Bigger isn’t always better: Outswimming the competition by thinking smarter

Ever feel like a small fish swimming in a big ocean?  

American Entrepreneur Victor Kiam once said, “In business, the competition will bite you if you keep running; if you stand still, they will swallow you.” The business world is like a vast ocean; you’re just one fish swimming in it. Whether you’re a newcomer trying to make a splash or an established player fighting to stay ahead, understanding your competition from the outside-in is the key to survival. Without it, you risk being swallowed whole.

Competitor analysis is more than tracking who you’re up against. It’s about understanding where you fit in the market, identifying opportunities for growth, and determining how to differentiate when competition is intense. By examining competitors’ products, strategies, financial position, strengths, and weaknesses, organizations gain insight into how rivals are likely to behave and respond to market changes. This perspective is critical because businesses often misjudge their competitors, either underestimating their capabilities or overestimating their ability to react, leading to costly strategic mistakes.

Ultimately, staying ahead in business means swimming smart. Outside-in competitor analysis isn’t just a box to check off; it’s your best tool to bypass the big fish in the ocean.

Approaching competitive analysis starts with understanding who you’re up against.   

A competitive analysis helps organizations reveal unique advantages, identify barriers to growth, and make proactive decisions based on data rather than assumptions. A 2023 Harvard Business Review article surveying more than 1,000 senior executives found that data-driven organizations are three times more likely to report significant improvements in decision-making.

An approach to excelling at competitive analysis involves four key steps as follows:

1. Identify your competitors: Not all competitors are the same. Consider direct competitors (similar products and services, same customers), secondary/indirect competitors (different offerings in the same category), and substitute competitors (alternative solutions targeting the same customers). A strong and comprehensive analysis considers all three.
2. Gather information about your competitors: Evaluate competitors from the outside-in using the “four Ps” of the marketing mix, a concept developed by marketing professor Edmund Jerome McCarthy from Michigan State University: product, pricing, place, and promotion.
   Product: Compare their products to yours. How is the quality? What features do you like or dislike?
   Pricing: How are their products and services priced? Do their prices vary for different channel partners and customers? Can you estimate their cost structure?
   Place: What is their geographic reach or service area compared to your business?
   Promotion: What marketing tactics are they using to interact and engage with customers? What is their presence on social media?
3. Analyze your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses: Rank competitors against these criteria and identify what drives customers either towards or away from them. Factors such as location, brand visibility, service quality, pricing, or missing product features can reveal competitive opportunities and threats.
4. Figure out your competitive advantage: With all the information at your fingertips, now you must uncover what sets your business apart. As the father of modern marketing, Philip Kotler, famously said, “Competitive advantage is a company’s ability to perform in one or more ways that competitors cannot or will not match.” A thorough analysis identifies that differentiator so it can be turned into a compelling market position.

How competitive analysis fueled dominance at Nike.  

Nike is a master of competitive intelligence. The company maintained its leadership position through a relentless focus on understanding and staying ahead of competitors.

According to Business Chronicler, Nike’s winning strategy revolved around innovation, brand-building, and expanding its direct-to-consumer channels. The ultra-secretive Nike Sport Research Lab (NSRL), based in Beaverton, Oregon, is the cutting-edge facility at the heart of its product innovation, where Nike cooks up its next big thing. As Forbes explains, the lab uses a data-driven approach to pinpoint problems, craft solutions, analyze competitors, and develop go-to-market strategies that keep Nike ahead of the curve. Founder Phil Knight summed it up perfectly: “Play by the rules but be ferocious.” And ferocious they are. For example, Nike’s 2023 global revenues, according to Investing.com, reached a staggering $51.21 billion, up more than $4.5 billion from the previous year.

The six keys to successful competition analysis.  

Outside the importance of following a robust and structured approach, there are several essential keys to ensuring your competitive analysis offers the insights you need to dominate.

1. Consider your blind spots: Research published in the Academy of Management shows that even the sharpest fish can miss critical signs due to overconfidence, tunnel vision, or information overload. These blind spots can often contribute to failed market entries and costly acquisitions. Challenge your assumptions.
2. Assess geographic coverage: From the outside-in, understand where competitors swim, and where they dominate. Mapping their footprint can reveal hidden opportunities for you to move up the food chain, especially where your product or service offers a clear advantage.
3. Evaluate their marketing strategies: Analyze how competitors position themselves through branding, advertising, social media, and pricing. Their marketing playbook reveals the waves they’re riding on by giving insight into who they target, how they engage, and where they invest.
4. Consider external factors: Economic shifts, regulatory changes, and emerging technologies can reshape competitor dynamics. Understanding how competitors are affected helps you anticipate their next move. An article in Entrepreneur found that companies making market research a core capability are more likely to thrive amid economic uncertainty.
5. Monitor competitive actions: Stay vigilant. Track new product launches, partnerships, acquisitions, and shifts in strategy. Staying informed allows you to change course before your rivals can outswim you, keeping you one stroke ahead.
6. Leverage technology: AI is transforming competitive intelligence by empowering organizations to pinpoint market opportunities and threats with increased speed and precision.

Sharp analysis is the key to staying ahead and outpacing rivals.  

In short, competitive analysis is your compass in navigating the vast ocean of business. From the outside-in, it helps you sharpen your strategy, spot opportunities, and anticipate your competitors’ next moves. But this isn’t a leisurely swim. It’s a complex, time-consuming process that demands significant resources, creativity, and a keen sense of insight. Done poorly, flawed assumptions and missed signals can pull you off course, leaving competitors free to swim ahead. Making the wrong stroke could leave you floundering while your competitors come in for the kill.

Written by Karun Gautam, EY Business Transformation Partner, Matt Anderson EY Business Transformation Manager, and Dr. Lance Mortlock, author of Outside In, Inside Out – Unleashing the Power of Business Strategy in Times of Market Uncertainty and EY Canada managing partner industrials & energy.

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