Strategic Marketing Audit PDF

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Strategic marketing audit for company Lightweave....

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AMB359 Individual Strategic Marketing Audit Client - Lightweave

Executive Summary  Lightweave is a Brisbane based Augmented and Virtual Reality software development company that has established a strong Australian market, with hopes of expanding internationally. The business to business market is the predominant target for Lightweave, with experience in a wide variety of fields. These businesses engaging with Lightweave are adopters of technology who are willinging to incorporate innovative methods into their operations and marketing. The Augmented and Virtual Reality market is becoming increasingly competitive with three main direct competitors and a large pool of indirect competitors. Furthermore, analysis of the market indicates strong growth for Lightweaves market, with further potential evident in the field of VR and AR related hardware such as headsets and screens. It is recommended that Lightweave capitalises on their competitive advantage by promoting their licensable collection that is not offered by direct competitors, as well as developing a niche within the events industry that will lead to annually recurring business and increased exposure.

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1.0 Lightweave Overview Lightweave is an emerging Brisbane business that is set to lead the innovative evolution of virtual and augmented reality experiences. Currently the company accommodates to experimental and sporting virtual reality, augmented reality and custom development projects, however they plan to continue increasing their range of offerings to align with the evolving market (Lightweave, 2018) . With an impressive project portfolio spanning from large scale Westfield simulations to spearheading the innovation behind events such as the Ekka and Brisbane Festival, Lightweave is set for national and international expansion. However, in order to successfully prepare for this expansion a thorough audit must be completed to assess their current state in terms of consumer analysis, markets analysis, competitor analysis and environmental analysis.

2.0 Customer Analysis Positioned within the Business to Business (B2B) market, Lightweave’s target market consists of medium to large sized businesses, based predominantly in Australia, with the potential to expand globally. The companies within Lightweave’s target market can be deemed as adopters of technology, who are ready to embrace new innovations within their operations and marketing (Euromonitor International, 2016) . Lightweave taps into this business market and provides them with a product/service that satisfies their innovative technology based objectives. This target market can be further identified by the benefits they seek from Lightweave. These adopters of technology are seeking a customised and innovative virtual or augmented reality package that they can implement into their marketing or operations (Dearsley, 2018) .

3.0 Competitor Analysis Whilst Lightweave operates in an industry that is still in its infant stages, there are already numerous competitors within this space competing to establish their market dominance. The analysis of direct and indirect competitors provides an overview of the market, highlighting strengths, weaknesses and differences between key competitors (Albayrak, 2015) .

3.1 Direct Competitors Currently Immerse Enterprise, N-iX, and Pixel Case are the most predominant companies in direct competition with Lightweave based on their offerings, Australian location and project partners. These companies can be considered as direct competitors to Lightweave as they operate in the same market providing an almost identical product and service, targeting the same consumers (Witteloostuijn, 1992) . These companies are similar in the sense that they offer innovative virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology, as well as the opportunity for customised projects.

Figure 1 - Direct Competitors Offering Comparison Lightweave

Immerse Ent.

N-iX

Pixel Case

Virtual Reality

✓

✓

✓

✓

Augmented Reality

✓

✓

X

✓

Custom Projects

✓

✓

✓

✓

Licensable Collection

✓

X

X

X

Industries

Gaming Events Real Estate Sport VR & AR Displays Education

Health care, education, construction, sports, tourism, real estate, entertainment

Health care Education Gaming Hospitality Automotive

Health care, education, construction, sports, tourism, real estate, underwater, entertainment

(Lightweave, 2018) (Immerse Enterprise, 2018) (N-iX, 2018) (Pixel Case, 2017)

As can be seen in Figure 1, these companies provide very similar offerings and service almost identical industries. However, Lightweave has a competitive advantage due to their licensable collection which is not provided by their competitors.

3.2 Indirect Competitors Porter’s Five Forces theory states that a business’ viability is minimised if the market can easily choose another product to fulfill their need (Aaker, 2014) . This is a factor that must be considered by Lightweave as it operates in an infant industry with traditional marketing means

as its main indirect competition. The large scale business market being targeted by Lightweave is also faced with traditional marketing options proposed by marketing agencies, which businesses could easily choose to fulfill their need. Lightweave needs to combat this indirect competition through a strong sales and marketing process that educates their market on the tangible benefits of VR and AR technology, making their products and services top of mind for the target audience in comparison to easily attainable traditional marketing methods.

3.3 SWOT Analysis Within the AR & VR industry, competitors have similar competencies and assets that allow them to compete in this emerging industry. In order to establish Lightweaves current market position in terms of their internal strengths and weaknesses and identify external threats and opportunities, a SWOT analysis has been undertaken (Figure 2).

Figure 2 - Lightweave SWOT Analysis

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Strengths

Weaknesses

Product differentiation by offering licensable collection. Established portfolio of high profile jobs and clients.

- Lacking online social media presence and marketing. - Less international presence in comparison to some competitors.

Opportunities

Threats

Further established lisceneable collection to establish competitive advantage and product differentiation.

- Still a relatively new field of technology. - Harder to sell to companies that don’t yet understand the technology.

4.0 Market Analysis Lightweave is a strong player within the emerging market of VR and AR technology, with a business model that relies on B2B relationships. Revenue in this innovative market is expected to grow globally from $5.2 billion in 2016 to more than $162 billion in 2020 (Delloite, 2018) . This is equivalent to an annual growth rate of 181.3% over the 2015-2020 period (Delloite, 2018). Whilst gaming still remains the primary reason for sales of VR devices, a rise in demand for experiential VR and AR is expected to occur (CSS Insight, 2017) .

Lightweaves sub markets include the sale of VR and AR headsets and digital equipment. With over 1 billion people expected to access virtual reality technology by 2020, the demand for

 he barriers to entry for VR and accessible VR and AR equipment will increase (Kendall, 2018). T AR equipment are low, however, it is largely competitive with large international brands such as Samsung and Facebook already established and selling their own products within this market, therefore posing potential threat to entry for Lightweave (Zion Market Research, 2018) . Key success factors of Lightweave’s VR and AR market include: platform alignment,

 ightweave’s strategic necessities include the customisation and innovation (Bolland, 2017). L customisation of products to suit their clients needs and the ability to function with various platforms (Bolland, 2017) . Whereas the company demonstrates their strategic strength through their innovation of licensable products, with a range that is constantly expanding to align with market trends (Bolland, 2017) . This strategic strength creates a competitive advantage for lightweave within their market.

5.0 Environmental Analysis 5.1 - Technological Trends AR and VR are emerging technologies with notable market opportunity for businesses, individuals and software developers such as Lightweave. In Jabil's Augmented and Virtual Reality Trends Survey (2017), 61% of business and technology stakeholders noted that they do not feel like VR and AR technology is at a stage where they can confidently implement this technology into their business operations, which indicates market uncertainty. Furthermore, research from Omnivirt shows that 360° videos receive higher engagement in comparison to regular video and content (Omnivirt, 2017) . This engagement is highly attractive to companies, therefore an increase in the adoption of 360° VR videos and content is likely.

5.2 - Consumer Trends A few years ago AR and VR were viewed as futuristic and unviable concepts by consumers. However, smartphone-wielding consumers are now more more familiar with the technology that

 his consumer combines a view of the physical world with digital display (Touchstone, 2017). T trend has created an opportunity for brands and marketers to use this technology to their creative marketing advantage, with Lightweave being able to fulfill the needs of these companies. Additionally, a survey conducted by Touchstone Research (2017)  found that more than a third of adults said that they would trial virtual reality technology given the chance, demonstrating a consumer interest that is likely to keep growing as this technology develops.

6.0 Preliminary Strategic Options In the emerging and increasingly competitive industry of VR and AR development, product differentiation is vital to attain a competitive advantage. It is recommended that Lightweave capitalise on their licensable collection, which is not offered by other competitors, in order to offer a quick and customisable entry level product for consumers.

Another strategic recommendation for Lightweave is to continue partnering with large scale events, like the Ekka, to establish a niche within this market. By delivering high quality products at an attainable price point Lightweave can establish a strong niche within the event industry. This can generate future and annually recurring business for Lightweave and is a viable entry way for global expansion with events generating large exposure.

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Reference List

Aaker, D. A. (2014). Strategic market management  (10). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley

Albayrak, T. (2015). Importance performance competitor analysis (IPCA): A study of hospitality companies. International Journal of Hospitality Management,  48 ( 1), 135-142. doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2015.04.013

Bolland, M. (2017). What are the Top VR Success Factors? Retrieved from https://artillry.co/2017/05/16/what-are-the-top-vr-success-factors-free-report/.

CSS Insight. (2017). Consumer Devices Survey: Technology Enthusiasts, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.ccsinsight.com/our-services/3301.

Dearsley, B. (2018). Augmented & Virtual Reality in the B2B Market. Retrieved from https://www.itproportal.com/features/augmented-reality-and-virtual-reality-in-b2b-marketing/.

Euromonitor International. (2016). Digital consumer – Connected commerce: Australia. Retrieved from http://www.portal.euromonitor.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/portal/analysis/tab

Immerse Enterprise. (2018). Industry Directory. Retrieved from https://immerseenterprise.com/industry-directory/.

Kendall, B. (2018). Virtual Reality Stats That Everyone Should See. Retrieved from https://thebossmagazine.com/virtual-reality-statistics-infographic/.

Lightweave. (2018). Lightweave. Retrieved from https://lightweave.co/lightweave/. N-iX. (2018). Industries. Retrieved from h  ttps://www.n-ix.com/industries/. Omnivirt. (2017). 360° Video / VR Performance Statistics from 1000+ Campaigns. Retrieved from https://www.omnivirt.com/blog/360-video-vr-performance-statistics/. Pixel Case. (2017). About Us. Retrieved from h  ttps://pixelcase.com/. Touchstone Research. (2017). VR and Consumer Sentiment. Retrieved from https://touchstoneresearch.com/vr-and-consumer-sentiment/.

Witteloostuijn, A. (1992). Direct Competition. Theories of competition and market performance, 40 ( 1), 109 - 113. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01849806 Zion Market Research. (2018). Global (VR) Virtual Reality Market Size Forecast to Reach USD 26.89 Billion by 2022. Retrieved from https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/virtual-reality-market....