Business & Finance - Financial markets Assignment 3: Identify Your Company and Competitors. 5 - 7 pages, excluding cover and reference pages.

Assignment 3: Identify Your Company and Competitors

Instructions

Consider a company you are a part of and the family of products your company offers to the marketplace. If you are not part of a company, choose one to work with. As the marketing manager, you have been tasked with presenting a competitive analysis to your department regarding how competition is driving your product development. 

In no more than five sentences, describe the company and what the product offerings are. For example, does your company produce consumer electronics? Perhaps, it is in the clothing industry? Could it be in consumer consumables, e.g., beverages, snack foods, etc? Note that moving forward, when reference is made to "your company", this is the company you will focus on and work with. Anticipating that you will be pulled into the innovative product development process, conduct a market analysis.

Understanding the competition and the market environment are pivotal to developing an innovative product. Misunderstanding the market or the competition may lead to a lack of product-market fit and the inability to compete. In this assignment, you will: 

· Identify your company and its products 

· Analyze your competition through SWOT analyses, and 

· Apply that knowledge to develop your company strategy. 

Identify two of your competitors and name them.  

· For each competitor, conduct a SWOT analysis, i.e., determine (i) their strengths, (ii) weaknesses, (iii) opportunities, and (iv) threats, using the template included in this week's resources. 

· Discuss your findings. 

In your ongoing effort to gather marketing intelligence on your competitors, include a description of (a) the market size, (b) market segments, and (c) any external factors that can impact the market you three companies compete in (e.g., economic, seasons, etc.) 

Note that parts (a) and (b) focus only on your competitors. 

· Now consider your own company. 

·

· How many different segments are you targeting with your present product offerings?

· Describe each segment's demographics, lifestyles, purchasing power, buying patterns, etc. 

Requirements

Length: 5 - 7 pages, excluding cover and reference pages. 

References: Include a minimum of 5 scholarly references. 

The completed assignment should address all of the assignment requirements, exhibit evidence of concept knowledge, and demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the content presented in the course. The writing should integrate scholarly resources, reflect academic expectations and current APA standards.

Lesson 3: Competitive Analysis

A comprehensive market analysis helps to provide a clear understanding of the consumers, the competitors, and the external environment that impacts the industry (“Thebusinessplanshop”,”n.d.). 

Consumers’ needs and wants change continuously. With the continuous growth in technology, consumers have been ‘trained’ to expect new products in the marketplace regularly. To maintain their competitive edge, companies have obliged.   

What do consumers look for in a product? How do they arrive at their purchase decisions? For marketers, the answers to these questions provide the key to the success of their product offerings. Features, functionality, price, quality, after-sales support, etc., may drive purchase decisions. They can also be caused by experience with the company, its family of brands, or even input from family and friends, customer reviews, etc. 

Marketers segment the consumer base to define better, identify, and target their potential customers for their product offerings. Segmentation helps identify opportunities and provides clarity and focused insights on the potential customers' location. It also helps to tailor message content to the targeted audience. 

In any given industry, having competitors is natural. It is rare to be the only company in the playground. Understanding the competition is critical in the competitive marketplace. Having timely access to marketing intelligence regarding the competition is essential and can promptly make or break a new product launch. 

How does one gather marketing intelligence? To begin with, a company’s sales force is a reliable source, and so are its customers. Trade fairs and trade publications are some of the other sources. Additionally, competitors’ websites, annual reports, and social media are some other sources. 

A comprehensive market analysis helps to provide a clear understanding of the consumers, the competitors, and the external environment that impacts the industry. 

An essential tool when evaluating the market is SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis observes an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. SWOT analyses have been used for over 6 decades to evaluate an organization’s position in the market and the internal and external factors that help or harm them, especially in times of indecision (Benzgahta et al., 2021). 

Strengths and weaknesses are an organization's positive and negative internal aspects, whereas opportunities and threats are the helpful and harmful external elements that affect the organization (Minsky & Aron, 2021). Specifically, strengths are controllable positives of the company that lead to a competitive advantage; Weaknesses are negative internal elements that take away from strengths; opportunities are external factors that may benefit future success; and threats are uncontrollable influences that negatively impact success (White et al., 2022). Here are some examples according to White et al. (2022): 

· Strengths: High product quality and efficient processes.

· Weaknesses: Knowledge gaps and lack of cash flow.

· Opportunities: Industry growth and positive customer feedback.

· Threats: Cost of supply and upcoming laws or policies. 

References 

Benzaghta, M. A., Elwalda, A., Mousa, M. M., Erkan, I., & Rahman, M. (2021). SWOT analysis applications: An integrative literature review. Journal of Global Business Insights, 6(1), 55-73. 

Minsky, L. & Aron, D. (2021, February 23). Are You Doing the SWOT Analysis Backwards? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/02/are-you-doing-the-swot-analysis-backwards?registration=success 

Thebusinessplanshop. (n.d.). How to do a market analysis for a business plan. https://www.thebusinessplanshop.com/blog/en/entry/market_analysis_for_business_plan 

White, J. & Bortoff, C. (2022, March 25). What Is A SWOT Analysis? Download Our Free Template. Forbes Advisor. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/what-is-swot-analysis/ 

SWOT Analysis Template. 

https://miro.com/templates/swot-analysis/ 

Criteria	Exceeds All Expectations (94-100%)	Exceeds Most Expectations (90-93%)	Meets Expectations (83-89%)	Below Expectations (73-82%)	Does Not Meet Expectations (0-72%)	Criterion Score
Conducted SWOT Analysis for two competitors	3 points Student developed a clear analysis for both competitors.	2.79 points Student developed an analysis with an explanation  which needed more substance.	2.67 points Student developed an analysis with limited support for its appropriateness.	2.46 points Student developed an analysis without accompanying explanations as to why the definition was appropriate.	2.16 points Student did not provide an analysis.	Score of Conducted SWOT Analysis for two competitors, / 3
Discussed findings of SWOT Analysis.	3 points Student developed a clear discussion with sound support for the choice.	2.79 points Student developed a discussion with an explanation which needed more substance.	2.67 points Student developed a discussion with no support for its appropriateness.	2.46 points Student developed a discussion without accompanying explanations as to why the definition was appropriate.	2.16 points Student did not provide a discussion.	Score of Discussed findings of SWOT Analysis., / 3
Identified innovative product environment based on SWOT analyses.	3 points Student developed a clear discussion with sound support for the choice.	2.79 points Student developed a discussion with an explanation which needed more substance.	2.67 points Student developed a discussion with no support for its appropriateness.	2.46 points Student developed a discussion without accompanying explanations as to why the definition was appropriate.	2.16 points Student did not provide a discussion.	Score of Identified innovative product environment based on SWOT analyses., / 3
Document follows APA standards.	1 point Student used correct grammar, punctuation, and (when applicable) APA formatting, with no more than 1 or 2 errors.	0.93 points Student used correct grammar, punctuation, and (when applicable) APA formatting with only 3 or 4 errors.	0.89 points Student used mostly correct grammar, punctuation, and (when applicable) APA formatting, having less than 5 errors.	0.82 points Student used some correct grammar, punctuation, and (when applicable) APA formatting.	0.72 points Student needs to refine grammar, punctuation, and (when applicable) APA formatting because many errors were evident.	Score of Document follows APA standards., / 1