Competitive Analysis Cheat Sheet
Know Your Enemy (But Don't Invite Them to Lunch)
1Intelligence Gathering
- Public Sources: Annual reports, press releases, social media (their PR team's oversharing is your gain)
- Market Research: Industry reports, customer interviews (what people say when you're not in the room)
- Product Analysis: Features, pricing, positioning (legally obtaining their stuff to take it apart)
- Mystery Shopping: Experience as a customer (yes, expense that competitor's product!)
2Analysis Frameworks
- Porter's Five Forces: Industry competition analysis (who's squeezing whom)
- SWOT: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (the classic 2x2 matrix everyone loves)
- Competitive Positioning Map: Visual comparison (where you sit in customers' minds)
- Benchmarking: Performance metrics comparison (are we the tortoise or the hare?)
3Competitive Advantage
- Cost Leadership: Operational efficiency (doing it cheaper without looking cheap)
- Differentiation: Unique value (being special in a meaningful way)
- Focus Strategy: Serving niche markets (being a big fish in a small pond)
- Innovation Advantage: First-mover benefits (getting there before everyone else)
4Positioning Strategy
- Value Proposition: Clear benefit statement (why customers should choose you)
- Brand Positioning: Perception management (living rent-free in customers' minds)
- Messaging Strategy: Communication consistency (saying the same thing everywhere)
- Repositioning: Changing market perception (teaching old dogs new tricks)
Quick Tips & Tricks
- Update your competitive analysis quarterly - markets change faster than you think
- Create competitor profiles with strengths, weaknesses, and likely next moves
- Always analyze from the customer's perspective - that's what really matters
- Don't just copy competitors - understand why they do what they do
The Last Word
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. — Sun Tzu (who would have made an excellent market analyst)
Life's too short for boring management. Make it count.
Management Master™
Pro tip: Pin these cheat sheets to your office wall or slip them into your notebook for emergency management situations.