1. Competitor analysis and market
attractiveness
Product and Brand Management (23C630)
Ch. 3 & Ch. 4
September, 15th
Giuseppe Pedeliento, University of Bergamo (Italy)
Visiting Aalto University School of Economics,
Department of Marketing
2. Learning objectives
After the lecture, students should be able to
– Define the competition for a given product and understand how
competition influences product and brand management priorities
– Assess the attractiveness of product categories and bargaining
power in buyer-seller relationships
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5. Competitor analysis tools
• The Value Chain (or network)
Firm Infrastructure
Support Human Resource Management
Activities Technology Development
Procurement
Inbound Marketin
Operations Outbound
Logistics g and Service
Logistics
Sales
Primary Activities
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7. What we need to know about customers
and their roles
• Who buys and uses the product
• What customers buy and how
they use it
• Where customers buy
• When customers buy
• How customers choose
• Why they prefer a product
• How they respond to marketing
programs
• Will they buy it (again)?
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9. Bases of Competition
I. Customer-oriented
Who they are – competition for same budget
When they use it
Why they use it- benefits sought
II. Marketing-oriented: advertising and promotion
Theme/copy strategy
Media
Distribution
Price
III. Resource-oriented
Raw materials
Employees
Financial resources
IV. Geographic
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10. Levels of Competition
Beers
Ice
cream Tea Regular
colas Diet
lemon
limes
Diet-Rite
Wine cola
Diet Product form
Pepsi competition:
Diet Diet colas
Fast food Coke Juices
Fruit
Product
flavore
Lemon category Video
Bottled d colas
limes competition: rentals
water
Soft drinks
Generic
Coffee competition:
Baseball
cards Beverages
Budget
competition:
Food and
entertainment
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11. Levels of Competition: Implications
for Product Strategy
Competitive Level Product Management Task
Product Convince Customers that the
Form Brand is Better than Others
Product Convince Customers that the
Product Form is Best in the
Category Category
Convince Customers that the
Generic Product Category is the Best
Way to Satisfy Needs
Convince Customers that the
Budget Generic Benefits are the Most
Appropriate Way to Spend
their Money
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12. Defining Competition with Perceptual
Mapping •Moist
•Needs refrigeration
As a formal dessert
• Custard mix
Bakery cake Pudding mix •Tapioca
Homemade cake• • • Homemade pie Local mix •
Takes a long • Layer cake mix pudding mix
time to prepare • Dzer ta • •Jell-O
• Cheese cake mix
Bundt cake mix ••• • Frozen pie
Chocolate torte mix • •Canned pudding
Boston crème pie mix • Frozen cake
“Light Style” cake mix • “Stir’n Frost cake mix
Coffee cake mix • •Individual pie
“Snackin’ Cake” mix • •Quick bread mix
•Hostess cupcakes
Date bar mix •
Brownie mix •
Homemade cookies
Cookie mix •
• Oatmeal cookies
•
Bakery cookies • •Pepperidge Farm cookies
Pillsbury cookie dough • • Between meal snack
Good for a coffee break •
In my school work lunch • •Easy to carry with me
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15. Category Attractiveness
over the Product Life Cycle
Sales
Stage of
product life
cycle Introduction Growth Maturity Decline Time
Category Small Moderate Large Moderate
size
Category Low High Low Negative
growth
Category Low High Low/high Low
attractiveness
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17. Buyer Bargaining Power is High
When:
• Product bought is a large percentage of the buyer’s cost.
• Product bought is undifferentiated.
• Buyers earn low profits.
• Buyer threatens to backward integrate.
• Buyer has full information.
• Substitutes exist for the seller’s product or service.
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18. Supplier Bargaining Power is High
When:
• Suppliers are highly concentrated, that is, dominated by
a few firms.
• There is no substitute for the product supplied.
• Supplier has differentiated its product or built in switching
costs.
• Supply is limited.
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19. Environmental Factors
• Technological
• Political
• Economic
• Regulatory
• Social
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20. Characteristic of Intensive Rivalries
• Many or balanced competitors
• Slow growth
• High fixed costs
• Lack of product differentiation
• Personal rivalries
21. Environmental Analysis
• Technological factors
• Political factors
• Economic factors
• Regulatory factors
• Social factors
* Includes agronomic and biomedical developments.
22. Competitor analysis and market
attractiveness
Product and Brand Management (23C630)
Ch. 3 & Ch. 4
September, 15th
Giuseppe Pedeliento, University of Bergamo (Italy)
Visiting Aalto University School of Economics,
Department of Marketing
