis
Finally, it’s time to analyse your strategy itself.
I like to use the VRIO framework for this. It asks the hard questions about whether your strategy is actually viable.
| VALUE | Does your offering add value for your customers? If the answer is ‘no’, you won’t have a competitive advantage. Go back and figure out how to make your offering valuable and unique. |
| RARITY | Do you control or have access to scarce skills, resources, or capabilities? If so, your competitors will find it hard to match your offering. |
| IMITABILITY | How easy is it to copy your organisational structure, product, strategy etc? If what you’re doing is too easy to copy, you will quickly lose your advantage. Work on differentiating yourself. |
| ORGANISATION | Is your company organised? Can you efficiently capitalise on the resources available to you? If so, you are in a great position to secure a competitive advantage. |
Once you’ve established a valuable, rare, unique, and organised offering, you’re well on your way to success!
Understand your marketing environment with Marketing Strategy
Here, I’ve covered the basics of analysing situational macro factors, including a deep dive into competitor and market analysis with COMPETE and VRIO.
However, there’s always more to learn! If you want to find out more about situational analysis - plus pretty much anything else you need to know about marketing - buy my book: Marketing Strategy.
As well as a ton of valuable frameworks like these, my book is full of examples, case studies, interviews, and exercises. It will guide your next strategy through from the first glimmerings of an idea to campaign success and final analysis.
