COMPETITOR ANANLYSIS

Competitor analysis

• Competition is necessary evil in the market, which indicate health of the industry & reflect on the product. 
• Competition gives new products, better price & lot more to consumer.
• A systematic attempt to identify competitor’s strategy will be core focus in competition analysis.
• The best example of competition is ATM cards, CRM, Easy money, big retail formats etc.

Types of growth

Intensive growth:

• Market penetration.
• Market development.
• Product development. 

Diversified growth

• Integrative growth - backward, forward, horizontal.
• No growth - harvesting, entrenchment, withdrawal.

Porter’s Five Forces Model

1. Bargaining power of suppliers.
2. Bargaining power of customers.
3. Threat of new entrants.
4. Threat of substitute products or services.
5. Rivalry among current competitors.

The Five Forces of Competition Model




Concerns of an Organization’s competitive analysis

• Who are our competitors?
• How can our competitors be grouped meaningfully?
• What are our competitors’ strengths and weaknesses?
• What are our competitors’ objectives and strategies?
• How are our competitors likely to react to changes in the marketing environment? 

Competitor identification

Who are our competitors?

• Similar specific-same product, technology and target market
• Similar general-same product area, but different segments. 

e.g. Nirma powder Vs Wheel powder

• Different specific-same need satisfied by different means.

e.g. Water Vs Cold drinks

• Different general-competing for discretionary spend.

e.g. holiday vs. new car

How can our competitors be grouped meaningfully?

Different characteristics for identifying Strategic groupings



 What are competitive strengths and weaknesses 

• Requires use of various information sources.
• Consider in terms of critical success factors:

e.g. manufacturing, technical and financial strength, relationships with supplier and customer, its market and segment, product range, its volume, cash and profits etc.

• Information can be used to plan and launch attack.

What are our competitors’ objectives and strategies? 

Objectives – related to cash generation, market share, technological leadership, quality recognition , market expansion, penetration into new market, product modification, advertisement strategy and sales promotion strategy etc. Find clues in product portfolio to have better edge over on the competitors.

Strategy - related to its positioning, marketing mix etc.

How are our competitors likely to react to changes in the marketing environment?

• Learn by experience.
• Market survey/research.
• Customers feed back-segmentation.

Not easy to predict its reaction due to: its cost structures, relative market positions, product life cycle, industrial position etc.

Useful information about competitors


Generic strategies



Sources of Competitions

• Product – branding, innovation, quality, specification, design, image, patents;
• Price – price positions, price-value combinations
• Place – intensive, exclusive distributions
• Promotion – creativity, spending
• Service – strong trust with customer

Attacking and defending

• Aggressive strategies - frontal, flank, encirclement, bypass, and guerrilla attacks. 
• Defence strategies - fixed position, mobile, flanking, contraction, counter offensive.

Attack strategies

Defence strategies

Market Analysis

—In market analysis, you will study and understand;
1.Market Segmentation
2.Target Market.
3.Positioning and Differentiation.
4.Market Research.
5.Market Information System.
6.Competition Analysis.
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 Market Segment
—A large identifiable group within a market with similar wants, purchasing power, geographical locations, buying attitudes.
—In precise, market segmentation is all about classifying of heterogeneous market into homogeneous market, in which a set of group of people/customers have a similar need and demand pattern.

Niche Marketing
—What is an attractive niche ?
—A distinct set of needs
—A premium can be charged
—Not likely to attract competition
—Gains certain economies through specialization
—Sufficient size, profit and growth potential

Local Marketing
—When the marketing mix is altered to suit the local conditions e.g., Giving a higher/ lower discount than what’s prevailing in the rest of the markets or implementing a different promotion scheme.

Individualized Marketing
—When the firm deals with each customer on a one – to – one basis
—When products are customized for the customer

Behavioral variables—Occasions – birthdays, lunch time, vacations
—Benefits – eg.travel – business, vacation, educational
—User status – non users, ex users, first time users, regular users, potential users
—Usage rate – light, medium, heavy
—Loyalty status – die hard, shifters ,switchers
—Buyer Readiness – unaware – aware – informed – interested – desire – intention to buy
—Attitude – enthusiastic, positive, indifferent, negative, hostile

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