Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning pdf ebook

Figure 5.4 
Competitor 
strategies
Assess
competitors’
current
strategies
What target markets are they pursuing?
What is their strategic focus?
What marketing mix do they use?
How do they organise their marketing?
Key indicators:
Advertising media and messages
New product introduction rates
Recruitment advertisements
Price levels charged
Distribution channels used

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THE DIMENSIONS OF COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
positioning to be achieved. Beyond these three core elements of strategy, it can also be help-
ful to assess the organisation of the marketing effort – the structures adopted – to facilitate 
implementation of the strategy.
Competitors’ target markets
The broad markets, and more specific market segments that competitors compete in, can 
often be inferred from an analysis of the products and services they are offering, together 
with the ways in which they price, promote and distribute them. These elements of the 
marketing mix are generally highly visible aspects of a firm’s activities and available for 
competitors to analyse.
The features built into products, and the type/extent of service offered, are good indica-
tors of the types of customer competitors seek to serve. In the car industry, for example, 
those with the necessary funds to purchase the latest incarnation of the Rolls Royce Phan-
tom can display a specially commissioned and bespoke piece of artwork from their favourite 
artist across the front console of their car, in a space Rolls Royce designed into the car, 
called ‘the gallery’. No such option is available for those purchasing, for instance, the Tata 
Nano – arguably one of the cheapest cars in the world. Prices charged, and the overall pric-
ing strategy, are also indicators of the target market. In grocery retailing, for example, Aldi 
and Lidl have consistently pursued a minimum-range/low-price strategy in an attempt to 
attract price-sensitive grocery purchasers, rather than compete directly with industry lead-
ers such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s on quality and service, although this is changing. Aldi, in 
particular, has been extremely successful at eroding market share from the larger and more 
embedded players in the UK grocery retailing market.
Advertisements and other promotional materials can also give clues as to the target 
markets aimed for. The wording of advertisements indicates the values the advertiser is 
attempting to convey and imbue in the product/service offered. For example, Volvo adver-
tising has, until recently, focused largely on safety and has appealed to safety-conscious, 
largely middle-class families. BMW advertising concentrates on technical quality, the pleas-
ure of driving and, more recently, the efficiency of its engines, suggesting a younger target 
market. The media in which the advertisements appear, or the scheduling adopted, can 
also give indications of the target market aimed for. Similarly, the distribution channels 
the competitor chooses to use to link customers physically with offerings may give clues as 
to the target markets.