Competitor Brand Analysis

Definition

Competitor brand analysis is the digital branding task during which the development organization analyzes the digital brand identitiess of the competitors of the customer organization's.

Objectives

The typical objectives of the competitor brand analysis task are to:

• Determine the current digital brands of the customer organization's competitors.
• Analyze the strengths, weaknesses, and differentiators of these digital brands.

Preconditions

The competitor brand analysis task can typically begin when the following preconditions hold:

• The business strategy phase has started.
• The digital branding Team has been staffed and trained in the competitor brand analysis task.

Completion Criteria

The competitor brand analysis task is typically complete when the following postconditions hold:

• The competitor brand analysis has been completed and passed inspection.

Steps

The competitor brand analysis task typically involves the digital branding team performing the following steps in an iterative, incremental, and parallel manner:

• Use the Market Analysis to identify the competitors.
• Obtain and evaluate information regarding each competitor's existing brand materials:
  • Mission Statement
  • Core Values Statement
  • Branding documentation:
    • Corporate identity materials
    • Corporate logo
  • Marketing materials:
    • Print advertisments
    • Video advertisements
    • Audio advertisements
    • Marketing event literature
  • Communications materials:
    • Corporate stationary with letterhead
    • Business cards
• Analyze the competitors’ existing brands. For each competitor:
  • Determine the brand identity.
  • Compare the brand's relative strengths, weaknesses, and differentiators.
• Document the results of the analysis in the competitor brand analysis:
  • Read the associated content and format standard.
  • Obtain the associated template.
  • Fill in the front matter and introductory material.
  • Document the competitor’s brand identities.
  • Document brand’s relative strengths, weaknesses, and differentiators.

Techniques

The competitor brand analysis task can typically be performed using the following techniques:

• Web searches
• Interviews with branding domain experts
• Content and format standards
• Templates
• XML, HTML, or MS Word (in order of preference)

Work Products

The competitor brand analysis task typically results in the production of the following work products:

• Competitor Brand Analysis

Guidelines

• This task can be performed simultaneously with the customer brand analysis task.