Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 6-1 Chapter 6 Competitive Intelligence Internet Marketing Intelligence

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 6-2 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 6-3 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 6-4 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 6-5 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

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest Slides, charts and written reports 10. Just numbers or quantifiable results 10. Both short and long term 9. News story9. Seeing outside the corporate walls 8. Piece of hardware8. Directed from the top executive 7. Invention of the 20 th century7. Integral part of the best corporations 6. A job for one smart person6. A process, a way of life within the corporation 5. Way to improve company bottom line 4. Internet or rumor chasing4. Takes many forms 3. Spying3. Approximations and best view of market and competition 2. Crystal ball2. Management tool providing early warning of threats and opportunities 1. Database search1. information analysed to point that a decision can be made What CI is not …What CI is …

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 6-7 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 6-8 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 6-9 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 6-10 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 6-11 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 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 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 12 Steps for Conducting CI on the Internet

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 6-14 Bidigital.com (contains The Competitive Intelligence Resource Index) Pepper and Rogers Group Consulting EDGAR 1. Check Key CI Resource Sources

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest Search for Company Information One Source Information Services, Inc. any.htm/ The Report Gallery American Business Information

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 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 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 Peruse Job/Career Sites Help-wanted ads offer clues about where a company is heading in its pursuit of markets and technologies CareerPath.com MonsterBoard 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 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 Service Intelligence Planet Feedback

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest Utilise Comparative- Shopping Services Shopping web sites can demonstrate a company’s product is being compared and evaluated with respect to their competitors’ products My Simon RoboShopper

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 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

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest News That Can Be Used ‘Think Global, Snoop Local’ (Leonard Fuld) News Link OnlineNewspapers.com Search for personnel and company news also: DataTimes

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest Personalise Information Searches By setting up their own personalised news page, researchers can have information collected for them on a regular basis. Intel Brief Market Guard 24/7

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest Outsource the CI Function Advantages of Contracting Out: the objectivity of the consultant can offer expertise that few firms have in- house reports are ready quickly and updated on a regular basis Disadvantages: cost and regularity of information Fulds Hoovers

Copyright  2003 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Internet Marketing Intelligence by Edward Forrest 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 6-26 Other sources relevant to CI Society of CI Professionals 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 6-27 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.