INSIGHTS for your Company's Advantage

Competitive Intelligence is of immense importance in the context of benchmarking, competitor observation, and competitive analysis. But what exactly is Competitive Intelligence, and how can the relevant expertise within a company be enhanced and developed? In this article, we will explore this topic and explain what lies behind Competitive Intelligence.

Term Explanation



Let's first take a closer look at the definition of the term. The first part of the word, "competitive," comes from English and translates to "competitive" or "able to compete." "Intelligence," also derived from English, is a collective term for technologies that enable data processing, data mining, data management, and data visualization. This gathered "knowledge" leads to concrete courses of action within an organization.


Competitive Intelligence further refers to the process of ethically sound planning, collection, analysis, and communication of accurate and specific competitive data about the economic environment, competitors, and the organization itself. This also clearly differentiates it from illegal industrial espionage.




Why is Competitive Intelligence Important?



In today’s fast-paced world, companies are evolving rapidly, and many markets are highly competitive. Monitoring innovations, market developments, and continually expanding expertise within one’s own business segment is therefore crucial.


Strategic monitoring of markets and competitors is a powerful tool to drive innovation within your company and to ensure that the right information is available at the right time.


With the help of Competitive Intelligence, the development of a market, its participants, and relevant technologies can be strategically observed. This helps in making informed decisions and reflecting on your own strengths and weaknesses.




Benefits of Competitive Intelligence



Competitor Profiling

Technology Assessment

Reviewing Your Own Market Positioning

Scanning the Economic Environment, including Competitors, Technologies, Funding, Market Entry Barriers, etc.

Evaluating Opportunities and Risks for New Products, Services, and Markets

Identifying and Anticipating Key Trends

The 5 Phases of the Competitive Intelligence Cycle

The Competitive Intelligence (CI) Cycle, with its 5 phases—Planning, Research, Analysis, Communication, and Decision & Feedback—serves as a framework to initiate the CI process within your organization.


1. Planning Phase

Like any strategic process, the CI Cycle begins with the planning phase. In this phase, it’s essential to clarify the key questions and determine which aspects of competitive analysis should be examined. This involves identifying and defining the Key Intelligence Topics (KITs).



Key Intelligence Topics (KITs) are the core business-related issues that are crucial for an organization to address in order to achieve its defined business objectives.

The most common KIT categories include:



Early Warning KITs: What are the opportunities and risks?

Strategic KITs: Data and information related to specific, defined company strategies.

Competitor KITs: Information about key competitors.

2. Research Phase

The next step is to assess the existing knowledge regarding the identified KITs. If this knowledge is already available within the organization, the relevant questions can be addressed quickly. Otherwise, knowledge generation begins.



Knowledge generation includes competitor monitoring and the collection of internal and external information. Potential sources of information might include:



Content, Social Media & Campaigns



Regularity of Content
Content & Themes

SEO & Keywords

Quality or Quantity?

Which Marketing Channels are utilized?

What do the CTAs (Calls-to-action) look like?

Who is the Target Audience?

News & Promotions



Press Releases

Trade Show Appearances

Mentions in the News

Sponsorships

Awards

Communication Trends/Timing

Customer Feedback



Customer Reviews

Customer Demographics

Customer Lists

Marketing Mix



Product and Pricing Policies

Price Changes

Product Positioning and Presentation

Product/Portfolio Adjustments

Employees & Job Listings



Open Positions

Job Profiles

Reports & Studies



Market Analyses 

Business Reports 

Service Analyses 

Surveys of Shared Customers 

Product Teardowns


In addition to the initial data collection, it is advisable to continuously monitor competitors within the company to avoid being caught off guard by the competition or new market developments. However, continuous monitoring of the environment also means dealing with a growing amount of data and an ever-expanding knowledge archive.


3. Analysis Phase

Since the collected data comes from various sources, it is initially unstructured and presented in different formats and forms. Moreover, not all the gathered information will be useful or relevant to the company. Therefore, it is crucial to implement a system that organizes the vast amount of data into a usable structure and distinguishes between relevant and irrelevant information. The following questions can assist in the initial selection process:



Data Reliability: How reliable is the information source considered to be? Is the content clear and unambiguous? Can the accuracy of the information be confirmed?

Data Timeliness: How current is the information, and how up-to-date does it need to be to remain useful?

Informative Value: How informative is the data? How frequently and in what contexts is a certain piece of information found?

Relevance: Does the information hold significance for a specific business objective?



Beyond these factors, data should always be understood as part of a larger context. Analyzing individual pieces of information in isolation is generally not productive. It is more crucial to consider the entire economic context, even though the focus of Competitive Intelligence is on competition. This includes aspects such as new market entrants, a general decline in customer loyalty, new regulations and laws, increased price sensitivity, etc.



At the core of Competitive Intelligence is not only the collection of comprehensive, up-to-date, relevant, and accurate raw data but also the ability to draw the right connections and conclusions from the available information. Depending on the specific questions being addressed, the following analysis methods can be applied:

Strengths/Weaknesses or SWOT Analysis 

Benchmarking 
Location/Market 

Potential/Market Coverage Analyses

Market Positioning Analysis 

Segmentation/Portfolio/Pricing Analysis 

Technology/Process/Cost Analysis

Profit/Loss Analyses 

Search Engine & Marketing Analyses 

Analysis of Industry Trends and Market Development



The results of these analyses are designed to help companies secure and expand their competitive advantage. At the same time, Competitive Intelligence assists in preempting or countering competitors' activities.


4. Communication Phase

Once the analysis phase is completed, the results need to be communicated within the company. It is crucial that the Competitive Intelligence team delivers the information in the "right" format, to the "right" people, at the "right" time, and through the "right" medium. This ensures that actionable insights and concrete measures can be derived and implemented based on the analysis findings.



Ideally, Competitive Intelligence is already deeply embedded within the company’s strategy and corporate culture, ensuring that the insights gained are given the necessary weight within the organization. The commitment of top management and the involved departments is crucial for driving and implementing changes within the organization. Naturally, the affected employees should also be brought on board early in the process. They need to understand the necessity of these changes and accept the transformation to effectively support and contribute to it.



Established processes and regular meetings with responsible department heads can be beneficial in this regard. Additionally, a dedicated database or software should be employed to capture relevant data and analysis results, making them accessible to key stakeholders. This approach allows for the retention of acquired knowledge, ensures it can be retrieved at any time, and enables continuous expansion of the knowledge archive.


5. Decision and Feedback Phase

In today’s world, extensive data is a vital asset for any company. Through Competitive Intelligence, organizations can obtain data-driven decision support, which must then be integrated into future corporate planning and strategy.



Change initiatives can be documented with a preliminary action plan, which is then refined and developed further within dedicated project teams. If changes are indeed implemented, it is advisable to create a follow-up report that highlights the benefits of the revisions compared to the performance prior to the changes and against the expectations set. These insights can be fed back to the CI team to further optimize the Competitive Intelligence process.



Finally, a reassessment of the Key Intelligence Topics (KITs) takes place. Have there been any changes in this regard? Are there new aspects that are relevant to the organization’s business success? Addressing these questions marks the beginning of a new cycle in the Competitive Intelligence process.