Discord is a video, voice, and text communication service that is used by over 100 million people to hang out in playing games and also talk to each other. Discord is an American company that was created in 2015 and soon found acceptance among esports and LAN tournament gamers. Today, Discord is a leading VoIP platform that is used by millions across the globe. Users can create channels for texting and voice chats. The brand has added online streaming and video calling to enhance its features and for superior customer experience when using the platform. While the platform was initially created with gamers in mind, it has since evolved to serve a wide range of customers. Discord has overtaken such platforms like IRC, TeamSpeak and is a worthy competitor for Skype when it comes to video calling solutions.
A SWOT analysis is a simple but critical strategic tool that is used by companies to conduct an analysis of their competitive position in the market. The tool helps companies understand their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats so that they insightfully conduct themselves for a cutting edge in the market place.
Discord, Inc – At a Glance
| Name | Discord, Inc. |
| Website | discord.com |
| Founders | founders Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy |
| Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O.) | Jason Citron |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, CA, USA. |
| Year Founded | 2012 |
| Type of organization | Private |
| Revenues (FY 2020) | $140 million |
| Key Products/Services | Instant messaging, Voice over Internet Protocol, Video Calling, Live Streaming, Discord Nitro. |
| Key Competitors | Curse, Carbonated, Twitch, bigo, Mumbo, TeamSpeak, Slack, Flock, Ventrilo. |
| Investors | Accel Partners, Ridge Ventures (Formerly known as IDG Ventures USA), Time Warner, Index Ventures, Greylock Partners, Benchmark, Greenoaks Capital Management, Spark Capital, Tencent Holdings, YouWeb, Danny Rimer, 9+ Program, General Catalyst Partners, IVP (Institutional Venture Partners), Specialized Types, FirstMark, Technology Opportunity Partners |
Strengths of Discord
These are internal factors of a company that gives it a competitive advantage in the market. The following are Discord’s strategic advantages/strengths
Ease of use
Discord’s popularity stems from its user-friendliness and ease of use. The majority of users that are switching from other platforms to Discord find the platform extremely familiar. Its interface is organized in such a way that users easily find what they are looking for. The platform further has a tutorial to help newcomers as they start off on the platform. Additionally, Discord can be found on all major networks associated with gaming platforms that attract numerous gamers and users. For the majority of new users, the platform calls for a very small, almost negligible learning curve on how to use the platform. This has attracted many communities, digital conventions, book clubs, and technological and educational users opting for Discord.
It’s free
Discord other competitive advantage is that it is free to use. Users who sign up on the platform are not charged any dime for using Discord. This gives it an upper hand in the market when compared to competitor alternatives that have paid plans for use. There are, however, some features on the Discord platform that users pay to use. An example is Discord Nitro. Fortunately, the paid features are optional so that users can operate on the platform comfortably without using them.
Easy integration
Discord can easily be integrated with other platforms like Steam, Twitch, and Xbox Live. Other platforms that can be linked with Discord include Samsung’s Game Launcher, among others.
Unlimited use
In addition to being free, Discord avails a great majority of its useful features for its users. Features like voice chatting, desktop streaming, and video calls, among others, are availed for free of charge. This becomes a great advantage for users and communities seeking to host their servers on the Discord platform without paying a dime.
Customizability
Users of Discord can customize their experience on the platform using the different features available on the platform. The platform provides for changing appearance to more advanced features like modifying server features. Additionally, with Discord, users can use API (Application Programming Interface) to not add bots but to also interact with servers through code.
Weaknesses of Discord
These are internal negative factors that diminish a brands strategic advantage in the marketplace. The following are Discord’s weaknesses.
Limited privacy options
This stands out as a major weakness for the brand. Whereas the brand provides basic privacy features, it lacks advanced features like end-to-end encryption. The lack of comprehensive security features endangers users’ data and makes users on the platform more apprehensive. Additionally, Discord monitors every application used on its platform.
Low-quality calls
While the quality of Discord’s call is standard, it highly falls far behind that of its competitors and therefore diminishes the brand’s competitive advantage. The brand also is accused of dropping calls randomly, which is undesirable by its users. The brand is working on improving its VoIP quality. It, however, still has to work on the brand’s compatibility with the keyboard.
More focused on gamers
As mentioned above, Discord was created with a key focus on solving a particular challenge that faced gamers. Along the way, however, many other users have found the brand useful and therefore engage on the platform. It is this focus that fails to optimize the user experience on the platform for non-gamers.
Opportunities of Discord
Optimization of customer experience
The brand has more room for growth in improving the customer experience on the platform. The brand needs to work on its privacy features, call quality, and overall performance for all users. Additionally, the brand could innovate more features to enrich its product for greater customer satisfaction.
Technological advancement
Technology creates opportunities and new products in the marketplace. More investment in technological innovation could enhance Discord’s lifespan in the product life-cycle for more revenues. It would help achieve more efficiencies and effectiveness.
New markets
While Discord was created purposely to enhance the gamer’s experience, the brand has huge opportunities in customer focus to customize its platform to serve the numerous interested customer groups. It could, in this regard, expand to new markets and gain a more customer base.
Threats of Discord
Low barriers to entry
The industry where Discord operates has low barriers to entry. Companies that operate over the internet operate in a space with low barriers to entry. Discord itself has toppled over companies in its industry because of low barriers to entry; it, in turn, faces the same threat and if it fails to continuously work on its competitive advantages, it may as well be toppled over by another company.
Privacy challenges
Privacy has become a great challenge in modern times. This threat has faced many other companies and sure poses a threat to Discord. There is every need for the brand to work its security to ensure a safe haven for its users.
Presence of scammers
Given Discord is enabling communication over the internet among users, there is every possibility for scammers to pose as humans seeking interaction. While there may be no financial loss in the case of these interactions, there is the danger of spreading viruses and as well threat of personal security threats.
Conclusion
Discord has come a long way and still has a long way to go in building its brand to offer a superior customer experience on its platform.
