Marketing Strategy and SWOT Analysis of JBL

Music mostly accompanies us during gatherings, road trips, and even time spent alone. One company that has found massive success in guiding people through their music listening is JBL. The latter is a brand that produces speakers and headphones. Those two break down into categories on their own. For instance, there are different kinds of speakers such as loudspeakers, portables, and soundbars. Founded by James Bullough Lansing back in 1946 in Los Angeles, this company is what one envisions when they think of quality music. In this blog, we are going to dive deeper into its marketing tactics to untwist the story behind its success.

To begin with, we are going to discuss the mission statement and the vision statement of JBL.

The mission statement of the company is as follows.

“We combine passion and purpose to design and deliver smart products, systems, software, and services that connect people wherever they are. We lead with integrity, innovate with intention, and drive operational excellence to inspire breakthrough performances that generate customer value and strong shareholder returns.”

Entertaining and fun times are what bring people closer. Whether it is a party or a random jam session between a small group of friends, music is always a must. This company has been aware of it ever since it was first founded.

The passion part about creating JBL products is their creative exterior, the amazing sound system, and the effectiveness. Functionality and all the thoughts that the producers of JBL put into producing its products are all an aspect of purpose.

Those two aspects are all that are necessary to help people unite in the different conditions that they are in.

JBL uses only great and fair marketing tactics in its business. Whenever this company comes up with innovations, those are incredibly well-thought-out.

This company makes sure that it achieves excellence through its functionality. That ensures the ongoing gaining of loyal consumers. Which, in turn, brings the company a great deal of profits.

Now, on to the vision statement of JBL. It goes as follows.

“To make life more connected, entertaining, personalized and productive.”

To be real, life would be pretty boring without the ability to connect to or relate to other people. That is why things like music have the power to act as the source of contact between certain people.

The goal of JBL is to make sure that it makes its consumers’ lives more amusing and effective in the personal living area. When people are personally happy, it reflects on their professional lives as well, hence the productive aspect of this statement.

Now, we are going to discuss an Instagram post that will uncover the archetype that JBL belongs to.

This post is advertising JBL’s Charge 5, which is a waterproof portable speaker. In the photo, we see a group of young adults on a spontaneous skateboard trip. The caption is sort of sarcastic, as it tells people to ride responsibly. Of course, skateboards also have their dangers, so riding responsibly should still be a valuable focus.

Let us not forget that the Charge 5 speaker completes their ride. Moments like those feel like movie scenes, and movies are incomplete without some background music.

What can we gather from this post?

First and foremost, these people are living in the moment. This activity is not something out of the ordinary, but it is not ordinary either. They took skateboarding and turned it into a fun time with a speaker and a unique riding technique.

Secondly, we can definitely tell that they are enjoying their time. Everybody has a smile on their face on a New York street, which guarantees a good time. The photo is taken by Marco Kiko Chan, an Instagram blogger photographing New York.

At this point, it becomes obvious that the archetype that JBL belongs to is the Jester.

What do we know about the Jester?

Desire: to live in the moment with complete enjoyment

Aim: to have a wonderful time and lighten up the world

Strategy: play, make jokes, be funny

These are the messaging levels of the archetype:

Level One: indifference, boredom​

Level Two: life as a contest, joy​

Level Three: intelligence used to trick others, escape danger and discover paths around barriers, transformation​

Level Four: Life experienced in the moment, one day at a time

The Jester archetype might provide a good identity for brands:

• whose service allows people to belong or sense that they belong​
• whose operation enables people to have a good time​
• with pricing that is average to low​
• created and/or marketed by a business with a fun-loving, laidback organizational culture​
• that demand to be distinguished from a self-important, overconfident, established brand

Next up, we are going to take a look at the SWOT analysis of JBL

Strengths

Excellent penetration into the high and mid segments: One of the strengths of JBL is that it has a great penetration into the high segment and mid segment. That makes it that the company has the power to maintain more significant profits. Especially in the US, JBL’s presence is enormous.

Long-term sustainability: The perspective of customers regarding developed audio systems is expected to remain the same for the coming 2-3 decades. That gives this company a chance to recreate and rebrand its products for loyal consumers regularly.

Strong foothold in speaker segment: JBL has managed to create its reputation in the speaker segment as a powerful market foothold. That phenomenon is present not only in the US but in lots of parts of Asia.

JBL produces only quality products and continuously incorporates innovations in design. As a result, the company receives sustainable sales. For instance, the voice-activated speakers and the home audio speakers of JBL have held enormous sales in the past three years.

Technology dominance: JBL has adequately pressed technical proficiency in the past two decades. Throughout time, and to this day, the product lines of this company have frequently been altering. As of now, JBL has overrun the Wireless and Bluetooth systems as well.

Value for money: The speakers and audio systems of JBP have an increased value for money with their rate and performance levels. They have a uniform performance according to pitch and balance. The operating of the installation of these products is pretty straightforward. Also, all of the items that JBP makes match the THX loudspeaker criterion.

Weaknesses

High price: Many other competitors in this segment offer similar products at lower prices. Hence, the company faces restrictions from some of its potential profits, particularly the cash-constrained segment of consumers.

Slow rate of innovation: Most of the time, the pace of innovation for JBL is pretty slow. That makes it that JBL appears in the same group as lots of other audio systems. Not to mention, large companies such as Sony and Bose are continually coming up with headphones and portable devices as well.

Slow penetration into emerging cities: JBL is available in India and China. Yet, local brands make it more difficult for JBL to emerge into new cities. Local brands have great reputations as well. So, even if JBL enters new cities, its growth rate will be pretty low, as well as its profits.

Poor branding: Branding and advertising are aspects that JBL has not concentrated on as much as it needed to. Competitors are at an advantage here. Lots of consumers would rather purchase from replacing brands without reluctance.

Opportunities

Penetration into wider segments: JBL has a chance to manufacture its products regionally to consumers with strict budgets. How the company can do this is by decreasing prices to an extent.

Bundled offering: JBL can extend into more territories through collaborating with other brands in emerging markets. For instance, JBL could collaborate with Apple to deliver inbuilt audio systems for a coming line of apple products.

Launching cheaper product lines: One thing that the company could potentially benefit from is incorporating a larger pricing arrangement. More specifically, offering more affordable audio systems can help the company gain more consumers. In turn, the company will also grow its current profits and enter new markets.

Threats

High substitute goods: Many other makeshift audio system companies are vast competitors of JBL’s. Some of those companies are Boston Acoustics, Sony, Bose Corporation, and etc. Local manufacturing is one of the main focuses of those companies. Hence, JBL faces a significant threat.

Weak market segment: Because JBL products are pretty expensive, the company’s target market is mostly high-class consumers. Sony, Panasonic, and other brands create more affordable products. Thus, that side of the spectrum has limited spots. Entering new market segments becomes a threatening move for JBL for those reasons.

Lastly, we are going to watch a short video that will lead us to the segment that JBL has chosen to target.

We are simply following a group of people’s daily lives and how they make their daily tasks more enjoyable. All of them are wearing JBL wireless headphones.

We see a guy skating, another guy walking his dogs, a group of girls riding their bikes, and the video ends with some nice dance moves. These activities would be pretty dull without the power of music.

That is why JBL headphones are here to make sure that these people make their days more fun. That, in fact, is the first hint that we can gather from this video.

Some of these people are with other people, hence their sociability. They have so much energy they want to share with others.

And lastly, they are all stylish and have put a significant amount of effort into their looks. From accessories to jewelry, all of them are dressed uniquely.

We have no other inference other than the fact that the segment that JBL has chosen to target is Hedonists.

Lifestyle and values:

Hedonists try to make their lives as entertaining and enjoyable as possible because they live only once. They would do adventurous and risky stuff just for the sake of making their time more fun.

Hedonists are sociable. They have a great group of friends they constantly go out with. This segment can always party, but even regular shopping trips are entertaining with them.

​Once in a while this segment will have its friends over for some alcohol, snacks, and watching sports.

​Hedonists seek change. They will always take risks, change their job, even friends if they need to. Because this segment gets bored easily, their relationships usually are short-term. They love visiting new places where they can meet new people.

This segment purchases new products as soon as they come out. They try to constantly purchase new items to look trendy. Staying up-to-date with fashion is one of their passions.

Hedonists value the way they look. They spend a considerable amount of time on their appearance. But it is also a good thing because these people focus on themselves more.

This segment likes to be a leader at work. Their main source of motivation in their career is money. Hedonists also have a ‘macho’ perspective. They think that drinking is for getting drunk, men should not cry, etc.

With this hectic lifestyle, the family falls in the last place on the priority list of Hedonists. But still, sometimes, this segment will have a weekday breakfast or Sunday lunch with their family.

Attitude to shopping:

Hedonists mostly consume mainstream brands. They think that brand labels make the image of the person better. This segment likes to be and look different. You can even see that in their purchases.

You would be surprised to find out that a lot of the time Hedonists prefer quantity over quality. They are impulsive buyers and never plan their shopping days.

This segment usually shops in smaller stores. They spend a good time trying to catch the best products.

If domestic brands are in fashion, Hedonists will make purchases from them.

Other interesting facts:

• They socialize with friends as much as they can, visiting bars, cafes, pubs, cinemas, etc.
• Watch the newly released films
• Like playing games or gambling machines for measuring their luck
• Go to exhibitions of their interest​
• They are inactive social media consumers
• Read media for entertainment
• Average magazine consumers
• Below average TV consumers
• Use the internet to make life more fun

And that is a wrap on the ‘Marketing Strategy and SWOT Analysis of JBL’ blog. The latter is a fascinating company offering exceptional products. We did a deeper dive into its marketing tactics and uncovered some interesting information. For more fun blogs like this, make sure to check out our main website for a constant flow of new topics.