I am astounded at how many planners, agencies and clients think their competitors are only the ones who operate within their category – and then regard one above all others.
Coke vs Pepsi.
Microsoft vs Apple.
McDonalds vs Burger King.
Now of course I can understand why they would do this, hell, I can even understand the benefits of creating a war – both from a creative and a ‘get the masses attention like a Blur vs Oasis’ standpoint – however in my experience, the best thing to do is not look at who you view as a competitor, but identify who looks at you as a competitor.
Now on first impression you might think they’re one and the same … but they’re not … you see, if you categorise a competitor as anyone who wishes to either take away your revenue or replace your purpose it opens up the options to a whole new level.
A real life example.
Listerine – the mouthwash specialists – were the gods of mouthwash.
For years they regarded other mouthwash brands as the key ones to watch … however they were also conscious that the major oral care brands [ie: Colgate, Macleans, Oral B etc] could easily go into their space so they always ensured they knew what was going on, just in case.
Then one day – out of nowhere – Wrigley’s repositioned their chewing gum from ‘taste/fresh breath’ to ‘dental hygiene’ and almost overnight, the Listerine brand suffered sales decline.
Now I appreciate that back then, a chewing gum brand might have been viewed as an unlikely competitor, however Wrigley’s obviously didn’t think that way and so whilst it might be easy to disregard certain categories from your competitive focus, if you understand the deeper motivations and needs of your clients audience, you might understand that a used car could be as big a competitor to Lonely Planet and their desire to get young guys to go backpacking as a cheap airline or a competitive travel guide and the latest edition of Call Of Duty could be more of a threat to Macca’s quarterly revenue as Burger King and Subway combined.
So next time you are asked to do a competitive review, don’t look at who your client views as a competitor, turn it on it’s head.