Transcript Chapter 6

Internet Marketing Intelligence
Chapter 6
Competitive Intelligence
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
6-1
Objectives
• Provide an understanding of what
Competitive Intelligence (CI) is
• Examine the practicalities of an effective
CI system
• Explain why it is important to know one’s
competitors
• Outline the present and future
ramifications of the Internet on CI
• Provide a procedure for conducting CI
online
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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Competitive Intelligence
• An integral element in formulating
business and marketing strategy
• Improves overall company performance
• Uncovers opportunities and problems
• Helps to anticipate future moves
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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What is CI?
• A systematic way of identifying and
gathering timely, relevant information about
a company’s existing and potential
competitors.
• CI is central to an organisation’s strategic
planning and initiate changes during the
decision-making process.
• It is part of the value chain that converts
data elements into actionable information,
resulting in strategic decisions.
• The keys to the successful utilisation of CI
are analysis
of data and synthesis of info.
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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Leonard Fuld
• President of Fuld and Company (a
leading research and consulting firm)
• Regarded by many as a long-established
expert on CI
• Defines what CI is and is not (see slide
6-6, adapted from Leonard Fuld
http://www.fuld.com/whatCI.html/)
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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What CI is …
What CI is not …
1. information analysed to point that a
decision can be made
1. Database search
2. Management tool providing early
warning of threats and opportunities
2. Crystal ball
3. Approximations and best view of
market and competition
3. Spying
4. Takes many forms
4. Internet or rumor chasing
5. Way to improve company bottom line 5. Slides, charts and written reports
6. A process, a way of life within the
6. A job for one smart person
corporation
7. Integral part of the best corporations
7. Invention of the 20th century
8. Directed from the top executive
8. Piece of hardware
9. Seeing outside the corporate walls
9. News story
10. Both short and long term
10. Just numbers or quantifiable
results
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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Practicalities of an Effective
CI System
• Provides a constant flow of timely and
accurate information
• Without action, intelligence is useless
• Intelligence is derived from information
analysis
• Collection of information is just the
beginning of a successful CI system
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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Practicalities of an Effective
CI System (cont.)
• Uses both primary and secondary data
• Helps make informed marketing and
strategic decisions
• Gain strategic advantage and reduce risks
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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CI Benefits to the
Company
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reduces costs
Lowers risks
Adds value
Increases productivity
Increases reaction times
By better understanding their competitors,
a company is in a good position to
anticipate and respond to them.
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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Sun Tzu (Military Strategist)
The Art of War, 500BC
‘If you are ignorant of both your
enemy and yourself, then you are a
fool and certain to be defeated in
every battle.
If you know yourself, but not your
enemy, for every battle won, you will
suffer a loss.
If you know your enemy and
yourself, you will win every battle.’
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
6-10
The Internet’s Impact on CI
• Provides the opportunity for companies to
conduct their competitor information
searches online and in-house
• Reduces cost barrier
• Brings ability to obtain new information
quickly and from wide variety of sources
• Can track competitors around the world
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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12 Steps for Conducting
CI on the Internet
1. Check key CI resources
2. Search for company information
3. Search the web sites and personal pages
of competitiors
4. Search for trade associations and
conferences
5. Peruse job and career web sites
6. Survey competitor’s customers online
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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12 Steps for Conducting
CI on the Internet
7. Utilise comparative-shopping services
8. Search news groups and read mailing lists
9. News that can be used
10. Personalise information searches
11. Outsource the CI function
12. Start your search engines
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
6-13
1. Check Key CI Resource
Sources
• Bidigital.com (contains The Competitive
Intelligence Resource Index)
http://www.bidigital.com/ci/
• Pepper and Rogers Group Consulting
http://www.1to1.com/
• EDGAR http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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2. Search for Company
Information
• One Source Information Services, Inc.
http://www.onesource.com/company/comp
any.htm/
• The Report Gallery
http://www.reportgallery.com/
• American Business Information
http://www.abii.com
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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3. Search the Web Sites and
Personal Pages of Competitors
• Competitors’ web sites provide:
• information and insight on present and future
marketing strategies
• relevant details about the company
• data about research and development
operations
• But be careful:
• home pages can also contain lots of
misleading information
• companies tend to post only their most
optimistic messages
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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4. Search for Trade Associations
and Conferences
• Trade associations can provide useful and
unbiased information about competitors.
• Conferences can be a rich source of
information on competitors business and
marketing positions.
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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5. Peruse Job/Career Sites
• Help-wanted ads offer clues about where a
company is heading in its pursuit of markets
and technologies
• CareerPath.com http://www.careerpath.com
• MonsterBoard http://www.mosterboard.com
• Human-source information is more
interesting and more accurate than
secondary information.
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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6. Survey Competitor’s
Customers online
• Survey Competitor’s Customers:
• to receive first-hand information on a
competitor’s strengths and weaknesses
• to measure brand image, attributes, brand
equity, advertising and promotional effects
• ePublicEye http://www.epubliceye.com.sg/
• Service Intelligence
http://www.serviceintelligence.com/
• Planet Feedback
http://biz.planetfeedback.com/biz
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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7. Utilise ComparativeShopping Services
• Shopping web sites can demonstrate a
company’s product is being compared and
evaluated with respect to their
competitors’ products
• My Simon http://www.mysimon.com/
• RoboShopper
http://www.roboshopper.com/
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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8. Search Newsgroups and
Read Mailing Lists
• By joining a news group, researchers can
obtain valuable information about what
their customers think about their company
as well as their competitors.
• Deja News http://www.dejanews.com/
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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9. News That Can Be Used
• ‘Think Global, Snoop Local’ (Leonard Fuld)
• News Link http://www.newslink.org/
• OnlineNewspapers.com
http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/
• Search for personnel and company news
also:
• DataTimes http://www.datatimes.com/
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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10. Personalise Information
Searches
• By setting up their own personalised news
page, researchers can have information
collected for them on a regular basis.
• Intel Brief http://www.intelbrief.com/
• Market Guard 24/7
http://www.marketguard247.com/
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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11. Outsource the CI Function
• Advantages of Contracting Out:
• the objectivity of the consultant
• can offer expertise that few firms have inhouse
• reports are ready quickly and updated on a
regular basis
• Disadvantages:
• cost and regularity of information
• Fulds http://www.fuld.com/
• Hoovers http://www.hoovers.com/
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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12. Start Your Search Engines
• As a last step, researchers should conduct
a search using their favorite search
engine(s)
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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Other sources relevant to CI
• Society of CI Professionals
http://www.scip.org
• helps individuals obtain the CI skills
necessary to turn CI into a competitive
advantage
• contains publications such as newsletters
and journals
• provides details of up-coming CI events
such as conferences and seminars
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
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Summary
• CI is the continuous monitoring of
competitors for information that can be
used to plan strategic and marketing
decisions.
• CI should be gathered through legal and
ethical means.
• The Internet has increased the information
available; however, researchers should
consider the 12-step process to reduce
information overload and make their
research more effective.
Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd
PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest
6-27