MKT510 Lec 6

Competitor Analysis

5-1
 Learning Outcome
• Understanding the competitor analysis and
allied concepts.
• Ability to apply competitor analysis for
PDA.

5-2
Competitor Analysis System
Secondary data Primary data

Key questions:
- Who are they?
- What are the
competing product
features?
- What do they want?
- What is their
current strategy?

Differential
competitor
advantage analysis
i.e. Who has the
competitive product
advantage?

What are they going to

do?

5-3
Secondary Sources of Competitor Information
Customer Internal
Communications Sources Local
Consultants Newspapers

Annual
Trade Press Reports

Patent
Internet Secondary data Filings

Promotional 10Ks
Literature

Business
Trade
Press
Associations
News Electronic Government
Releases Databases
5-4
Primary Sources of Competitor Information
Investment
Bankers
Consultants/
Specialized
Firms Sales Force

Primary
Data
Suppliers
Employees

Customers

5-5
Other Sources of Competitor Information
Help-Wanted
Advertisements
Hiring Key
Employees Trade Shows

Primary
Data
Monitoring Plant Tours
Test Markets

Reverse
Engineering

5-6
Sources with Ethical Considerations
• Aerial reconnaissance
• Buying/stealing trash
• Bribing printers
• Running phony want ads
• Snooping on airplanes

5-7
Product Features Matrix

5-8
Assessing Competitors’ Strategies
• Marketing strategy
• Comparing value chains
• Marketing mix
• Pricing
• Promotion
• Distribution
• Product/Service capabilities

5-9
 Value Chain

Firm Infrastructure

Margi
Support Human Resource Management
Activities Technology Development

n
Procurement

Inbound Marketin

Margin
Operations Outbound
Logistics g and Service
Logistics
Sales

Primary Activities

5-10
Criteria to Assess Technological Strategy

1. Technology selection or specialization

2. Level of competence
3. Sources of capability: internal versus external
4. R&D investment level
5. Competitive timing: initiate versus respond
6. R&D organization and policies

5-11
Competitor Information to Collect
• Ability to conceive and design
• Ability to produce
• Ability to market
• Ability to finance
• Ability to manage

5-12
Differential Competitor Advantage Analysis

5-13
A Competitive Conjecture Process
Customer
First period response

Our profit
Our unit sales

Their expected
price

Our
We lower our total
price
outcome
Their price
reaction

Our unit sales Our profit

Customer
Second period response
Should we cut price?

5-14
Energy Bars: Competitor
Feature/Strategy Matrix

5-15
Energy Bars: Differential Competitor Analysis

5-16
Energy Bars: Differential Competitor Analysis (cont.)

5-17
 Energy Bars: Current
& Future Strategy Matrix

5-18
PDA Product Features Matrix

5-19
Comparison of Competitor Resources: PDAs

5-20
Comparison of Competitor Resources: PDAs (cont.)

5-21
 Revision question..
Which of the following is a framework for understanding the
structure of an industry?

A. the Boston Consulting Group growth share matrix

B. the consumer product classification matrix
C. the product/industry life cycle model
D. the five competitive forces model

5-22