The Competitive Advantage in the Changing Digital Landscape
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This talk was create for Compete PRO's NYC Digital Marketing Meet-Up in June 2013, and discussed how changes in the relationship between agencies & clients, companies & consumers, and an increasingly complex market landscape; increases the importance of competitive insights.
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The Competitive Advantage in the Changing Digital Landscape
- 1. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m CompetitiveAdvantage, in the changing digital landscape. Presented by Lindsey Mark Client Relations Manager, compete PRO
- 2. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m2 “Advertizing people that ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.” David Ogilvy
- 3. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m3 How many of you here today participate in some form of Competitive Research?
- 4. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m4 An hour or less? Afew hours? Aday or more? Daily? How long do you spend doing competitive research a month?
- 5. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m5 How many share the details of your research with clients or internal stakeholders?
- 6. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m6 The ability to seize opportunity begins with awareness CC attribution: ZeroOne
- 7. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m7 It’s no news that the industry landscape is changing rapidly. CC attribution: David B. Gleason
- 8. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m8 THREEIMPORTANTSHIFTS Inour industry,consumermarketingrelationships,andthemarketitself. Simple Complex Agency Client Advertiser Consumer
- 9. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m9 Agency of Record Contracts used to be an industry standard CC attribution: Seattle Municipal Archives
- 10. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m10 Project work is now increasingly popular CC attribution: hyku
- 11. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m11 Competitive Awareness & strategic recommendations BuildTrust & Solve Problems
- 12. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m12 Marketing used to be broadcast by advertisers CC attribution: Roadside Guitars
- 13. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m13 Consumers are now an empowered part of the conversation CC attribution: Matt Preston
- 14. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m14 Cultivate Awareness of consumer behaviors Conduct research on the 5 W’s
- 15. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m15 Weather & Coffee, a strong connection?! weather.com starbucksstore.com How behavioral data shines.
- 16. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m16 The industry landscape used to be simpler CC attribution: Seattle Municipal Archives
- 17. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m17 Markets are now increasingly complex CC attribution: Paul Wilkinson
- 18. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m18 Awareness of the industry landscape can help! Keeping an eye out for potential threats and opportunities
- 19. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m19 competitive information becomes instrumental to our success If we consider these challenges as opportunities…
- 20. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m20 Competitive Intelligence Research Processes 1. Identify top competitors by looking at positive performance trends month over month and year over year. 2. Investigate which traffic acquisition strategies drive their success (email, social, search, affiliate, and partnerships) . 3. Evaluate your client’s place in the market 4. Hypothesize which strategies would work best given their competition, their budget, and current campaigns.
- 21. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m21 • Prove ROI on current investments • Educate clients about consumer behaviors • Persuade clients to peruse new projects • Give you the visibility to recommend validated approaches that work for competitors and other industries. a strong competitive insight practice will… Beyond using competitive research to monitor,
- 22. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m22 A strong competitive research practice creates awareness and in turn, the ability to act quickly when presented with opportunities.
- 23. w w w . c o m p e t e . c o m23 • E-mailmeatlmark@compete.com • ConnectwithmeviaLinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/lmark • Marketresearcharticles:blog.compete.com/author/lindsey-mark/ • FollowmeonTwitter:@linji Questions & Feedback
Editor's Notes
- Because it speaks not only to the importance of research in advertizing but also highlights how important it is to understand your competition's strategy.
- How many of you watch competitors marketing efforts?Marketing Campaigns?Website initiatives?News & Press Releases?
- Show of hands how many hours a month do you spend doing this?An hour or less?A few hours?A day or more?Every day?
- In sharing these details how many of you felt put you in the position of being the expert or trusted? In my work with PRO services clients I’ve found that sharing these details allows me to build relationships and better understand my clients.
- Okay last question for now… Show of hands how many of you have read MalcolmGladwell’s book Outliers? Not to spoil the whole book for those who haven’t read it, the main theme is that highly successful people are a result of many favorable conditions which lead to opportunities that help differentiate them from their peers. Today I’m going to discuss some of the challenges presented to us digital marketers and specifically as digital agencies. Then we’ll focus in on how you can leverage an awareness of your competitive landscape to understand when conditions are favorable and to aid in distinguishing yourself and your clients from the competition.
- The good news is that we’re all experiencing the same challenges… We’re all expected to continuously acquire new skills to keep up with technology, to prove the value of our contributions, and to figure out how to create a lasting impact with our efforts.
- Now there are three important shifts that are happening. We’ll discuss how these relationships have changed, how we’ll now need to adapt in order to overcome these challenges. First we have the relationship between Agencies and Clients. Power is now shifting such that the clients have more power with their agencies than they have in the past. The second relationship is between that same client as an advertiser and the consumer of their product. The footing that they’ve gained with their agency is then displaced by the shift in favor of the consumer and thereby is rapidly changing the way we approach marketing to consumers. The final shift is that of the competitive landscape in which used to be more simple and now is increasingly complex. For example, an established shoe manufacturer like Nike may compete with top-of-mind competitors like Adidas & New Balance, but will also compete for sales with resellers like Zappos and Amazon. In addition, they’re also losing market share to new concepts like the “barefoot” toe shoes.
- Agency of Record Contracts used to be an industry standard, in the past this allowed agencies to get comfortable working with the client, gain their trust, and also have the added security of these revenue streams to support their businesses. While AOR contracts still exist today…
- Clients are increasingly seeking project work rather than long-term contracts. They’re able to shop around, demand lower prices and seek out specialists. Agencies are then put in a position where it’s difficult to build out the competitive skill-sets needed for teams, are under pressure to compete heavily with other agencies. This can lead them to feel like they’re in constantly in pitch mode, and this makes it difficult to empathize and build trust with clients. The downside for clients is that they drain time shopping around and as a result of conducting multiple projects with different agencies can end up with inconsistent brand direction, causing a fractured voice in the market.
- How we cope… “It’s not news that agency-client relationships are shorter. Now they’re shallower.” The VP of DraftFCB notes that the way his company combats this is to prove value by recommending solutions to their business problems that are outside the scope of work. This shows that you care about the client’s business and that you’ve taken that extra step to wow them rather than having a transactional relationship with them.In my personal experience using the “have you considered how x might help you accomplish y” line is a great way to build rapport and show you’re invested in the relationship. When you have competitive information to validate your hypothesis and create a sense of urgency with clients, the recommendation is even stronger.
- Marketing messages were tightly controlled by brands and their agencies and consumers weren’t able to interact much beyond consuming it.
- TodayMarketing is much more of a dialog than a monolog. Consumers leverage technology and their network of trusted advisors to make purchasing decisions. I myself have been known to text, tweet, facebook message, or research forums on my phone before making a purchase and in the end have decided to buy the same product for less online or to do more research before buying, particularly for high cost items. In addition, consumers are able to constantly critique every aspect of their experience with your business and the use of your products. For better or worse, the tides have shifted in the favor of consumers and we’ll continue to see the importance of customer relationships grow over time.
- In order to embrace this change.Understanding the who, what, where, when, and why of what happens during the customer journey. This allows you to hone in on the best places to engage customers. Some of the most interesting insights I’ve come across in my research come from the question, what was the consumer doing just before or after buying something. AND then considering how you might become a part of this process and influenced them?
- In my personal research I discovered a strong connection between coffee subscriptions and people checking weather. The story itself if quite simple really but might not have been intuitive. So let’s say you’re getting read work and you’re making coffee in the morning. You’re reading news and checking the weather so you know if you need an umbrella or if it’s going to be a scorcher…. When you realize you’re almost out of coffee. If you’re anything like me, you’re inclined to order it online so you sign-in to starbucksstore.com and ensure that you’ll be receiving your next order this week. Given this consumer behavior we can conclude that other people would be likely to behave similarly. Now if I were Starbucks or a competitor, and I found this insight I’d try two types of display campaigns one that touts benefits broadly through display and another that uses retargeting cookies to tie the benefits of shopping on your site, like saving trips to the store and money on shipping for example. Ultimately you want to invest not only in tools to help you find these insights but also commit to the practice of research. Alternately I’ve found that competitors that invest in forums, reviews, and online communities often out pace their competition in market share over time because these initiatives when executed properly provide value to the consumer.
- The old days of having a small sets of direct competitors is quickly fading
- Breaks in technology have allowed for smaller start-up companies to capitalize on gaps in the market and as larger strategic organizations increase in size, they’ve invested broadly and heavily in markets outside their core businesses. TODAY we need to realize that market share can be stolen from competitive threats that are smaller and more nimble or larger and more established not just competitors of a similar size and business model.
- Much like the book “outliers” that I mentioned earlier, it’s important to keep an eye out for both opportunities and threats. Use competitive intelligence and RSS alertsto ensure you’re keeping an eye on disruptions to the industry or conditions that could give clients a competitive advantage. When reviewing this information think about what you can offer that your competition isn’t, what differentiates you in the market, and how you can create a relationship with your consumers that’s distinguishes you. Remember it’s not just about watching the market, it’s about finding ways to act based off of insights provided from competitive research
- It all comes down to relationships, knowledge, and creative thinking. If you are knowledgeable and provide value you’ll be able to take a more creative approach. Stakeholders will be inclined to try something new if you’re well-prepared, with information that aids in validating a proof of concept, and your understanding of consumers will give you a strategic advantage.
- I understand that I’ve been speaking at a high-level about the competitive intelligence research, so I’d like to share with you an approach I’ve taken time and time again with clients.
- In conclusion successful businesses aren’t the ones that offer lowest prices or have the smartest employees, although it’s sometimes the exception. In order to be an “outlier” in today’s changing digital landscape, look for advantages in acting quickly on competitive opportunities, understanding how to engage consumers, and continuously differentiating yourself and providing value.