Have You Conducted a SWOT Lately?

I am taking an Introduction to Marketing class this semester through the Advertising Department here at Temple. We began the semester discussing branding and building brand value, and this week we our discussion moved into the marketing planning process.

In the beginning of our discussion of the marketing planning process, we began to learn about the various components of a marketing plan. Of particular interest to me was the SWOT analysis, in which a company examines its strengths (S) and weaknesses (W), as well as the opportunities (O) and threats (T) it faces.

In class, we chose major brands on which to conduct practice SWOT analyses. These exercises proved to be both fun and challenging. What was also interesting was how such a simple-seeming exercise yielded so many potential viable ideas for the brands we discussed.

I think we should all conduct SWOT analyses more often, in the organizations in which we are involved, in the companies for which we work and even in our personal lives. I plan on conducting SWOT analyses more frequently in my life, and I think that taking an objective step back will help me find new ways to constantly raise the bar for success in my life.