Competitive Analysis remains an underleveraged - yet - powerful tool in the product strategist's arsenal. Most companies know who their competitors are. Yet competitive analysis is rarely done in an in-depth manner and usually only covers feature checklists of similar products. This presentation will cover how to examine every aspect of your competition so that winning strategic plans can be put in place. This includes a four-step process for developing competitive analysis for both internal and external audiences and topics such as SWOT analysis, Porter's five forces, channel, team/company, product features, funding and others.

1. How to Tear Apart Your Competition
Brian Lawley
CEO & Founder
280 Group, LLC
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©2010 280 Group LLC

2. Agenda
A d
• About Brian & 280 Group
• Special offers
• Value of competitive intelligence
• Four step process for full analysis
• Sources of competitive information
• Delivering the results and selling tools
• Summary
Slides at:
www.280group.com/tear.pdf
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©2010 280 Group LLC

3. About Me
• 280 Group LLC
President & Founder
• Whistle Communications
Director of Product Management & Product Marketing
• Symantec
Director of Java and C++ tools
• Apple Computer
Senior Product Manager, MacOS
• Claris Corporation (FileMaker, Inc.)
Marketing Specialist
• Digidesign, Inc. (division of Avid)
Manager of US channel sales and marketing
• Awards, SVPMA, interviews, books, etc.
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©2010 280 Group LLC

4. 280 Group
p
The Product Marketing & Product Management Experts™
• Consulting & Contractors
• Toolkits & PM Office™
(Product Manager’s, Roadmaps, Launches, Beta, Reviews, Competitive Analysis)
• Training: public & private
– PM Fast Track™
– Agile Excellence for Product Managers™
– Customer & Market Research
– Effective Decision Making
– Interactivity & Communication
– Market Value Pricing
– Personal Strategic Plans For PMs.
– Time Management & Productivity
– GREAT Demos!
• Certifications:
C tifi ti
– Self-Study & In-Person Courses
– Agile Certified Product Manager™
– Certified Product Manager™
– Certified Product M k i M
C ifi d P d Marketing Manager™
™
– Blackblot Product Management Professional
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5. Special Offers
• $20 off Competitive Analysis Toolkit
• $100 off
– Certified Product Manager (CPM) Self-Study Course & Exam
– Agile Certified Product Manager (ACPM) Self-Study Course & Exam
• $300 off
– PM Fast Track 4 day course (NY Feb 22nd-26th)
– Agile Product Management Excellence & Exam (Feb 27th)
• Email therese@aipmm.com for discount codes
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6. Value of Competitive Intelligence
• To gain a thorough understanding of your
industry
• Identify key competitors and understand how
the compete
• Compare your product’s attributes to the
competition
• Make informed decisions on product planning
and development
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©2010 280 Group LLC

7. Four Step Process
• Identify relevant competitors
• Do in-depth research
p
• Create competitive analysis for internal use
• Create competitive analysis & selling tools for
p y g
external use
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8. Identify your key competitors
• Only most relevant
• Usually only 2 or 3
y y
• Early markets may have up to 10
• 90/10 rule
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9. Criteria for Choosing Competitors
• Market share
• p y
Press/publicity
• Mentions by prospects
• Strength of solution
g
• Appearance in sales deals
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10. Four Step Process
• Identify relevant competitors
• Do in-depth research
p
• Create competitive analysis for internal use
• Create competitive analysis & selling tools for
p y g
external use
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©2010 280 Group LLC

11. 9 Research Components
• External Performance
• Funding & Spending
• Management
• Attitude
• Products
• Positioning
• Marketing
• Distribution Channels
• Market Share
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©2010 280 Group LLC

12. Sources of Competitive
Information
• Obviously, publicly held companies will have
more information available via newswires and
financial statements
• By nature, privately held companies may
pose some diffi lt when searching f
difficulty h hi for
competitive information
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13. Sources
• Product reviews
• Press articles
• Financial statements “Risks and issues” sections
• Press releases
• Past versions of their website (Wayback Machine http://www.archive.org)
• Specific/obscure/advanced searches: http://www.googleguide.com
• Information on the sites of theirVCs
• The company’s website: management, board, funding, # customers,
• Interview current customers.
• Analysts and market research reports: IDC Gartner etc
IDC, Gartner, etc.
• Hoovers http://www.hoovers.com
• Silicon Valley startups: www.linksv.com
• Company profile at www linkedin com
www.linkedin.com
• Dun and Bradstreet http://www.dnb.com.
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©2010 280 Group LLC

14. Funding
• Identify key sources of funding your industry
• Compare and evaluate y
p your competitors’
p
sources of funding
• Valuations
• Burn rate/runway
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©2010 280 Group LLC

15. Spending
• What are they spending on?
– Talent, marketing, facilities, manufacturing, R&D,
etc.
• Look for trends in competitors’ spending
habits
h bit
• A high growth company in a new industry is
going to spend differently than an established
company in a low growth industry
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16. External Performance
• Obtain key quantitative performance indicators about
your competitors
• S l
Sales, net i
t income (l
(loss), annual growth, fi
) l th financial
i l
ratios (i.e. assets to liabilities), inventory turnover
• Identify trends about external performance
• Public company: 10-K or quarterly release Balance
Sheet and Income Statement
• Private companies: press release on stage of funding
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©2010 280 Group LLC

17. Management
• Importance of identifying leadership within an
organization
– Example: Is the competitor founded by a group of
engineers that do not have marketing experience?
• Id tif i th management structure of a
Identifying the t t t f
company helps you learn who the decision
makers are
• Find out how well-connected company heads
are within the industry/business world
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18. Attitude
• Goal is to find out how your competitors view
the market
• Aggressively expanding, conservative
gg y p g,
actions, risk taking strategies, etc.
• Use a performance g to help identify the
p grid p y
current state of a company
• Plot external performance indicators against
various components of organizational health
• Helps provide a sense of the type of company
you are competing against
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19. ce
ternal Performanc The Performance G id
Th P f Grid
Troubled Successful
Company Firm
Crisis Complacent
Low
Company
Ext
Low High
g
Organizational Health
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20. Products
• Compare key product attributes across the
competitive field
• Answer important internal/external questions
pertaining to your product
• Identify what is important to the market and
how your product compares to competitors
• Use a BCG matrix to communicate product
performance in terms of market share and
growth rate
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21. Example Product Comparison
Template
Level of
importance to
Feature Product 1 Product 2 the customer
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22. BCG Matrix
rowth Rate
High
H
Stars Question Marks
rket Gr
ow
Lo
Mar
Cash Cows Dogs
High Low
Market Share 22
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23. Determine Competitive
Positioning
• Use data from their marketing & website
• Brainstorm possible axes for chart
p
• Try multiple combinations
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24. XY Axis Positioning Matrix
Competitor Tag line supporting
positioning goes here.
1
dvantag 2
Product
ge
Name
Main Ad
Competitor
2
Competitor 3
Main Advantage 1
M i Ad t
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25. Four Quadrant Positioning Matrix
Tag line supporting Competitor 2
positioning goes here.
Product
Name Competitor 3
Competitor Competitor 4
1
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©2010 280 Group LLC

26. Marketing
• Is their marketing effective?
• How much are they spending?
y p g
• Do they have a strong brand?
• Are they marketing or technology focused?
y g gy
• What tactics are they using?
– SEO, PPC, white papers, ads, PR, etc.
, , p p , , ,
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©2010 280 Group LLC

27. Marketing Research
• Research on a competitor’s marketing efforts
is different than other types
• Look for marketing activity, financial
statements, press releases
• In addition, identify the marketing team, web
offers
• Use AdWords and SEO as tools
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©2010 280 Group LLC

28. Distribution Channels
• What channels do they use?
– Direct, VARs, Web, Distribution, Partners
• How strong is their presence?
• Are there flaws in their channels of
distribution?
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©2010 280 Group LLC

29. Market Share
• Identify the market size for your product
• Who are the key players in y
yp y your p
product’s
market?
• How do you compare to others within your
industry
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©2010 280 Group LLC

30. Four Step Process
• Identify relevant competitors
• Do in-depth research
p
• Summarize competitive analysis for internal
use
• Create competitive analysis & selling tools for
external use
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©2010 280 Group LLC

31. Internal delivery: what’s included
• Industry analysis
• Life cycle position
y p
• SWOT analysis
• Competitive Scope/Differentiation
p p
• Likely Moves
• Market & Strategy Tools
• Remember: Added security for sensitive
information abou you p oduc /co pa y
o a o about your product/company
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©2010 280 Group LLC

32. Industry Specific Analyses
• Use tools that can help communicate
important components of your industry
• Porter’s 5-Force Model
– Include information on Barriers to Entry,
Competitors, S
C tit Suppliers, C t
li Customers, and d
Substitutes
• Industry Life-Cycle Model
– Help generalize direction of your industry
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©2010 280 Group LLC

33. Porter s
Porter’s Competitive Forces
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©2010 280 Group LLC

34. Industry Life Cycle Model
• Identify where your industry is
• Review t e ds t at are co s ste t with industries in
e e trends that a e consistent t dust es
your stage
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©2010 280 Group LLC

35. SWOT
(Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats)
• Perform a SWOT analysis for each major competitor
• Make a list of each of the following:
– Strengths: internal things about your company and its
market position that help your chances of success
– Weaknesses: internal things about your company and its
market position that weaken your chances of success
– Opportunities: external things that help your chances of
success
– Threats: external things that weaken your chances of
success
• Fill in the SWOT matrix with strategies based on
these factors
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©2010 280 Group LLC

36. SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
Strategies the company
Strategies the company
must deal with to take
Opportunities
nal
can exploit to take
advantage of
advantage of opportunities
Extern
opportunities
t iti
Strategies the company Strategies the company
Threats can use to defend itself must deal with to defend
from threats itself from threats
Internal
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©2010 280 Group LLC

37. Competitive Scope/Differentiation
• Review scope of the customer base
– Broad vs. narrow (focused) scope of customers
• Differentiation scale of the company’s
products
– Low and High Differentiation
• Compare generic strategies of the products
and th i owners using a matrix
d their i ti
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©2010 280 Group LLC

38. Competitive Scope and
Differentiation Matrix
Competitive Advantage
p g
Lower Cost Differentiation
Broad
Target 1. Cost Leadership 2. Differentiation
Competitive
Scope
Narrow 3B. Differentiation
3A. Cost Focus
g
Target Focus
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39. Likely moves
• Draw conclusions about likely moves
competitors will make
• Discover how a product may likely evolve
over a period of time
• Use a matrix to compare markets and product
development strategies
• Use a roadmap to help visualize the industry
landscape in the near to long-term
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©2010 280 Group LLC

40. Market & Strategy Roadmap
Your Competitor Competitor Competitor
company 1 2 3
Markets
Partner
Build In-
House
Acquire
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©2010 280 Group LLC

41. 2 Year Competitive, Market
p ,
& Tech Trends Roadmap
2009 2010
* Competitor 1 expected release
Competitive * Competitor 2 expected release
Early Adopter Phase
Market Widespread adoption
Wid d d ti
* New technology available to leverage
gy g
Tech * New technology available to leverage
Trends * New technology available to leverage
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q
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©2010 280 Group LLC

42. 4 Year Competitive, Market
p ,
& Tech Trends Roadmap
* Competitor 1 expected release
Competitive * Competitor 2 expected release
Early Adopter Phase
Market Widespread adoption
* New technology available to leverage
Tech * New technology available to leverage
Trends * New technology available to leverage
2009 2010 2011 2012
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©2010 280 Group LLC

43. Delivering the results
• Choose a target audience for your findings
• Relevant/sensitive information may be better
y
suited for a company executive instead of a
potential investor
• Condense your presentations for your target
• Use what you learn to develop competitive
selling tools for your sales force
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©2010 280 Group LLC

44. Strategy for success
• Develop an executive summary of your
findings
• Based on internal presentation
• Convey what you need to do to win
• Use this to gain funding & resources
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©2010 280 Group LLC

45. Four Step Process
• Identify relevant competitors
• Do in-depth research
p
• Summarize competitive analysis for internal
use
• Create competitive analysis & selling tools for
external use
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©2010 280 Group LLC

46. External delivery
• Added value for your customer (organize into
a matrix)
– Identify 7 key added values that your company
can give to a customer
– Identify 3 sources of the added value
• Use a side by side Competitive Product
Comparison with your most important
competitor
– Include a checklist, most important features listed
, p
first
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©2010 280 Group LLC

47. Added Value Comparison Matrix
[Your Industry]
LEGEND [Your
■ YES □ NO ■ UNKNOWN Company] [Competitor 1] [Competitor 2] [Competitor 3]
Added Value Category One
Item 1
Item 2
Item 3
Added Value Category Two
Item 1
Item 2
Item 3
Added Value Category Three
Item 1
Item 2
Item 3
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©2010 280 Group LLC

48. Competitive Feature
Checklist/Comparison
[Product name] [Main Competitor]
Feature 1
Feature 2
Feature 3
Feature 4
Feature N
• R
Remember t i l d your U i
b to include Unique S lli P
Selling Proposition
iti
• Explain the benefits of your top features
• This list can include as many features as you want
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©2010 280 Group LLC

49. Deliver Effective Selling Tools
• Competitive comparisons
• FAQ for difficult questions
q
• White paper(s) on technical superiority
• Talking p
g points about each competitor
p
• Success stories/testimonials of customers
who switched to your product
y p
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©2010 280 Group LLC

50. Summary
• Value of competitive intelligence
• Four step process for full analysis
– Identify relevant competitors
– Do in-depth research
– Summarize competitive analysis for internal use
p y
– Create competitive analysis & selling tools for external use
• Sources of competitive information
– 9 research components
h t
• Delivering the results and effective selling tools
50
©2010 280 Group LLC

51. Special Offers
• $20 off Competitive Analysis Toolkit
• $100 off
– Certified Product Manager (CPM) Self-Study Course & Exam
– Agile Certified Product Manager (ACPM) Self-Study Course & Exam
• $300 off
– PM Fast Track 4 day course (NY Feb 22nd-26th)
– Agile Product Management Excellence & Exam (Feb 27th)
• Email therese@aipmm.com for discount codes
51
©2010 280 Group LLC

52. 280 Group Resources
• Free templates and white papers
• 2009 Product Management Survey Results
• PM Job listing sites
• 280 Group Product Management 2.0 Newsletter
• 280 LinkedIn Group
• Product Management 2.0 Blog
• Books
• PMA listings
Go to www.280group.com in the “Resources” section.
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©2010 280 Group LLC

53. Brian Lawley
brian@280group.com
www.280group.com
www 280group com
(408) 834-7518
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©2010 280 Group LLC