Marketing Strategy: Competitive Intelligence

with Deirdre Breakenridge

Selecting an Analysis Framework

SWOT Analysis Framework
A SWOT analysis framework will help you identify your competitors’ strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats, which you can compare with your own brand.

Here’s an example of a SWOT, which you can use for your evaluation framework.

Strengths (Internal) Weaknesses (Internal)

• Strong leadership support • Small product budgets
• Enthusiastic culture • Few to no employee champions
• Seasoned team of executives • New hires/junior-level staff
• Growing organization • Recent layoffs of department personnel
• Strong new product pipeline • Marketing with little customer appeal

Opportunities (External) Threats (External)

• Market thought leader • Close competition
• Executive credibility • Low public confidence
• Patented technology • New regulations (technology, data, environmental)
• Go-to media experts • Customer complaints
• Loyal customer advocates • Losing share of voice in the market

SOAR Analysis Framework

The SOAR analysis is a helpful framework when you want to use the information about your
competitors and then map out the strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results you’re
trying to achieve.

Here’s what you can learn when you use a SOAR framework:

For strengths, ask:

• What do we do well?
• What makes us proud?
• What makes our company different?
• What are our most memorable accomplishments?
• Is there anything we do that exceeds the competition?

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For opportunities, ask:

• What partners will complement our service or product offerings?

• Is there something else we can offer that will fulfill our customers’ needs?
• Are there changes in the market or trends that match our expertise?
• Are there any significant risks identified that we could change into opportunities?
• Are we able to take our products into new markets?

For aspirations, ask:

• What are our future goals?

• What drives our passion and purpose?
• What will our business look like in five years?
• Are we making a difference and creating impact?
• Are we innovating in a sustainable way?

For results, ask:

• What does our vision look like in terms of tangible impact for the business?
• How do we measure our goals?
• What key performance indicators (KPIs) will tell us we are successful?
• How will we communicate our achievements?

Perception Mapping Framework

When you use a perception mapping framework, you’re comparing two important attributes and
rating your competitors on a four-quadrant graph. At the same time, you’ll rate your own
products on the perception map. For example, you may compare low quality to high quality vs.
low price to high price.

Other attributes to compare:

• Performance
• Packaging
• Size
• Features
• Safety
• Reliability
• Value
• Ease of use

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