Prepare for a War Game by Mapping the Competitive Landscape

Posted by | Fuld & Company

When preparing for a war game or other strategic planning activity, it’s important to visualize the competitive landscape.

Mapping the competitive landscape along two axes – differentiation and penetration – can illustrate how category shifts and significant launches have altered the competitive landscape over a given time period. This kind of visualization also suggests likely future moves by competitors.

While a map is clearly helpful for looking at moves of competitor firms overall, it can also be used to break down brands within a product category. Managing multiple brands in a single product category can provide companies with a number of tactical advantages, but it carries the risk of cannibalization – especially in a crowded marketplace.

Visualizing the competitive landscape is an effective tool for assessing the brand visions and portfolio strategies of other companies in a category. By understanding how competitors are likely to act, a company can determine optimal positioning for brands within its own portfolio.

Competitor Assessment Map | Penetration + Differentiation

Differentiation

How well a company has distinguished a brand from competitor brands and other brands within the company portfolio to make it attractive to a particular target market

Penetration

The amount of sales volume of the brand compared to its total target market

Fuld & Company specializes in custom war games for businesses across industries especially in the consumer packaged goods manufacturer segments. This is conducted in order to generate and stress test strategies for all brands in a portfolio or competitors in an industry. A competitive map (similar to the one above) specifically helps client understand which competitor brands has gained momentum and would continue to improve their market penetration, and which brands have lost footing and might use pricing to improve their position.

Download our white paper on how war gaming can help companies with multiple brands develop a comprehensive portfolio and pricing strategy.

Tags: Competitive Intelligence, Competitive Strategy, Strategic Planning, War Gaming