How do Marketers Identify and analyze

Competition??

•Competitive Frame of Reference

The competitive frame of reference defines which other brands a brand competes with and therefore which brands should be the focus of a competitive analysis.

Identifying Competitiors

Start by determining category membership

CATEGORY MEMBERSHIP The products or set of products with which a brand competes and which function as close substitutes.

Examples

Energy Bars

Luna Bars(Women)

Balance(Protein Bars)

Priya(Calorie Control Bar)

ANALYSING COMPETITORS

A company needs to gather information about each competitor’s real and perceived weakness.

POINTS OF DIFFERENCE AND POINTS OF PARITY

Points-of-difference (PODs) are attributes or benefits that consumers strongly associate with a brand, positively evaluate, and believe they could not find to the same extent with a competitive brand.

EXAMPLES

Easy-to-useIrreverent attitudeDesign

PerformanceInnovative TechnologyWinning

YOUR BRAND SHOULD BE

1) Desirable to Customer2)Deliverable by the Company3) Differentiating from

competitiors

POINTS OF PARITY

Category points-of-parity are attributes or benefits that consumers view as essential to a legitimate and credible offering within a certain product or service category.

In other words, they represent necessary—but not sufficient—conditions for brand choice.

VISA has established a strong point of difference versus American Express on the basis of its acceptability.

DISCLAIMER

Created by Ankur Agrawal, IIT Kanpur, during an internship by Prof. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow.www.IIMInternship.com