Growing Need for Competitive Market Intelligence

Posted by Ankit Kohli on January 11th, 2016

Competitive Intelligence (CI) is known by different names and with them, varies the definitions. Marketers and business professionals would call it competitor intelligence, strategic intelligence, business intelligence, or marketing intelligence, among many other terms. Definitions may also slightly differ depending on the context in which the term is used. One of the more popular and widely accepted definitions of competitive intelligence is a collection and analysis of information in order to anticipate competitive activity, distinguish past market disruptions, and interpret future events.

Competitive market intelligence is an increasingly essential component when it comes to developing business strategies that help businesses stay ahead of the competition. Analysis of such intelligence allows a deep insight into marketplace dynamics and the challenges that businesses are likely to face using disciplined, structured, and ethical means. It is also an exceedingly important step in developing more positive consumer relationships, creating a life-long consumer base, and increasing leads. Just as important as it is to watch the movements and behaviours of your customers, is keeping a close eye on the strategies and actions of your competitors.

Gathering and analysing competitive intelligence allows you to incorporate external competitive and general market forces into your core strategy. Competitive market intelligence also helps you generate strategically relevant insights using research, structured analysis, and evaluation that allow your chief marketing officers and managers to enhance strategic planning, marketing, finance, and overall operations. Retaining CI services and solutions likewise keeps you in the know and duly compliant with antitrust and trade secret laws, ethical and legal best practices, and corporate codes of behaviour. Overall, competitive intelligence minimises decision risks while reducing uncertainty about your external business developments.

By gathering market and competitor intelligence, you can formulate and tailor business strategies that will help you stay ahead of the game. There are three major types of competitive market intelligence you should pay attention to, namely strategic intelligence, which focuses on data involving the competitive, economic, and political environment in which your business operates now and will be operating in the future; competitor intelligence, which focuses on information on your competitors' capabilities, current activities, intentions, and plans; and market intelligence, which focuses on the current activities within your marketplace. Other types of CI like technical intelligence and market breakthroughs can also help you exploit opportunities and identify threats so you can effectively respond and adapt to the changes in your business environment.

About the Author:

Pure Research provides customised research and business intelligence to corporates, public sector organisations, financial services firms, and professional services firms worldwide. The company delivers high quality procurement and supply chain intelligence to procurement professionals and their organisations. It provides business and market intelligence to strategy and marketing teams at corporations, and to professional services firms. Pure Research also provides customised financial research and ESG research to financial services firms. Analysts from Pure Research work as an extension of their client organisations to deliver high quality research and insights. The company has offices in London, U.K. and Delhi, India.

Business Name: Pure Research Private Limited

Contact Person: Ankit Kohli (Director)

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