In today’s complex and crowded business markets, firms jostle and compete with one another to get ahead. But, as is often turns out to be the case, many firms may enter a marketplace, hopeful of success, and yet end up offering competing and yet similar products and services to other firms.

Poor differentiation, and a lack of understanding of consumer taste and prevailing trends, can have a drastic business impact. This is where competitive intelligence comes in.

Competitive Intelligence is the collection and analysis of data from legal sources on markets, competitors, and consumers that can give a firm a competitive advantage.

Understanding your competitors, what they offer and how they are marketed and price can help your firm stand out from your rivals. Typically, competitive intelligence gathering involves, among other things:

• Identifying competitors, starting with the most direct rivals in your space;
• Having clear objectives: specific product marketing strategies, messaging or even design and presentation;
• Determining how the data will be collected. These days, it is common to also look at competitors’ social media channels for potentially useful information.

And, in case you are wondering, competitive intelligence gathering is both ethical and legal and not to be confused with corporate espionage. The practice relies on publicly available information, through, for example, online websites, trade directories and reports of chambers of commerce. It also uses clear and transparent methods of data collection to obtain the information.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Marie Teo
Manager, Group Marketing Communications
Spire Research and Consulting
Phone: (65) 6838 5355
E-mail: marie.teo@spireresearch.com