Why is it necessary to reinvent ourselves when we talk about competitive intelligence? Basically, because digital is a path of constant disruption, with permanent innovation, which subjects the teams whose mission is to extract intelligence from data and turn it into business for their companies to new and unforeseen challenges. Talking about intelligence means talking about finding and interpreting data, in an environment with an online presence and an exponentially growing digital footprint, which requires the development of new practices and processes in each of the phases of the task.
Por eso es bueno estar al tanto de la evolución en los mercados con mayor conocimiento en la materia, y si hablamos de «punta de lanza» debemos mirar de forma inevitable hacia el mercado anglosajón, de donde podemos obtener informes y anotar tendencias en lo relativo a inteligencia competitiva. Una de las firmas de referencia en este sentido es Crayon, que en breves fechas aportará su informe sobre Inteligencia Competitiva y de Mercado 2019. Así que es un buen momento para echar de manera fugaz la vista atrás y anotar qué fue lo que ese informe, que según sus autores es el más extenso en la materia, mostró el año pasado. 700 entrevistas en puestos de toma de decisiones a lo largo de cuatro meses, cuyas conclusiones se pueden abordar siguiendo este enlace.
The executive summary of the report provides some noteworthy theses:
- Small companies may struggle to invest in competitive and market intelligence techniques, but for large companies it is no longer a novelty: 89% of large companies have staff dedicated to this task, and 1 in 4 (26%) use three or more Competitive Intelligence tools.
- Many of the teams, programmes and initiatives are, however, newly or very recently created, with 4 out of 10 then in their first year of operation, and only 1 in 5 (22%) with clear and defined objectives.
- Almost half (49%) saw quantitative benefits directly linked to the adoption of these techniques, and a higher percentage (61%, including the above percentage) considered that there were at least qualitative benefits.)
– Una muestra de cuánto camino virgen queda por recorrer es que casi la mitad (43%) del tiempo que se dedica a la inteligencia competitiva se entrega a tareas de investigación, mientras que el restante se emplea en análisis o investigación. Es un indicativo de la todavía inmadurez del mercado, que se refuerza si se tiene en cuenta que la mayoría declaró estar haciendo el seguimiento de 10 o menos fuentes de datos, «que no llegan ni siquiera a cubrir la huella digital de una compañía», señalaron los autores del informe.
- Despite all of the above, the vast majority (77%) felt even then that having a holistic view of competitor intelligence is important for business success. And for a similar percentage (79%) having such information in a timely manner is a critical success factor, even though gathering all the information can be time consuming.
– Además, hay un consenso generalizado en que toda esta labor no sirve de gran cosa si no acaba en las manos de los puestos relevantes de una empresa. Lo que no deja de ser chocante con el sistema «primario» (e-mail, 84%), que se utiliza para transmitir la inteligencia.
We will keep an eye on the update of this report to compare the evolution from one year to the next. We are sure we can take note of the main developments and share them on our blog, which is always aimed at adding value to the activities that generate the most business for our clients.
Photo by Jonathan Klok on Unsplash
