Octopus Competitive Intelligence

  Before Competitive Intelligence its best to Take a look at yourself Before looking at your competitors and your environment, start searching for information and then getting swamped by data; it’s important to sit back with your team. Before Competitive Intelligence its best to Take a look at yourself. Situation What does your organisation do? Not such an obvious question. What products or services do you offer? What do you not provide and why? Which industry do you compete in? Do you compete in a niche, on price or quality? Have you written down your strategic objectives? Ok, do you have any? Do these objectives and goals actually reflect what happens in your organisation? What customers do you target? What do you consider your competitive advantage? Why do customers use your service? Drivers Where is your pain? What threats are you facing regarding competitors, industry changes and markets? What do you want to achieve? And what do you know? What don’t you know? Some suggest...

  Why investors should use Competitive Intelligence to create better returns? We have written another article on this subject after many similar enquiries. We explain why investors should use Competitive Intelligence to create better returns? Browsing social media and LinkedIn is often frustrating. Witnessing investors promoting how much return they made from recent investment journeys. An investor reflecting openly about the failed projects is rarely seen. These lessons and reflections would be so much more helpful for the reader. Especially the would-be start-up founders and the desire to have someone else’s money. Of course, people don’t tend to wash their dirty laundry in public. And in any case, it could inhibit their image as a market-leading thought leader. We know that projects fail that could have been avoided at source. Or corrected earlier in their rotation before things got too hot to handle. They are not stories. They are facts By way of example, here are some of the e...

  Find out about your competitors to differentiate and win It’s easy to understand your competitors’ products and services. However, it’s more challenging to know what makes them different from you. So, find out about your competitors to differentiate and win. Competition comes from everywhere.  Direct competitors are easier to isolate because they offer the same product as you. There are your indirect competitors. Those competing in your market but with different products. These are usually a bit harder to separate. And competitors can come from any angle. Think grocery shops competing against new supermarkets and then suddenly competing against Amazon. The supermarket didn’t expect Amazon to move into their area (or did they?). What chance did Mr Arkwright in his corner shop stand? Understanding competition is vital in business. The following offers some ways to get a handle on how your competitors and where you stand in relation to them. In other words, are you winning or l...

  What if questions in Competitive Intelligence offers the answer? In business, it’s important to be proactive in your thinking. This can mitigate the impact of what-ifs. Helping you find answers for your competitive advantage. We ask in this article what-if questions in Competitive Intelligence offers the answer? But you’ve been in your industry for years. And you know what you know. Until you don’t. Watch the jab We love asking ‘what-if” questions when conducting Competitive Intelligence for our happy clients.  The ” what-ifs ” come from nowhere and smack the back of your legs. These “what-ifs” offer little warning. And they always raise their ugly head at the wrong time. Some are annoying, but some can knock you for six. Like: What if my competitor brings out a fabulous new product? What if a new competitor hits the market with a game-changing piece of tech? What if my competitor uses Competitive Intelligence? And what if they know more about our weaknesses than we do....

  Is Competitive Intelligence better than market research? No, they are just different.  Unlike conventional market research, Competitive Intelligence should be viewed differently. As a more strategic and future-focused process. Where you strive to surpass your current understanding. So is Competitive Intelligence better than market research? No, they are just different.  In contrast, Market Research is predominantly about what’s happening now. And what people/customers think of their current offering. Like Competitive Intelligence, there is so much to Market Research. But at a base level, Market Research is about the now and the past. And Competitive Intelligence about the future.  A definition of Competitive Intelligence  Competitive Intelligence is about collecting and analysing information whose goals are to: Understand and anticipate competitor activities Perceive and interpret industry and market events. Find, isolate and negotiate market disturbances To m...

  Why investors need Competitive Intelligence to create better returns? This article explains why investors need Competitive Intelligence to create better returns? When browsing social media and Linkedin can be frustrating at times. And you see investors telling you how much return they made from their latest investment. Or, this is great, and more of it, please.  What about the mistakes? But you never see an investor saying that they screwed up an investment. And telling everyone these sort of things: The product’s IP was tremendous, but someone else brought something out and killed us. Or the latest investment went south because the market was just not there.  Or we have just had to get rid of the founders because they were useless. We had a personality clash from day one. The founder wouldn’t listen to anything or anyone. The company ran off with my money. The founder thinks he is Mark Zuckenberg and spends the day playing the Oboe rather than getting on with it. We le...

  Competitive analysis is essential for any business so take time to research Regardless of size or age, a competitive analysis is essential for any business so take time to research your competition, you can learn what strategies they are using. Of course these strategies can be either unique to them. Or may even be things you could adapt yourself and improve your business. By understanding what your competition is doing, you can create a plan to beat them at their own game. By taking the time to research your competition, you can learn what strategies they are using. Conducting a competitive analysis includes: Analysing their marketing strategies: What are they doing to attract customers? What are their advertising campaigns like? Reviewing their product offerings: What are the features of their products? Are they innovating in the market? Knowing how your competitors are perceived creates insight into your strengths and weaknesses. After all, if you are collecting information ab...