Why is it necessary to reinvent ourselves when we talk about competitive intelligence? Basically, because the digital world is one of constant disruption and continuous innovation, presenting new and unexpected challenges to teams whose mission is to extract intelligence from data and convert it into business for their companies. 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 phase of the task.
That is why it is good to keep abreast of developments in the markets with greater knowledge of the subject, and if we talk about "spearheading," we must inevitably look to the Anglo-Saxon market, where we can obtain reports and note trends in competitive intelligence. One of the leading firms in this regard is Crayon, which will soon release its 2019 Competitive and Market Intelligence report. So, it is a good time to take a quick look back and note what that report, which according to its authors is the most comprehensive on the subject, showed last year. 700 interviews with decision-makers over four months, the conclusions of which can be found by following this link.
The executive summary of this report provides some noteworthy conclusions:
– Small businesses find it difficult 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 exclusively to this task, and 1 in 4 (26%) use three or more competitive intelligence tools.
– However, many of the teams, programs, and initiatives are recent or very recent creations, 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 previous percentage) considered that there were at least qualitative benefits.
– An indication of how much ground remains to be covered is that almost half (43%) of the time devoted to competitive intelligence is spent on research tasks, while the rest is spent on analysis or investigation. This is indicative of the market's immaturity, which is reinforced by the fact that most respondents said they were monitoring 10 or fewer data sources, "which do not even cover a company's digital footprint," the report's authors noted.
– Despite all of the above, the vast majority (77%) already believed that having a holistic view of intelligence about competitors is important when it comes to business success. And for a similar percentage (79%), having this information available on an ad hoc basis is a critical success factor, even though collecting all the information can be time-consuming.
– Furthermore, there is widespread consensus that all this work is of little use if it does not end up in the hands of the relevant positions within a company. This contrasts sharply with the "primary" system (email, 84%), which is used to transmit intelligence.
We will remain attentive to updates to this report in order to compare developments from one year to the next. We will certainly take note of the main developments and share them on our blog, which is always focused on adding value to the activities that generate the most business for our clients.
Photo byJonathan KlokonUnsplash
