Business Strategy



Porter's Five Forces Model

      MWWPR is a major contender in the public relations industry. To reiterate, the five forces of industry structure according to Michael E. Porter are bargaining power of customers, threat of substitutions, bargaining power of suppliers, threat of new entrants (barriers to entry), and rivalry. The five forces within the public relations industry as it pertains to MWWPR are as followed:

  

Bargaining power of customers: Rating = High. Customers and potential clients have the option of choosing from a large selection of public relations firms. These firms include Edelman (NY), APCO Worldwide (Washington, D.C.), WE (WA), W2O Group (CA), Ruder Finn (NY).

  

Threat of substitutions: Rating = Low. Apart from advertising , public relations deals with the management of communications between organizations/entities and their target markets/audiences. In understanding the role of public relations, there are no substitutes for public relations.

Bargaining power of suppliers: Rating = High. Public relations operates within the service industry, which makes employees the suppliers. Employees have a large selection of firms to work for, such as those listed above, thus giving them a large degree of bargaining power.

Threat of new entrants: Rating = Medium. Barriers to entry within the public relations industry are based primarily on expertise and access to resources. Public relations firms and specialists qualifications can vary depending on the profiles and needs of clients.

Rivalry: Rating = High. There is an intense rivalry among public relations firms. Competition for representation among firms has shifted from mainstream media to social media, and firms today are incorporating various strategies from maintaining and increasing market share within this category.

Business Strategy

According to Michael Porter, there are four competitive strategies that an organization can use to compete in a specific industry.  In relation to our company MWWPR, we believe that the competitive strategy they implement is Differentiation – Focus.  MWWPR is a global public relations firm, in which they analyze an organization, interpret messages, and translate those messages into positive media stories.  To obtain an advantage over their competitors, they strive for gaining strong relationships with their stakeholders. They attribute this to their “Matter More” philosophy. On their website they state, “We don't take a siloed approach to client services - we work together across practice areas and disciplines to craft the solutions and strategies that make our clients matter more than the competition”. Therefore, the way this differentiates them from the industry is that in every aspect of the company they are working together and collaborating. This leads to a better working environment for their employees and more innovative solutions for their clients. Also, MWWPR has a focus on certain issues within the Public relation field. MWWPR's focus tends to be with issues related in LGBT,consumer, health and wellness, technology, public affairs, and issues management. By focusing in specific areas of interest, MWWPR is able to provide the best service available which makes them one of the leading independent public relation firms within the industry.

Value - Chain

MWWPR's value chain focuses on Sales & Marketing and Customer Relations. These two components are the most critical to MWWPR's success. It is absolutely imperative that MWWPR maintains a competitive advantage over their competition through their sales & marketing and customer relations value chain due to the nature of their business: they represent the interests of highly-visible and influential organizations and individuals whose reputations are potentially at-risk if MWWPR mishandles their operations.