Scroll Top

Competitor Analysis Examples: 3 Use Cases

Competitor Analysis Examples: 3 Use Cases

Out-Smart the Competition, Starting Now

Irrespective of the category a business plays in, knowing the competition and building strategies that will out-smart the competition is critical to gaining and retaining dollar share.  These three competitive analysis examples from past Insight to Action projects will get your business started.

A superficial understanding of the competition is not sufficient. Take the time to analyze what they are doing and how you can position your brand to win.

Competitor Analysis Examples Use Case 1: 
Inform Investment Decisions

A competitor analysis is often helpful in informing investment decisions – whether that be a company, brand, or product.  A competitor analysis in this situation can yield important information, such as how fragmented is the marketplace? Or, if it’s an existing company/brand, how is it performing on key metrics? Are there other companies/brands that are a better investment option?

Recently, Insight to Action partnered with a private equity firm to help evaluate an online luxury stroller company they were considering investing in. Market trends in baby gear suggested this company might be a good addition to the portfolio.

Part of the scope included conducting a competitor analysis to understand how the company performed on a number of financial, consumer and online metrics such as:

  • Consumer perceptions of the brand
  • Financial estimates
  • Product mix
  • Website performance
  • Paid search metrics
  • Social media presence

Results were used to inform go/no-go investment decision and set the foundation for growth strategy recommendations.

Competitor Analysis Examples: 3 Use Cases

Competitor Analysis Examples Use Case 2:
Inform Positioning

A competitor analysis framework is also helpful from a positioning standpoint.  In order to differentiate a brand or company, knowing how others are positioning themselves is valuable information. 

Insight to Action partnered with a technology company to help define the umbrella positioning for a suite of product solutions.   Part of the project included doing a competitor assessment evaluating:

  • Product positioning
  • Reasons to believe
  • Key products
  • Strengths and weaknesses

The information helped the team identify a positioning that was truly differentiated versus the competition and highly compelling to its client base.

Competitor Analysis Examples: 3 Use Cases

Competitor Analysis Examples Use Case 3:
Identify New Product Opportunities

Most large companies do monthly (if not weekly) tracking of their performance versus the competition.  This allows them to quickly identify changes in their category, potential threats, and opportunities.   Understanding not only what brands, but also what products, are driving growth is valuable information for brand and innovation teams. 

In this better-for-you competitor analysis example, Insight to Action partnered with a pasta manufacturer to identify better-for-you ingredients or claims they could expand into based on growth in adjacent categories and new products that were driving growth for key competitors.  Ingredient claims were then prioritized based on:

  • Dollar and unit sales
  • Growth
  • Competitive action/threat
  • Strategic fit  

Understanding ingredient trends and areas their competitors were playing in helped the team identify and prioritize white space opportunities for core product offerings.

These are just three use cases showing competitor analysis examples.  Knowing the competition and building competitive intelligence to inform business strategy is how companies stay ahead – identifying new opportunities and strategically responding to potential threats.       

If you’d like to learn more about how Insight to Action could help, you can read more on our Competitor Analysis resources page, visit during our open office hours, or sign up for our newsletter.