milkshake 9
“I see some marketers doing outdated
forms of market research such as sloppy
focus groups where there’s too much crosscontamination
of feedback for it to be useful,”
Brier says. “Others operate on their ‘spidey
senses’ and ‘gut instinct,’ despite factors that
would be warning signs to the observant
branding pro. Right now, there are way more
marketing folks I see failing at doing intelligent
homework to unearth useful insights.”
The rules are pretty straightforward.
Brier says your playbook should involve the
following: defining your competitors, both
direct and indirect; specifically defining your
audience; examining how your audience solves
its problems; and finding the common traits
among your competitors, and striving to do
things differently.
“Different is better than better,” Brier says.
In its competitive recon missions, the
Harvest Group conducts an extensive
business assessment process with each
client. As part of that assessment, the Harvest
team asks a series of specific questions
regarding the competition. By the time it is
finished, Jud Griggs, Design/Build Sales and
Marketing Consultant, says its clients not only
have a much better understanding of the
competition, but know how to best compete
with them, too.
“Marketers should be looking for new
competitors to the market,” Griggs says. “They
should also be looking for things they are doing
better or different than they are. Once those
things are learned, you can develop a strategy
of how to incorporate them into what you are
doing and enhance the services you provide.”
Griggs says that too often, it is easy for
brands to get into a comfort zone and
continue to do what has always been done.
But the if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it strategy
is not always the best one. “It is better to be
ahead of the curve and look for unique ways
to improve your customer’s position in the
marketplace in order to stay ahead of the
competition. As the old adage says, ‘Keep
your friends close, and your enemies closer.’
Competitors do not have to be enemies, but it
is important to keep tabs on them. That means
not falling too far behind them. Consumer’s
preferences change quickly, and you need
to react to those changes before your
competition beats you to it.”
In a time of constant change, knowing when,
how and where your competitor’s next move is
will be vital to staying in the game.
Your 7-step process to
competitive recon bliss
01 Research how top competitors
position themselves in front of their
target market, and how (note: this is
not marketing)
02 Research the state of the industry
and zones of PR control client needs to
dominate public opinion versus where
they dominate (this is a percentage)
03 Research the knowledge, or lack
of knowledge, third-party credibility
channels have about the company
04 Mathematically determine optimal
public opinion awareness of the
company to the existing public opinion
awareness of the company
05 Determine the algorithm needed
for PR & Marketing to change people’s
views toward the company
06 Determine the third-party
credibility channels and key
influencers needed to reach the target
audiences per that algorithm
07 Determine the content needed to
convince credibility channels and key
influencers to carry their messaging to
the company’s target audiences
Source: JOTO PR Disruptors™
IT IS
BETTER
TO BE
AHEAD
OF THE CURVE
AND LOOK FOR
UNIQUE WAYS TO
IMPROVE YOUR
CUSTOMER’S
POSITION IN THE
MARKETPLACE
IN ORDER TO
STAY AHEAD
OF THE
COMPETITION.”
— JUD GRIGGS, DESIGN/
BUILD SALES & MARKETING
CONSULTANT, HARVEST GROUP
February 2022