The document provides guidance on conducting a competition analysis as part of developing a marketing strategy. It outlines key objectives such as understanding the competitive landscape and developing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. The document then discusses in detail how to identify a company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and compares these to competitors. It also describes different types of competitors a company may face such as direct, indirect, replacement or potential competitors. The overall aim is to help companies develop a plan to outperform competitors.

1. ì
Competition Analysis
A
Best
Prac+ce
Guide
For
Your
Marke+ng
Strategy
Process
By:
Wayne
E.
Chen
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

2. Learning
Objective
ì Understand
the
compe++on
landscape
ì What
is
S.W.O.T.
ì Develop
internal
and
external
analysis
ì S.W.O.T.
results
and
ac+ons
ì Market
share
research
ì Product
posi+oning
&
map
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

3. Competition
Analysis
ì Develop
a
plan
to
beat
your
compe++on
ì Reduce
expenses
ì Get
crea+ve
ì Deliver
customer
service
ì Developing
A
SWOT
Chart
ì Self
vs.
Compe+tors
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

4. S.W.O.T.
Chart
Strengthens
Weakness
Opportuni+es
Threats
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

5. S.W.O.T.
COMPARISON
ì What
is
our
place
in
the
market
place?
ì Market
size
and
whole
ì Financial
posi+on
ì Historical
performance
and
reputa+on
ì Resource
comparison
ì Human
Capital
/
Sales
ì Technology
capability
ì Research
&
Development
ì Legal
/
Poli+cal
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

6. Identify
Strengthens
ì What
are
your
assets?
ì Do
you
have
strong
partners
and
supporters?
ì Which
asset
is
the
strongest?
ì Will
you
be
cash
posi+ve
in
the
ì What
makes
you
different?
short-­‐term?
ì Do
you
have
talented
teammates?
ì Do
you
have
specific
sales,
technical
or
marke+ng
exper+se?
ì Do
you
have
a
broad
customer
base?
Is
it
growing?
ì Is
your
business,
product
or
service
scalable?
ì What
unique
resources
do
you
have
in
your
arsenal?
ì Can
you
capitalize
on
economies
of
scale?
ì Are
you
debt
free?
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

7. Identify
Weaknesses
ì What
can
you
improve?
How
ì Do
you
have
strong
profit
levels?
quickly?
ì Do
you
have
a
well
of
new
ideas?
ì What
necessary
exper+se,
or
technology
do
you
lack?
ì Can
you
execute
your
new
ideas
quickly
and
cost-­‐effec+vely?
ì Do
you
have
adequate
cash
flow
to
sustain
you
for
3-­‐6-­‐12
months?
ì What
is
your
marke+ng
and
opera+ng
cost
structure?
ì What
is
your
current
burn-­‐rate?
ì Do
you
have
too
much
debt?
ì Do
you
have
outdated
technology
or
service?
ì Are
you
overinvested?
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

8. Identify
Opportunities
ì What
external
changes
present
ì Can
you
fill
the
gap
of
your
interes+ng
opportuni+es?
compe+tors?
ì What
trends
might
impact
your
ì What
partnerships
can
be
formed?
industry?
ì Are
there
trends
emerging
that
you
ì Is
there
new
talent
and
where?
can
profitably
service?
ì Can
repurposing
your
product
ì Can
you
reach
new
markets?
extract
new
value?
ì Can
you
capitalize
on
your
ì Can
you
reduce
your
service
or
consumer
needs?
product
offering
with
new
product
or
cost
models?
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

9. Identify
Threats
ì Is
there
a
be^er
equipped
ì Is
your
IP
properly
secured?
compe+tor
in
your
market?
ì Do
you
have
a
strong
customer
ì How
strong
is
their
execu+ve
base?
team?
ì What
is
your
cash
to
debt
ra+o?
ì How
happy
is
your
staff?
ì What
if
your
service
or
product
is
ì What
if
your
customers
don’t
pay?
pirated
or
hacked?
ì How
much
run-­‐way
do
you
have?
ì Are
you
dependent
on
key
suppliers?
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

10. Types
of
Competitors
REPLACEMENT
REGULATORY
DIRECT
You
INDIRECT
POTENTIAL
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

11. Direct
Competitor
ì Offer
the
same
products
with
the
same
game
ì Generate
the
same
revenue
and
have
the
same
channel
ì Head-­‐to-­‐head
ì More
generic
=
for
everyone
ì Compe+ng
solely
on
price
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

12. Indirect
Competitor
ì Offer
the
same
products
but
have
a
different
goal
ì Does
not
drive
revenue
the
same
way
ì Content
marke+ng
ma^ers
ì Strong
marke+ng
ì Large
adver+sing
budgets
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

13. Replacement
Competitor
ì Consumer
can
choose
your
product
ì Same
resources
they
could
have
commi^ed
to
your
product
ì Must
listen
and
interview
consumers
to
gain
why
they
go
for
the
alterna+ve
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

14. Regulatory
Competitor
ì Local,
State
and
Federal
agency
ì Regula+ons
ì Statutory
ì Policy
ì Alliance
ì Lobbyist
ì Poli+cal
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

15. Leverage
S.W.O.T.
Analysis
ì Take
ac+on
on
results
ì All
this
data
enables
you
to
do
the
following:
ì Improve
your
strengths
ì Eliminate
weaknesses
ì Leverage
opportuni+es
ì Defend
your
business
from
threats
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

16. Take
Action
ì Guideline:
ì S.W.O.T.
Analysis
Trap
ì What
can
I
do
to
make
my
ì Jus+fy
ac+ons
and
decisions
strengths
even
more
powerful?
ì Objec+ve
on
ì What
do
I
need
to
change
to
ì Previous
decisions
eliminate
or
minimize
my
ì Weaknesses
and
threats
weaknesses?
ì Internal
reflec+on
ì How
can
I
use
the
opportuni+es
to
my
advantage?
ì What
should
I
do
to
protect
my
business
from
emerging
threats?
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

17. Potential
Competitor
ì Service
and
products
that
may
appear
at
some
point
in
the
future
ì Direct
or
indirect
ì Can
impact
your
business
ì Monitor
purchasing
habits
ì Environmental
and
industry
changes
ì Ver+cal
growth
and
expansion
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

18. Market
Shares
-­‐
Players
ì Market
share
leverage
is
a
key
concept
to
consider
when
examining
market
shares
within
an
industry
ì The
bigger
the
pie,
the
bigger
the
profit
ì Produc+on
costs
per
unit
ì Crea+vity
through
small
shares
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

19. Product
Perceptual
Map
ì A
graphic
way
to
view
and
compare
your
product
against
the
compe+tors’
ì Grid
by
Price
and
Quality
ì Determining
known
markets
and
un-­‐served
ì Percep+ons
importance
ì Quality,
strengthen,
and
appeal
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

20. Product
Positioning
ì Product
evolu+on
ì Unique
Selling
Proposi+on
(USP)
ì Product
Image
ì Product
Posi+oning
ì The
importance
of
produc+on
percep+on
vs.
physical
a^ributes
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen

21. Ten
Ways
To
Conquer
Product
Positioning
1. Posi+oning
begins
with
the
name
2. Unique
products
require
new
names
3. Be
the
first
to
own
the
word
4. Reinforce
the
original
concept
across
all
ac+vi+es
5. Introduce
a
new
brand
not
blurring
the
original
6. Establish
a
new
category
and
brands
that
are
tough
to
beat
7. Find
an
open
posi+on
in
the
consumer’s
mind
8. Reposi+on
the
compe++on
to
undercut
leader’s
product
9. Be
consistent
with
your
posi+on
always
©
2011
–
Wayne
Chen