SWOT Anyone?

The hammer’s been around for thousands of years. My guess is that every good toolbox or bag has one. We don’t walk around saying “Jeez, the hammer is so Stone Age.” Recently, I was speaking to a group of Account Managers about the power of a good question. I used the SWOT as an example of a great way to formulate your hypotheses or pre-conceived notions about an assignment before starting it. After the talk, someone came up to me and said, “I love using SWOTs but someone told me they are too ‘old-school’”.

I have no idea how old the idea of a SWOT Analysis is. For those of you from the “young school”, SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Simple to do. Thinking about a project, a company, a product, you can create lists of facts or ideas and organize them under the appropriate headings.

But if that is all you do, then the SWOT is a very blunt instrument. What most folks tend to forget is that the magic is not in the diagram; it’s in the analysis. Look at the strengths and determine where the greatest leverage and momentum lie. Is a strength actually a threat if it reveals a brand needs to diversify? Which opportunity can you afford to take advantage of and which is too costly? Are your weaknesses smaller or greater than those of your competition?

Before you go to your client to talk about the next big project, sketch out a SWOT and see what it reveals. You’ll walk into the meeting better prepared for the briefing, with sharper questions to ask about what will make the project a success.

Perhaps you own a small business and you'd like to initiate a new project with your team. This is a great way to get started on the brainstorming and/or to use as a platform for your team meeting's discussion. And if you don't know how best to get a marketing or branding project launched, or don't have the time, then feel free to contact me and I'll be glad to help.