1. Develop a SWOT analysis for the case study provided with three meaningful points per section. (12 Marks)

NOTE:

• Please must cite work using both embedded references and a bibliography if you choose to use the internet as a source.
• can look at multiple credible sources and develop your own Analysis.
• If this is not followed, a grade of Zero will be assigned on the entire assignment and appropriate academic integrity procedures will be followed.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Opportunities	Threats

Student Discussion Questions (3 marks)

1. Given your SWOT, to what extent do you agree with their proposed strategy? Why?
2. How would you change/improve their proposed strategy?

Information:

Thiscasestudylooksatahypotheticalregionalbank.YourtaskhereistoprepareaSWOT for the firm; that is, identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. As a result of this exercise, you should have a much clearer idea of what marketing strategies would best suit them, given their current environment.

AboutTheSunnyValley Bank

BeautifulSunnyValleyregion,hometojust over 10,000,000people.TheSunnyValleyBank hadstartedseveraldecadesagoandhadachieveda20%shareoftheadultbankingmarket (around 1,500,000 customers).

They now had 50 branches throughout the region, which has been a key driver of their success(thatis,beingveryconvenient).Theyalsohadtheadvantageofbeingthe'local' bank. They were friendly and truly concerned with helping their customers.

Accordingtotheirmarketingmanager,"Whileoursuccesswasinitiallyduetothe

convenienceofourbranches,inlateryearsourclosenessand"smallness"becameamajor point of difference over major banks. As a result, many of our new customers came from word of mouth".

However,theydohavetheirlimitationsfortheircustomers(whichexplainswhytheyonly have 20% market share). For instance, they have a limited range of products (such as not havingacreditcard).Andinrecentyears,there'sbeena bigchangeintechnology.People nowaccesstheiraccountsthroughATMs,phonesandtheinternet -sobankingcustomers don't necessarily need the convenience of branches, or the service that goes with it (particularly in these time-poor days).

Therefore,whatwasoncea'strength'(ofmanybranches),mayhavebecomea'weakness' (cost of rent and staff). Addingtothispressure has been therise in specialist competitors. Today, loan brokers aggressively target the profitable loans business, and firms like American Express, Citibank and Virgin targeting credit cards business, plus places like ING Bank chase low transaction/high balance savings.

TheirProposedMarketingChanges

Asaresult,thebankfoundthemselvesinalittlebitofastrategy'mess' andhaddecidedto 'reinvent' themselves to be more competitive in today's market. Their proposed changes include:

• Moreheavyfocus(positioning)onbeingthelocalbank('thereforyou,asalways")
• Introducingcustomerrelationshipmanagement(CRM)programs,including

appointing"personalbankers"

• Creatinga'sellingishelpingthecustomer'corporateculture
• Workingtheirexistingcustomerbaseharder(gettinggreater"shareof wallet")
• Utilizinglocalretailerstohelpgainincreasemarketshare
• Havingaheavieremphasisonelectronic/remotechannels(suchasinternetandthe call center), and
• Introducingamorecompetitiverangeofproducts-startingwithacreditcard