While I had a couple articles tagged to continue the Back to Basics series, today’s email from MarketingProfs delivered a great piece titled How to Test Your Competitive Market Strategy. This draws on many elements of strategic analysis, quoting top-shelf names like Jeffery Pfeiffer and classic tools like SWOT:
The basic 101 lesson:
“There are no silver bullets when it comes to competitive strategy. Like the development of most plans, the benefits of models or frameworks, such as SWOT, often come in the act of completing it, not in the final plan or model. The SWOT process is a good jumping-off point in terms of identifying which areas require a more in-depth, strategic analysis. The resulting strategy should be flexible, anticipatory, and focused, not static.”
The 600 level discussion:
“There are many ways to determine the attractiveness of a market, including understanding its size, its growth trends, and its potential. However, regardless of that information, if it’s full of strong, deep-pocketed competitors, it may too costly to gain a foothold. The nuance there is that a number of unattractive markets can be profitably exploited through various ‘disruptions’ or innovative business models.”
The article’s length corresponds with the complexity of the subject matter, but I think it is a great piece to read or reread if you are going looking at basic business analysis/strategy. If you are looking to go with the 600-level distruptive exploit, I’d recommend Kathy Sierra’s Equalizer Slider concept for breakthrough ideas.