Octopus Competitive Intelligence

You’re Not Losing to a Better Product. You’re Losing to a Better  Perception . We like to believe that customers are rational. They think in straight lines. But in the real world? They zigzag. They don’t want what they say they want. And they don’t buy what they think they buy. And they don’t switch because of what you think is a “better product.” They switch because something feels right. More aspirational. More aligned with how they see themselves or  want  to be seen. That’s why competitive intelligence that relies too heavily on  what customers say  is broken by design. Let’s break this down, reframe it, and show you how to build a stronger competitor and market analysis playbook. Why Traditional Market Research Misses the Point Classic market research is obsessed with  asking . Focus groups Surveys Customer interviews These tools ask people what they want. But here’s the problem: People lie. Not maliciously. Just naturally. They don’t even realise they...

Case Study: B2B Mystery Shopping Software Case Study: HR & Payroll Insights When evaluating HR and payroll software competitors for a client preparing to expand operations, we conducted a comprehensive  B2B mystery shopping  software exercise. We aimed to assess leading software vendors on key decision-making factors, including automation, compliance, scheduling, customer support, and pricing structures. By engaging directly with sales teams and product demonstrations under the guise of a potential buyer, we extracted detailed insights that would be challenging to obtain through standard research. Methodology We approached three agreed HR and payroll software vendors. Codenamed Provider Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. With the stated aim of working with a mid-sized business needing: All-in-one HR Scheduling Payroll automation solution. We planned our work around specific questions. We tested each provider to see if they could give accurate, relevant, and engaging answers. Each ven...

Every so often, we get asked to discuss competitive intelligence projects, and we hear something. Whether it’s B2B SaaS, legacy logistics, or even medtech, it doesn’t matter. And it’s normally Marketing Directors. They introduce their needs as “we need more data before we can act.” or “we realise we dont have the data”. It’s your data trap. But nine times out of ten, they already have  too much  data. What they’re really lacking is  interpretation ,  narrative , and  direction . And you know what? Most of these data seekers tend to agree with us. You don’t need more data.   You need sharper thinking. You need someone who can use Humint and deep research and analysis and answer specific questions, usually about competitor moves, go-to-market strategies, customer shifts, team capacity, and margin pressure. And then connect the dots in a way that says: Here’s what this means. Here’s what could happen next. Here’s what we should do about it. That’s not market r...

Enjoy the silence: Why What You Don’t Know Can Beat You: Weekly Winning Strategies “Evidence is the list of things you have got. What about the evidence you haven’t got?”  is a quote often attributed to Carl Sagan. Or was it cosmologist Martin Rees? Interesting quote about looking for the silence. “Evidence is the list of things you have got.” Sure. That’s how most people play the competitive intelligence game. They gather what’s easily available: Annual reports Press releases Social posts Analyst calls Customer reviews Job postings Maybe sprinkle in some LinkedIn stalking Most of it is collected by a CI software platform like the excellent  Klue . And they call it  competitive intelligence . But here’s the question few ask: a CI platform can’t help you. What about the evidence you  haven’t  got? That’s where the real edge is. That’s where your asymmetric advantage lives. The Illusion of Evidence Let me tell you something the industry won’t: Most “competiti...

I recently had the opportunity to walk around and talk to stand holders at the Digitial Accountancy Show. I know, who said competitive intelligence is dull, eh? It was an excellent and well-presented show. What struck me was that most solutions on show were basically offering the same thing. Some had better branding than others. Some proclaimed that AI (the same product as last year, but an algorithm has been added to the product and AI placed onto the branding or proclaiming the best customer experience) was going to change how we do things. And maybe they will. But we live in a landscape where product sameness is the norm. Where your competitors can clone your features faster than you can fix your roadmap, c ustomer experience  becomes the only reliable indicator of differentiation. More importantly, it becomes your most overlooked source of competitive intelligence. Let’s be blunt: Great CX isn’t just about delighting customers. It’s how you: Spot cracks in your competitors’ arm...