marketing consultants for associations and other nonprofit organizations

FREE MARKETING RESOURCES

MARKETING ARTICLES

Minding the Competition's Business:
Using Competitive Intelligence to Strengthen Your Association's Image and Position in the Minds of Key Stakeholders

By John Gunn, CEO, John Gunn Marketing Partners

Are there people out there who still believe their association has no competition? Like it or not, it's all around you. How can you start using competitive intelligence as a tool for creating a distinguishable, unique image and strengthening your association's position in the minds of its members and customers? Launch a proactive initiative to collect competitive information and transform it into actionable intelligence for your association.

The general process for conducting competitive intelligence is fairly straightforward. Collect information, analyze it, and decide what, if any, action should be taken. Real value comes from a consistent approach to collecting, analyzing, and comparing data from multiple sources and multiple competitors--including an honest examination of your own unique value proposition and competitive advantage.

Start by focusing on your single greatest competitor. As time and resources permit, add in-depth coverage for the number two and three competitors, and maintain files on all other peripheral competition to help spot players who are gaining momentum.
Remember, you're looking for information that helps you better predict the behavior of your competition and determine the impact their actions might have on your business. This newfound knowledge will complement other aspects of your marketing and business strategies to help you create an image that compares favorably with your competition's--an image that accentuates your strengths and unique capability to meet the interests and needs of your members and customers.
First, identify your competition. Include questions that help you identify competition on evaluation forms, membership application forms and surveys.
Use your competitor's products and services. Solicit others to test out, compare, and report back to you on their experiences.
Become a frequent visitor to your competitor's web site, especially the online press room. Stay informed about the dates of Board of Director meetings and other events where your competitor makes strategic decisions. Watch for reallocations of funds, significant new purchases, financial reports, sales data, votes, background on Board volunteers, or agendas of Board committees.
Scan relevant industry, local, and national media. Consistently create files for competitive marketing collateral, ad campaigns, and other print or electronic promotions.
Read annual reports thoroughly. Discuss them with others as a group to tap into different perspectives and interpretations.
Stay up to speed with the organizational structure of your competition. Watch for vacancies and new hires that might signal weaknesses, improved strengths, or changes in strategic business direction.
Obtain information on your competitor's senior staff. Identify their experience, capabilities, and areas of interest and talent.
Go to a variety of federal agencies for information on publicly traded companies and nonprofit organizations.
Visit your industry's trade association for information and trends on the market and its players.

Collecting information should be an ongoing and consistent process, preferably managed by an aggressive, smart, and savvy marketing pro who can educate everyone in your association to identify and pass along key information to one central knowledge bank within your association. Your competitive intelligence marketer must also be in tune with your business goals. He or she must be a competent synthesizer of relevant information and capable of communicating market intelligence and recommendations to other key decision-makers in your association.

The Society for Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) in Alexandria, VA offers a wide variety of information and ethical guidelines about the collection and use of competitive information.

With a better handle on the external forces of competition, you can begin making internal changes that accentuate your association's unique advantages and sets you apart from all the rest.

Use competitive information to help you create products and services that compete more effectively. You may decide to enhance or emphasize specific product benefits and features. You may decide to compete on price, convenience, customer service, quality, uniqueness, premium status, or other attributes. Your decisions about how you wish to compete then direct the development of messages, graphics, and types of communications staff implement to reinforce your strategic direction.

A review of competitive information may identify the need for refinement of your association's organizational image and better communication of the purpose and benefits of your existence. Using what you know about your competition, how do you want to compare? What impressions do you want to make on your members and customers when they read your acronym or hear your name? Use competitive data as a tool to help guide decisions about corporate identity and operational behavior. For instance, how can you use a new logo, graphic identity, improved customer service, faster ordering processes, higher quality products, more convenient access, or some other attribute to create a stronger competitive advantage.

In the end, the benefits will be well worth the effort. Competitive intelligence helps you predict and prepare, reduce risk, and build confidence. It helps you create a unique and distinguishable organizational image that sets you apart from the rest.

Comparing key players in your market on a continual basis also affords a unique vantage point from which to see and tap unexpected opportunities--from strategies for new product development or market expansion to improving market penetration among specific segments. You'll also be in a better position to objectively evaluate the potential for strategic partners and allies among your competition.

Start paying attention to the substitutes and alternatives your members may choose instead of your association. Use what you learn to reinforce your association's unique value proposition and strengthen your competitive advantage.

John Gunn is the CEO of John Gunn Marketing Partners, LLC,
specialists in marketing assessments, research, strategy and plans for associations. For more information, please contact the author at (703) 299-0774, jg@GunnMarketingPartners.com

For information about reprinting this article, please contact Cindy Robinson, cr@gunnmarketingpartners.com.

Back to articles

Home | Services | About | Contact
Resources | Marketing Links

John Gunn Marketing Partners, LLC
Alexandria, Virginia
Phone: (703) 299-0774 Fax: (703) 299-1106
info@GunnMarketingPartners.com