Competitive intelligence also has to do with determining what your business rivals will do before they do it. Strategically, it is the power to gain foreknowledge of your competitor’s plans and to plan your business strategy to countervail their plans. As you might expect, this will involve many methods at the tactical collection level, but it will also require integration into your existing information infrastructure, analysis, and distribution of the information. In summary, it is the calculation of business decisions on the grounds of that information and the analysis of same. This is the “intelligence” part of the formula.

Competitive intelligence and competitive analysis are the processes of collecting, storing, and analyzing acquired information and applying said information about products, services, customers, and competitors to develop a competitive advantage. This process is an ethical and legal business practice with a focus on external business environments, and coveting this gathered information to yield a competitive edge.

In a former Blog, I talked about Using Competitive Intelligence for your Marketing Strategy. I received many positive comments about this when I wrote a blog on the topic. In the last chapter, I shared a true story about what can happen if customers inadvertently go to a competitor’s company. 

The story illustrated the importance of creating an overall marketing strategy. It also set out the importance of setting one’s company apart from a competitor while developing a positioning and marketing strategy. This enabled Company A to position their business for additional growth by redefining their business by knowing and realizing the differences between their company and their main competitor’s company. Differentiation is more than simply being different. It is about the unique differences the customer perceives to be the reason they buy from you versus a competitor. There is a systematic process for developing an effective positioning for your business. This systematic process requires you to know your target markets and your main competitors, and it takes time. 

Determine How Your Company is Positioned Against a Competitor

Here is a list of considerations to make when determining how your company is positioned against a competitor.

 • What products or services are offered by competitors that are not offered in your business? Are you and the company’s employees (if any) as well qualified to serve as specialists or customer problem solvers as the competition? 

 • How does the competition treat their customers? Is their service prompt and efficient? 

 • Does the competition accept credit cards or charge cards for their services that are not accepted by your company? 

 • How does your corporate brand sensory image compare to the competition? 

 • Can you or the employees answer questions about your competitor’s products and services knowledgeably and objectively? 

 • Who keeps complete records on each customer, you or the competition? 

 • Do you have a system in place to mail a thank-you letter or send an e-mail after each sales call, whether or not a sale was made? Does the competition? • What equipment does the competition use that is better than yours? 

 • As you watch the product display of the competition, do the products seem to be moving off the shelf? 

 • How soon are the products marked down or moved to a sale table? 

 • How many times has the competition’s name been mentioned in the press or the newspapers in the past three months? (Count only the times for free publicity such as announcements, promotions, seminars, sponsorships, speeches, donations, etc.) How many times has your name or the company name been published for these reasons? 

 • How much advertising (number and size/time) does the competition do each month? How much does your company do? 

DJ Heckes
CEO & Author Full BRAIN Marketing 
www.fullbrainmarketing.com

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Using CIA marketing strategies in your business is like using counterintelligence information to determine your next move, similar to the game of chess discussed earlier. Acquiring the information you need may feel like being a secret agent. You must learn what you can about the competition without wasting your time being obsessive about it. The basis of espionage has not changed much over the years, but the methods used have been modified. Using CIA marketing strategies is the key to a company’s success in today’s environment. You will learn from this endeavor what a competitor is doing well and not doing well and then measure that against your own company’s performance.

Have a Competitive Intelligence Plan in Place 

Having a competitive intelligence plan in place helps you know what others are saying about you or your company for positioning strategy and keeps you abreast of the surrounding environment. While I am not recommending you become a spy, I am recommending knowing what the competition is doing and then doing it better! 

Many businesses get trapped in the day-to-day management of their companies without an awareness of their surroundings. Remember, unexpected moves by a competitor will affect your entire marketing strategy and can even threaten overall business growth. For example, a grocery store that has done well for years, serviced customer needs, known their demographic audience, and grown at a consistent growth rate in the market share may feel comfortable with their market share. Then, because they failed to carry out their CIA, a new competitor opened across the street offering fresher fruit and lower prices. Because there was no counter plan in place, business is lost due to the new competition.

Are you familiar with competitive intelligence and how it can help your company grow? Competitive intelligence is purposeful and coordinated monitoring of the competition, wherever and whoever they may be within a specific marketplace. Competitors are those you consider to be “rivals” in business and whom you compete with for market share in your state, region, or nation. Strategically gain knowledge of your competitor’s plans and plan your business strategy to countervail their plans. This requires both tactical and creative analysis, distribution of the information, and calculation of business decisions from the information and analysis.  

When gathering competitive intelligence, I recommend going about it ethically. Many companies do not necessarily practice competitive intelligence, but try to run their business marketing strategy based on lies. Competitive intelligence is based on truth and fair business practice. 

DJ Heckes, CEO & Author 
Full BRAIN Marketing 
www.fullbrainmarketing.com 


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1. Determine the dominant gratification mode and purchase preference of the selected target market segments 

 To do this, look at the psychographic characteristics (the perception and behavior modes) of each customer segment. Then take a look at the interpersonal, objective, and introverted modes of what the purchase preferences were regarding experimental, performance, and value of the products and services experienced (primarily through interacting with inanimate objects or data). Lastly, look at the introvert needs and gratifications experienced through interacting with ideas in a solitary fashion. 

Interpersonal needs may come from these types of people: salespeople, marketers, actors, performers, competitive athletes, litigation attorneys, coaches, consultants, doctors, secretaries, teachers, and the like. Objective needs may come from these types of people: accountants, bankers, engineers, middle managers, researchers, laborers, data processors, and so on. Introvert needs may come from these types of people: artists, designers, entrepreneurs, inventors, police officers, and the like. 

Take a close look at the products and/or services being offered and apply these to the way you create a positioning statement. It is the process of determining the interpersonal needs (a person’s gratification received through interactions with other people) and objective needs (gratifications). 

2. Develop other key psychographic characteristics of the target market

Study existing customers (as this is the most cost-effective approach to studying the characteristics) and look for clues to customer perceptions that will help shape your positioning strategy. 

3. Redefine the product or services being offered 

Begin setting your company apart and create a unique place in the customers’ minds to define the product or service in terms of the features and emotional factors that are important to them. Write a positioning strategy in a brief paragraph for each target market segment to provide an overview of the positioning by pulling together all of the key positioning elements. 

4. Develop a unique selling proposition also known as a USP 

This is the slogan or tagline, and is the expression that will become closely linked with the business. It should be something catchy and easy to remember and should also contain a basic message about your company that elicits the emotional gratification that prospective customers can expect from your business. Ask yourself what makes you more valuable and more visible in the marketplace. 

Are you unique? Do you fill a special niche to be successful in the marketplace? Having a USP will dramatically improve the positioning and marketability for a company and its products or services. Three things need to be accomplished when defining a USP for a business: (1) Uniqueness – clearly sets you apart from the competition, positioning the company as the most logical choice; (2) Sales – persuades another to exchange money for the product or service being offered; (3) Proposition – proposal or offer suggested for acceptance of the product or service. A USP is the very essence of what is being offered. It needs to be so compelling that it can be used as a headline that sells a product or service. 

Examples of companies with great USPs:

• FedEx – When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. 
• Head & Shoulders – You get rid of dandruff. 
• Domino’s Pizza – You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in thirty minutes or less – or it’s free. 
• M&M’s – The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand. 
• Wonder Bread – Wonder Bread helps build strong bodies twelve ways. 
 
5. Develop a more explicit positioning statement and an expanded version of your USP that explains and gives rational justification

Identify what the business does, the result customers can expect, and how you are going to achieve that result. Review this information and update it periodically to keep the information current. 

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When determining a primary target market, know that this market is the total number of potential buyers for your product or service is key. Among that broad group, the primary target market includes those most likely to buy your product or service. The secondary target market has the next greatest potential to buy now or in the near future or to influence someone else to buy from you. 

Market Segmentation 
Markets are segmented by demographics, geography, buying behaviors and psychographic (lifestyle, interests, personality) traits. Market segmentation allows you to manage your marketing efforts and to become effective. 

Market Size 
This is the size of the market you are going after to determine if it is large enough to make your business profitable. If the market potential is too small, you may not have a viable product or service to sell. 

Primary Buyers 
Most of your revenue from sale of products or services will come from the primary target market. This market shares common characteristics and behaviors. This market accounts for the highest volume of sales and are most likely to buy now! When identifying your primary target market, be precise in your definition of a “primary buyer” so you can focus your marketing efforts where you will receive the greatest return. 

Secondary Buyers 
The secondary target market includes future primary buyers, which are those buying at a higher rate within a small market segment and are those who influence primary buyers. Their characteristics and buying behaviors usually differ from those of the primary target market. 

Now that you have identified your Primary and Secondary buyers, let’s focus on setting up a visual chart. 

Set up a product-market chart for your business that takes into account your customer and the products or services you sell. Choose a section of the chart and list the products or services your company sells and the various types of customers served. Describe the products or services in terms that differentiate them in the eyes of the customers and fill in the information. 

On another section of the chart, identify your market segments. Fill in the information for each segment in the chart with the demographic information received. Select the most important segment and designate it as the primary target market. If there are other important segments, describe them as secondary target markets. While profiling market segments, develop a checklist to help summarize what is prudent to learn about a possible market. After you have created two or more of these profiles, compare them to determine which ones present the best overall opportunities for business growth (see example below).




Exploring foreign markets can take longer and cost more than expected. Be prepared for additional expenses for market research, product launches, and personal visits if you are a company that is focused on international growth. 

Review this information and update it periodically to keep the information current.

DJ Heckes, CEO & Author 
Full BRAIN Marketing 
www.fullbrainmarketing.com 

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