MKT Analyzing the Competition

http://www.bnet.com/2410-13238_23-57058.html?promo=808&tag=nl.e808

This is a segment of a larger article on Profiling Competitors...

Analyze Competitors’ Promotional Activities

By monitoring your competitors’ advertising, promotions, exhibition presence, press activities, and Internet information, you can assess their strategies. These are some of the possible scenarios:

• Heavy advertising expenditure could indicate a competitor trying to win greater share or attempting to remedy losses in that market.
• Price promotions may indicate that your competitors want to be perceived as value-for-money suppliers, or they may be an emergency response to declining sales.
• Press announcements about new production facilities could indicate that your competitors are trying to increase their business significantly. They may become more cost-effective and able to offer lower prices, or may be taking on additional overhead that they must finance.
• Announcements about new branch or dealership openings could mean that competitors are expanding into new territories.
• Recruitment drives may signal a change in direction, a growth strategy, or a sudden loss of staff.

To gain a better idea of your competitors’ financial health, you may be able to obtain information from credit reference agencies.