THROUGH THE COMPETITORS EYES PART 2

My posting about how to better understand and predict competitive reactions got a lot of comment and debate going.

This is what Brian W had to say:

"I loved your piece on looking at the competition & marketplace through their eyes. It's such a great way to provide new insights on the category and re-evaluate the way you do Things. 

Three things I learned from having done this on a few categories;

1. Be multi disciplinary. Sales, finance, operations and R&D frequently provide valuable insights while the marketing community often initially struggles to get passed long accepted mantras such as 'they have twice our budget/staff' etc

2. Roll play 3 rounds.  Or in other words, if we succeed in our strategy what's the worst thing they could do to us, what would we do then and how might they come back at us a second time. I wonder if Innocent Drinks would have launched Orange Juice in the UK if Tropicana hadn't launched into smoothies...

3. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Having worked in both large and small businesses, one of most underutilized strategies for big brands is alliances. Who is battling with your competitor or talking to your target customers in related/ complementary categories? Would they promote or sample your product: e.g. Johnson's was being outspent on advertising adult wipes in the UK a few years ago and new it couldn't match the spend, so the brand team did a deal with Kellogg’s to promote and sample on their packs, with Kellogg’s covering much of the cost involved.

Hope it triggers some useful thoughts!"