COMPETITOR

ANALYSIS
B Y: A A S T H A K H A N D E L W A L
AKHIL KUMAR DINDORE

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INTRODUCTION
C O M P E T I T O R A N A LY S I S
Identifying your competitors and evaluating their strategies
to determine their strength and weakness relative to those
of your own product and services.

A competitive analysis is a critical part of your company

marketing plan.
 THESE FIVE QUESTIONS MUST
WANT TO ANSWER BEFORE THE
ANALYSIS
 Against whom are we competing?
 What strength and weakness do they process?
 What are their objective?
 What strategies are they pursuing , and how successful are they?
 How are they likely to behave and how are they likely to read to offensive
moves?
STEPS TAKEN TO
ANALYSE THE
COMPETITOR
 Step 1 - Choose your Top Competitors.
 Step 2 - Describe Each Competitor.
 Step 3 - Describe their Competitive Offering.
 Step 4 - Summarize Their Online Presence.
 Step 5 - List Their Strengths.
 Step 6 - List Their Weaknesses.
 Step 7 - Identify Your Opportunities.
 Step 8 - Identify Threats.
IMPORTANCE OF
COMPETITIVE
ANALYSIS

• Survive
• Handle slow growth
• Exploit opportunities
• Uncover key factor
• Improve quality of decision
• Stay competitive
• Avoid surprises
COMPETITION
OPERATING AT FOUR
LEVEL

• Offering Similar product and

service.
• Operating similar product and
service.
• Manufacturing or supplying
product that same deliver
service.
• Same spending power Shop A
Shop B Shop C Shop D.
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 DIFFERENTIAL ADVANTAGE
ANALYSIS
 ABILITY TO CONCEIVE AND DESIGN
• This category measures the quality of competitors new product development efforts.
• A firm with the ability to develop new products is a serious long term threat in a product category.
• The use of such procedures as total quality management generally improves product design
capabilities.
 ABILITY TO PRODUCE
• This category concerns the production capabilities of the firm.
• For the service firm it is a ability to deliver the service.
• A frim operating at a capacity to produce a product is not as much of a threat to increase sales or share
in the short run as is a firm has slack capacity.
 ABILITY TO MARKET
• A competitor could have strong product development capabilities and slack capacity but be ineffective
at marketing.
• How aggressive, inventive, and so on are the firm in marketing their products?
• Do they have access to distribution channels?
 ABILITY TO FINANCE
• Limited financial resources hamper effective competition.
• Company with highly publicized financial problems, firms going through LBOs and companies or
divisions for sale become vulnerable to competitors in their product line.
• For example:- When P&G announced in 2001 that it was selling its jif peanut butter and folgers coffee
brands, competitor took notice. While financial ratios are key pieces for information
 SOURCES OF INFORMATION
 INTERNAL SOURCES
• Good information about competing products probably already exist within the company or division.
• Data can be found in past marketing plans, special studies commissioned by strategic planning groups.
 ANNUAL REPORTS
• The information in an annual report is for public relations value, and the discussion is at the corporate, not product
level.
• It sometimes mention locations of manufacturing facilities and the names of key corporate decision makers.
 PATENT/TRADEMARK FILLINGS
• Patents give some notion of the manufacturing process and technology underlying the product.
• Companies have been known to apply for patents on mistakes or on products that they have no intention to market.
 GENERAL BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS
• Excellent sources of information about products and companies are general business publications such as Business
week, Fortune, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal .
• Some potential audiences are investors, employees, and perhaps even competitors who might to be target for
strategic warnings.
• To get information from these publications, product managers can subscribe to clipping services and electronic
databases or clip appropriate articles themselves.
 NEWS RELEASES
• Companies usually retain public relations firm to release information to the press concerning new products, senior
management appointments.
• These releases often show up in newspapers and trade publications, but it is possible to get on a direct distribution
list.
 PRIMARY SOURCES
 EMPLOYEES
• Generalizing from the use of salespeople to collect competitor intelligence, much can be learned about competition
from observation in the marketplace by any company employee.
• If the product category in question is sold in the supermarket, an employee can easily observes changes in price,
packaging, and shelf display.
 SUPPLIERS
• Often competitors suppliers are willing to give information about shipments to impress potential buyers.
• Imprints on packaging cartons can provide useful information because they often disclose the name and address of
carton maker.
 SALES FORCES/CUSTOMERS
• Sales people interact with customers on a regular basis, salespeople are in an excellent position to find out about
recent competitor sales pitches, pricing, and many other dimensions.
• Forward-looking companies use information from salespeople for quick updates on competition.
 HOW TO ASSESS
COMPETITOR’S STRATEGIES
Identify your competitors
A competitor is someone who targets the same market segments as you with a similar product. The businesses can
target different customers: One might serve multinationals, while the other sells to local businesses.

Generally, competitors are divided into three types:

• Direct competition: These businesses offer the same products and services to the same clients within the same
territory as your business.
• Secondary or indirect competition: Businesses that offer slightly different products and services or target a different
clientele within the same territory.
• Substitute competition: Businesses that offer different products and services to the same clients in the same
territory.
Gather information about your main competitors
Once you’ve identified your main competitors, you’ll want to gather as much information as possible about them.
You can try to compile the following information about your competitors:
• Products and services—Evaluate their products or services and compare them to your own, ideally by purchasing them
and trying them out. How is the quality? What features do you like or dislike? Who are their suppliers? Does it respond to
consumer preferences?
• Pricing—How are their products and services priced? Do their prices vary for channel partners and customers? What is
their discount policy? Can you estimate their cost structure?
• Positioning and branding—Analyse your competitors’ websites, product documents, brochures and catalogues. Follow
them on social media and visit them at trade shows. What are their target markets? What is their unique selling
proposition?
• Market reputation—Talk to customers, suppliers and distributors to get their views. What do they know about your
competitors? What are their opinions about their products, sales and marketing strategies and customer service?
Analyse the competition’s strengths and weaknesses
• Preparing a written evaluation of your competitors will allow you to compare their
performance with your own.

• You can list your competitors and write out their respective strengths and weaknesses. Are
they popular because of their location? Visibility? The quality of their staff? Are their prices
too high? Or does their product lack a key feature that’s demanded by your target
customers?

• This analysis will give you an idea of how you can adapt your strategy to counter their strong
points and take advantage of their weak points.
Talk to your competitors directly
• It can be a good idea to get to know your competitors personally. In fact, taking that first step can often
lead to a relationship that’s beneficial for both sides.

• Indeed, it’s not unusual for two companies to compete sometimes and co-operate at other times. For
example, a competitor may be willing to refer customers to you if they don’t serve a particular market
niche. But to do so, they have to know, trust and like you.

• Even if you can’t come to an understanding with your competitors, talking to them can still help you
gather important information to help you differentiate your business in the market.
Identify your competitive advantage
• Analysing the competitive landscape will help you identify your competitive advantage. Maybe it’s lower
prices or promotions that attract new customers—but remember that this type of strategy can be copied
by your competition and might not be viable in the long run.
• Taking advantage of a weakness in the competition is always a good idea. But is it sustainable? A
competitive advantage should ideally be a great strength that’s distinctive and can appeal to your target
clients. Identifying your competitive advantage will help you create your messaging and brand image by
relying on your key differentiator.
• Another way of looking at it is that it’s important to keep tabs on the competition and improve your
business in response, but you shouldn’t allow concerns about what others are doing to dominate your
strategy.
PORTER’S APPROACH TO
COMPETITIVE
STRUCTURE ANALYSIS.

• Threat of new entrants.

• Rivalry among competitors.
• Bargaining power of suppliers.
• Bargaining power of
customers.
• Substitute products and
services.
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COMPETITIVE RIVALRY
• Number of competitors.
• Rate of industry growth.
• Industry overcapacity.
• Exit barriers.
• Diversity of competitors.
• Informational complexity.
• Brand equity.
• Fixed cost allocation per value added.
• Level of advertising expense Rivalry among
Competitors.
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 THE MARKETING MIX
The final strategy component of competitors that must be assessed is the supporting
marketing mix. The mix provides insight into the basic strategy of the competitor and specific
tactical decision. These decisions are what customers actually see in the marketplace: neither
are they exposed to nor do they particularly care about a products marketing strategy .

Product
• It has a vital role in developing the strategy for the overall marketing mix which includes
place, price and promotion.
• A product can either be a tangible goods or an intangible service that fulfils a need or want of
consumers.
• A marketer/manufacturer should know that what there product is and what make it unique
before you can successfully market it.
Pricing
Once a concrete understanding of the product offering is established we can start making
some pricing decision. Price determinations will impact profit margins, supply, demand and
marketing strategy.
The questions that are being raised because of it is:
• What is the pattern of price changes over time?
• If the strategy is quality based, what is the price differential claimed?
• Are discounts being offered?
Promotion
We have got a product and a price now it’s time to promote it. Promotion looks at the many ways
marketing agencies disseminate relevant product information to consumers and differentiate a
particular product or services
With respect to sales management:
 What kind of selling approaches are being employed?
 Are the salespeople aggressive in obtaining new accounts?
 What are their commission rates?
In terms of advertising:
 What media are being used?
 What creative activities?
Promotion includes elements like advertising, public relations, social media, e-mail and more.
Place
• Marketing is about putting the right product, at the right place, at right price, at the right time.
• It’s critical them, to evaluate what the ideal locations are to convert potential clients into
actual clients.
 Is the brand being emphasized in certain channels?
SWOT ANALYSIS
THANK YOU!