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Competitor Strategies

Any organisation that wishes to succeed and survive in their market, needs to analyse their competitors strategies. Competitor analysis is a vital part of the marketing planning process.

Competitor analysis enables an organisation to:

• Collect information on competitors that will directly influence the firms’ strategy.
• Help the firm anticipate what the actions of their competitors will be, to their entry within the marketing.
• To exploit the competitor’s weaknesses so the firm can gain an overall competitive advantage.

  
  If you were to enter a market, some of the information you would need to know about your competitors islisted below.

• Who are your competitors?
• What is the size and dominance within the market.
• Which customer base are they aimed at?
• What is their positioning within the market?
• What are their objectives?
• What are their strengths and weaknesses?

  Data from an array of sources can be collected on your competitors. Examples of data sources include:

• Competitors websites.
• Annual reports.
• Observation.
• News articles on TV or press.
• Talking to customers or sales staff.
• Covert operations including pretending to be a customer at your competitors store, or phoning their telephone sales line.

  A complete understanding of competitors will help the organisation in preparing their overall marketing plan. As suggested, Porters Five Forces model is one model that helps the company identify competitors and potential competitor within their market and should be used in conjunction with a general competitor analysis.

  A competitor can easily slow down your companies progress, competitor analysis should allow you to anticipate and react effectively to their move.

 

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Principles of Marketing by Philip Kotler

Principles of Marketing by Frances Brassington and Stephen Pettitt