Dec

07

2017


The importance of setting Competitive Intelligence right

In a competitive and fast-moving environment, more and more successful players rely on competitive analysis and intelligence to further enhance their businesses. But what is, exactly, Competitive Intelligence?

Competitive intelligence (CI) consists of the use of all legally and ethically available information to develop data on competition, competitors, the overall market environment and in the transformation, by analysis, of that data into intelligence.

So, who does benefit from Competitive Intelligence?

Any company! In fact, there’s virtually no commercial context or corporate development phase in which CI couldn’t be critical: starting-up a new business venture, growing an already-established one, keeping market leadership in an increasingly competitive environment. Indeed, you may feel your firm to already be well-established, successful, correctly positioned on the market, or even to simply be operating in such a niche sector to be able to grow shielded from harsh competition.

But what would happen if your most important competitor was suddenly acquired by a firm several times bigger than you? What if your suppliers or clients are evaluating a vertical integration of their businesses?

Competitive Intelligence supports you in understanding who your current and/or potential competitors, customers and suppliers are, what they are doing or planning to do, and how well your organization is positioned to face their moves.

Important to note is that Competitive Intelligence is not just an aggregation of results from an online search: that would just qualify as a broad data collection! Intelligence, instead, requires professionals, able to inspect business sectors (from a whole industry to a small niche), not reachable through a standard data search or by accessing public-available databases. CI professionals know how to translate their Client’s needs into an action plan. They can identify the optimal data sources to collect raw data, in the first place. But they also make use of their network, experience and expertise to add value to those pieces of data. Finally, they know how to digest, re-elaborate and present the results to their Client in a usable format (and in a timely manner).

MarketingPRO, with its worldwide network and high-specialized skills, is already supporting a broad range of Clients with a constant market monitor activity. If you are also interested in the matter, contact us to discuss how we can help you improve your business.