Wednesday, June 1, 2011

What is Competitive Analysis?

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What is Competitive Analysis?

Competitive Analysis is a process of gathering and analyzing information about your competitors, their practices, products, strengths and weaknesses and business trends in order to assess your position in the market and improve your products and marketing strategies.

Competitor analysis has two primary activities, 1) obtaining information about important competitors, and 2) using that information to predict competitor behavior. The goal of competitor analysis is to understand:

    1.with which competitors to compete,
    2.competitors' strategies and planned actions,
    3.how competitors might react to a firm's actions,
    4.how to influence competitor behavior to the firm's own advantage.

Competitor Analysis Framework

Michael Porter presented a framework for analyzing competitors. This framework is based on the following four key aspects of a competitor:

    Competitor's objectives
    Competitor's assumptions
    Competitor's strategy
    Competitor's capabilities

Competitor's Assumptions

The assumptions that a competitor's managers hold about their firm and their industry help to define the moves that they will consider. For example, if in the past the industry introduced a new type of product that failed, the industry executives may assume that there is no market for the product. Such assumptions are not always accurate and if incorrect may present opportunities. For example, new entrants may have the opportunity to introduce a product similar to a previously unsuccessful one without retaliation because incumbant firms may not take their threat seriously. Honda was able to enter the U.S. motorcycle market with a small motorbike because U.S. manufacturers had assumed that there was no market for small bikes based on their past experience.

A competitor's assumptions may be based on a number of factors, including any of the following:

    beliefs about its competitive position
    past experience with a product
    regional factors
    industry trends
    rules of thumb

What is the purpose of Competitive Analysis?

In today's market, you must know what your competitors are doing and what to do to stay ahead of the competition. Many businesses believe they are providing a good product to their customers, but do not have reliable information showing how customers perceive their product or how it compares to the competition.

A Competitive Analysis performed by an unbiased third party is an invaluable tool because it can help you identify ways to attract new customers, as well as keep the ones you have satisfied with your products.

How can Competitive Analysis help establish my product as a market leader?

Competitive Analysis gives you a realistic view of your competition. It also gives you the opportunity to identify improvement in areas like manufacturing processes, customer services, and marketing claims. It can help you compare products prior to making your marketing and promotional decisions, thus saving you both time and money.

nResult's Competitive Analysis will help you accomplish the following:
    Have a realistic view of your competition.
    Foresee market changes and demands.
    Identify ways to attract customers from your competitors.
    Discover opportunities for improvement in your business practices.
    Identify necessary changes in your processes to meet market demands.
    Identify necessary changes in your processes to reduce costs.

What will Competitive Analysis reveal about my products?

    What products compete with yours
    What advantages your products have over the competition
    What disadvantages your products have when compared to the competition
    The readiness of a new product in the market
    A realistic view of customers' perception of your product against the competition.

Competitive Analysis Report: At the conclusion of testing your product, you will receive a detailed on-line Competitive Analysis Report from the nResult Project Leader and the nResult Engineers. This report will outline the results of comparing your product against the market.

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