T HE S ITUATION A NALYSIS

N OW T HAT Y OU K NOW Y OUR
C USTOMER …T HE S ITUATION A NALYSIS
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After you understand your customers’ needs, personality traits, cultural factors, and VALS styles, how do you make decisions about your “4 P’s”?
Develop a situation analysis
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The AMA’s definition – “the systematic collection and study of past and present data to identify trends, forces, and conditions with the potential to influence the performance of the business and the choice of appropriate strategies.”
( www.marketingpower.com
)
Kerin’s definition – “a summary of the company’s competitive situation”
3 parts
1.
SWOT analysis
2.
3.
Competitive analysis
Points of difference

T HE SWOT A NALYSIS
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Internal factors – decisions that the company controls
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S = strengths
W = weaknesses
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External factors – trends and factors that the company does not control
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O = opportunities
T = threats
Typo!

R ESEARCH T EMPLATE FOR SWOT
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Research is required to develop the SWOT analysis.
Use this template to guide your research activities.
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Rule of thumb – find at least 10 relevant sources for each category (for a total of
40 sources)!
Source: www.bizstrategies.biz

V IDEO E XPLANATIONS OF SWOT
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What is SWOT?
- Gizelle explains.
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The SWOT analysis - Mindtools.com applies this to your business.
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Put together your SWOT -Erika explains using a whiteboard.
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See page 34 in Kerin for an example.

A FTER Y OU C OLLECT T HE D ATA
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Your research will produce pages and pages of information. How do you summarize it?
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Prioritize. Pick the most important information.
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Your greatest strengths
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Your worst weaknesses
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The most interesting or valuable opportunities
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The scariest threats

C OMPETITIVE A NALYSIS
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Who are your competitors?
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It doesn’t matter who you think they are!
Your market will tell you
– think through the brain cells of the decision-maker.
Your competitors are the other products and brands that the consumer identifies through step 2 of the purchase decisions process.

C OMPETITIVE A NALYSIS
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Once you know who they are, use this template to guide your research.
http://www.score.org/pdf/Competitive%20Analysis_08.pdf

P OINTS OF D IFFERENCE
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Finally, identify your points of difference
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Kerin’s definition – those characteristics of a product that make it superior to competitive substitutes.
“Substitute” is just another word for a competitor that your market would consider buying.
MarketingProfs.com –
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A point of difference is “a difference that competitors do not have.”
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It’s unique to what you offer in the marketplace.

W HAT I S T HE P URPOSE OF T HE
S ITUATION A NALYSIS ?
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Summarize the competitive situation.
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Identify your strongest competitor.
Choose one, or maybe two, actions to take.
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Build on a strength
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Correct a weakness
Exploit (pursue) an opportunity
Avoid or defend against a threat