Jim Bounthanome e-mail: jime85621@hotmail.com

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Strategic Marketing Lao-American College

What/Why Competitor Analysis?

Competitor Analysis is a competitor is a firm

operating in the same market, offering similar products

and targeting similar customers.

Competitor Analysis is the first step the firm takes to

be able to predict the extent and nature of its rivalry with

each competitor.

What/Why Competitor Analysis?

Why Competitor Analysis

Providing an understanding of your competitive

advantage/disadvantage relative to your competitors’ positions

The ultimate goal is to improve strategic choices – decisions

as to who, where and how to compete.

To gain an understanding of competitors and identification of

groups of competitors.

Steps in analysing competitors strengths and weaknesses

What information on competitors is necessary and

important?

Strategic Group:

A set of firms emphasising similar strategic dimension to use similar strategy(ies)

Organizations in a strategic group occupy similar positions in the market, offer similar goods to similar customers and may also make similar choices about production technology and other organizational features.

Strategic Dimensions:

The extent of technological leadership, product quality, pricing policies, distribution channels and customer service are example of strategic dimensions that firms in a strategic group may treat similarly.

Competitor Analysis (Continue…)

Competitor Analysis (Continue…)

5 Questions that we need to consider when doing the Competitor Analysis:

1. Against whom are we competing?

2. What are their objectives?

3. What strategies are they pursuing and how successful are they?

4. What strengths and weaknesses do they possess?

5. How are they likely to behave and, in particular, how are they likely to react

to offensive moves?

Taken together, the answers to these five questions can be used to

develop a detailed response profile for each competitive organization,

and the probable implications for competitive behaviour fed into the

planning process.

Competitor Analysis (Continue…)

A Checklist of Strengths and Weaknesses

Innovation

Technical product or service superiority

New product capability

R& D

Technologies

Patents

Management Quality of top and middle Management

Quality of strategic decision making

Knowledge of business

Planning/Operation system

Strategic goals and Planning

Manufacturing/Operations Cost structure

Effective and flexible operations

Efficient operations

Workforce attitude and motivation

Capacity

Outsourcing

Marketing

Product quality and reputation

Brand name recognition

Customer orientation

Segmentation/focus

Advertising/promotion skills

Customer service/ product support

Finance – access to capital

From operations

From net short-term assets

Ability to use debt and equity financing

parent’s willingness to finance

Customer base

Size and loyalty

Market share

Growth of segments served

Identify a full list of competitors including Direct, Indirect Competitors as

well as substitutes. Develop a full profile for your major competitors using

the check list below:

1. Current Objectives:

What are they trying to achieve? Are they satisfied with their achievements?

2. Current Strategies

Identify their focuses

- What target market(s) are they pursuing?

What marketing mix do they use?

- Consider 7 P’s if a high service element

3. Competitor resources/capabilities

Marketing assets and capabilities

Production and operational capabilities

Financial resources

Organization culture

4. Use the above information to help you predict their future strategies

Competitor Analysis (Continue…)

Competitors Major Competitors Strategic Group

Full list of your

competitors

A list of your major

competitors

A list of your strategic

group members

Competitor Analysis (Continue…)

Then select one or two members of your strategic group to do the competitor

analysis based on:

Company A Address….

Contact details….

Brief profile….

1. Current Objectives:

What are they trying to achieve? Are they satisfied with their achievements?

2. Current Strategies

Identify their focuses

- What target market(s) are they pursuing?

What marketing mix do they use?

- Consider 7 P’s if a high service element

3. Competitor resources/capabilities

Marketing assets and capabilities

Production and operational capabilities

Financial resources

Organization culture

4. Use the above information to help you predict their future strategies

Note: State any assumptions you have made about your competitors

Competitor Analysis (Continue…)

Customer Analysis (The study of consumer behaviour)

What/Why Customer Analysis?

Customer Analysis

The study of consumer behaviour. It involves an examination of customer

segmentation, motivations and unmet needs.

Segmentation means the identification of customer groups that can support different

competitive strategies.

Segmentation approaches include benefit sought, the price/quality dimension

/sensitivity, and customer loyalty…

Consumer buying behaviour the buying behaviour of final consumers, individuals and households who buy goods

and services for personal consumptions

Consumer market all the individuals and households who buy or acquire goods and services for

personal consumption.

What/Why Customer Analysis?

Benefits of Customer Analysis

Develop a key insights regarding consumer behaviour specially:

Who buys?

What do they buys? (core benefit sought)?

When do they buy?

How often do they buy?

Where do they buy?

Who else is involved in the purchase decision?

How is the product/service consumed?

Where is it consumed?

What influences their purchase?

How price sensitive are they?

By answering these questions will assist you to segment the industry and

identify consumer segments.

Information Base for understanding consumer

behaviour

Marketing Information System:

Consumer Behaviour

Information Base for understanding consumer behaviour

1. Marketing information system:

Provide films with detailed information as to likely consumer

response and react.

2. Secondary Data

Are existing data from published sources, industry data…

3. Primary Data

Are collected by a company for the specific purpose of

answering its research questions.

Consumer Behaviour

Passive and Active Learning?

What’s Passive Learning?

Is learning occurs in a situation wherein an individual is in a relaxed

state and does not pay attention to the message but retain

information randomly because of repetition

What’s Active Learning?

More and clear information is needed, searching, comparing and getting

more information about a particular product/service.

Consumer Behaviour (continue…)

Need Recognition

Information Search

Evaluation of Alternatives

Purchase Decision

Post-Purchased Evaluation

Consumer Behaviour (continue…)

Feedback

Buyer Decision Process

Consumer Behaviour (continue…)

Consumer Behaviour (continue…)

Needs

Utilitarian Needs: seek to achieve practical benefit from a

product

Eg. Durable car, economical computer or warm clothing…

Hedonic Needs: seek to achieve pleasure from a product

Eg. Gucci, Louis Vuitton,Macerati Car…

Consumer buying roles

Buying decision

initiator

influencer

decider buyer

User

Initiator: the person who first

suggests or thinks of the idea of buying

a particular product or service

Influencer: a person whose views or

advice carry some weight in making the

final buying decision.

Decider: the person who ultimately

makes a buying decision or any part of

it – whether to buy, what to buy, how to

buy or where to buy

Buyer: the person who make an

actual purchase.

User: the person who consumes or

uses a product or service

Market segmentation:

dividing a market into direct groups of buyers who might require

separate products or marketing mixes; the process of classifying

customers into groups with different needs, characteristics or

behaviour

Market targeting:

evaluating each market segment’s attractiveness and selecting one

or more segments to enter

Market positioning

Arranging for a product to occupy a clear, distinctive and desirable

place relative to competing products in the minds of target

consumers; formulating competitive positioning for a product and

creating a detailed marketing mix

Segmentation

Segmentation (continue…)

Geographic

Region

Country/ city size

Density

Climate

Demographic Age

Gender

Family size

Income

Occupation

Religion

Race

Nationality

Psychographic

Social class

Lifestyle

Personality

Behavioural

Purchase occasion

Benefit sought

User status

Loyalty status

Readiness status

Attitude toward product

Segmentation (continue…)

• Identify bases for segmenting the market

• Develop profiles of resulting segments

Market Segmentation

• Develop measures of segment attractiveness

• Select the target segments(s)

Market Targeting

• Develop positioning for each target segment

• Develop marketing mix for each target segment

Market Positioning