Definition Competitor Analysis

Definition: Identifying your competitors and evaluating their strategies to
determine their strengths and weaknesses relative to those of your own
product or service .
A competitive analysis is a critical part of your company marketing plan.
With this evaluation, you can establish what makes your product or
service unique--and therefore what attributes you play up in order to
attract your target market.
Evaluate your competitors by placing them in strategic groups according
to how directly they compete for a share of the customer's dollar. For
each competitor or strategic group, list their product or service, its
profitability, growth pattern, marketing objectives and assumptions,
current and past strategies, organizational and cost structure, strengths
and weaknesses, and size (in sales) of the competitor's business.
Answer questions such as:


Who are your competitors?



What products or services do they sell?



What is each competitor's market share?



What are their past strategies?



What are their current strategies?



What type of media are used to market their products or services?



How many hours per week do they purchase to advertise through

the media used in this market?

What are each competitor's strengths and weaknesses?


What potential threats do your competitors pose?



What potential opportunities do they make available for you?
A quick and easy way to compare your product or service with similar
ones on the market is to make a competition grid. Down the left side of a

piece of paper, write the names of four or five products or services that
compete with yours. To help you generate this list, think of what your
customers would buy if they didn't buy your product or service.
Across the top of the paper, list the main features and characteristics of
each product or service. Include such things as target market, price,
size, method of distribution, and extent of customer service for a product.
For a service, list prospective buyers, where the service is available,
price, website, toll-free phone number, and other features that are
relevant. A glance at the competition grid will help you see where your
product fits in the overall market.

Competitor analysis in marketing and strategic management is an assessment of the strengths and
weaknesses of current and potential competitors. This analysis provides both an offensive and
defensive strategic context to identify opportunities and threats. Profiling coalesces all of the relevant
sources of competitor analysis into one framework in the support of efficient and effective strategy
formulation, implementation, monitoring and adjustment.[1]
Competitor analysis is an essential component of corporate strategy.[2] It is argued that most firms do
not conduct this type of analysis systematically enough. Instead, many enterprises operate on what
is called “informal impressions, conjectures, and intuition gained through the tidbits of information
about competitors every manager continually receives.” As a result, traditional environmental
scanning places many firms at risk of dangerous competitive blindspots due to a lack of robust
competitor analysis.[3]
Contents
[hide]



1 Competitor analysis



2 Competitor profiling



3 Media scanning



4 New competitors



5 See also



6 Notes



7 References

Competitor analysis[edit]
One common and useful technique is constructing a competitor array. The steps include:


Define your industry - scope and nature of the industry



Determine who your competitors are



Determine who your customers are and what benefits they expect



Determine what the key success factors are in your industry



Rank the key success factors by giving each one a weighting - The sum of all the weightings
must add up to one.



Rate each competitor on each of the key success factors



Multiply each cell in the matrix by the factor weighting.

This can best be displayed on a two dimensional matrix - competitors along the top and key success
factors down the side. An example of a competitor array follows: [4]
Key Industry
Success Factors

Weighting

Competitor

Competitor

Competitor

Competitor

#1 rating

#1 weighted

#2 rating

#2 weighted

1 - Extensive distribution

.4

6

2.4

3

1.2

2 - Customer focus

.3

4

1.2

5

1.5

3 - Economies of scale

.2

3

.6

3

.6

4 - Product innovation

.1

7

.7

4

.4

Totals

1.0

20

4.9

15

3.7

In this example competitor #1 is rated higher than competitor #2 on product innovation ability (7 out
of 10, compared to 4 out of 10) and distribution networks (6 out of 10), but competitor #2 is rated
higher on customer focus (5 out of 10). Overall, competitor #1 is rated slightly higher than competitor
#2 (20 out of 40 compared to 15 out of 40). When the success factors are weighted according to
their importance, competitor #1 gets a far better rating (4.9 compared to 3.7).
Two additional columns can be added. In one column you can rate your own company on each of
the key success factors (try to be objective and honest). In another column you can list benchmarks.
They are the ideal standards of comparisons on each of the factors. They reflect the workings of a
company using all the industry's best practices.

Competitor profiling[edit]

The strategic rationale of competitor profiling is powerfully simple. Superior knowledge of rivals offers
a legitimate source of competitive advantage. The raw material of competitive advantage consists of
offering superior customer value in the firm’s chosen market. The definitive characteristic of
customer value is the adjective, superior. Customer value is defined relative to rival offerings making
competitor knowledge an intrinsic component of corporate strategy. Profiling facilitates this strategic
objective in three important ways.[5] First, profiling can reveal strategic weaknesses in rivals that the
firm may exploit. Second, the proactive stance of competitor profiling will allow the firm to anticipate
the strategic response of their rivals to the firm’s planned strategies, the strategies of other
competing firms, and changes in the environment. Third, this proactive knowledge will give the firms
strategic agility. Offensive strategy can be implemented more quickly in order to exploit opportunities
and capitalize on strengths. Similarly, defensive strategy can be employed more deftly in order to
counter the threat of rival firms from exploiting the firm’s own weaknesses.[3]
Clearly, those firms practicing systematic and advanced competitor profiling have a significant
advantage. As such, a comprehensive profiling capability is rapidly becoming a core competence
required for successful competition. An appropriate analogy is to consider this advantage as akin to
having a good idea of the next move that your opponent in a chess match will make. By staying one
move ahead, checkmate is one step closer. Indeed, as in chess, a good offense is the best defense
in the game of business as well.[3]
A common technique is to create detailed profiles on each of your major competitors. [6] These profiles
give an in-depth description of the competitor's background, finances, products, markets, facilities,
personnel, and strategies. This involves:


Background


location of offices, plants, and online presences



history - key personalities, dates, events, and trends



ownership, corporate governance, and organizational structure





Financials


P-E ratios, dividend policy, and profitability



various financial ratios, liquidity, and cash flow



profit growth profile; method of growth (organic or acquisitive)
Products



products offered, depth and breadth of product line, and product portfolio balance



new products developed, new product success rate, and R&D strengths



brands, strength of brand portfolio, brand loyalty and brand awareness



patents and licenses



quality control conformance



reverse engineering or deformulation



Marketing


segments served, market shares, customer base, growth rate, and customer loyalty



promotional mix, promotional budgets, advertising themes, ad agency used, sales
force success rate, online promotional strategy



distribution channels used (direct & indirect), exclusivity agreements, alliances, and
geographical coverage




pricing, discounts, and allowances
Facilities



plant capacity, capacity utilization rate, age of plant, plant efficiency, capital
investment






location, shipping logistics, and product mix by plant
Personnel



number of employees, key employees, and skill sets



strength of management, and management style



compensation, benefits, and employee morale & retention rates
Corporate and marketing strategies



objectives, mission statement, growth plans, acquisitions, and divestitures



marketing strategies

Media scanning[edit]
Scanning competitor's ads can reveal much about what that competitor believes about marketing
and their target market. Changes in a competitor's advertising message can reveal
Product
new product offerings, new production processes,
Strategy
Branding strategy, positioning strategy, segmentation strategy, pricing strategy, promotion strategy,
distribution strategy.
a new branding strategy, a new positioning strategy, a new segmentation strategy, line
extensions and contractions, problems with previous positions, insights from recent marketing or
product research, a new strategic direction, a new source of sustainable competitive advantage,
or value migrations within the industry. It might also indicate a new pricing strategy such
as penetration, price discrimination, price skimming, product bundling, joint product pricing,
discounts, or loss leaders. It may also indicate a new promotion strategy such as push, pull,
balanced, short term sales generation, long term image creation, informational, comparative,
affective, reminder, new creative objectives, new unique selling proposition, new creative concepts,
appeals, tone, and themes, or a new advertising agency. It might also indicate a new distribution
strategy, new distribution partners, more extensive distribution, more intensive distribution, a change
in geographical focus, or exclusive distribution. Similar techniques can be used by observing a
competitor's search engine optimization targets and practices.[7] For example, by conducting keyword
research, one may be able to determine a competitor's target market, keywords, or products. Other
metrics allow for detection of a competitor's success. [8] Little of this intelligence is definitive: additional
information is needed before conclusions should be drawn.
A competitor's media strategy reveals budget allocation, segmentation and targeting strategy, and
selectivity and focus.[9][10] From a tactical perspective, it can also be used to help a manager
implement his own media plan. By knowing the competitor's media buy, media selection, frequency,
reach, continuity, schedules, and flights, the manager can arrange his own media plan so that they
do not coincide.
Other sources of corporate intelligence include trade shows, patent filings, mutual customers, annual
reports, and trade associations.

Some firms hire competitor intelligence professionals to obtain this information. The Society of
Competitive Intelligence Professionals maintains a listing of individuals who provide these services.[11]

New competitors[edit]
In addition to analysing current competitors, it is necessary to estimate future competitive threats.
The most common sources of new competitors are:


Companies competing in a related product/market



Companies using related technologies



Companies already targeting your prime market segment but with unrelated products



Companies from other geographical areas and with similar products



New start-up companies organized by former employees and/or managers of existing
companies

The entrance of new competitors is likely when:


There are high profit margins in the industry



There is unmet demand (insufficient supply) in the industry



There are no major barriers to entry



There is future growth potential



Competitive rivalry is not intense



Gaining a competitive advantage over existing firms is feasible

Competitor Analysis Template: 12 Ways To Predict Your
Competitors’ Behaviors
Benchmarking - May 3, 2013 By Ross Beard.
25
24

The best companies in the world remain at the top of their game by keeping a close on
eye on their competitors.
Honda was able to enter the U.S. motorcycle market with a small motorbike because
they saw that the U.S. manufacturers had assumed there was no market for small bikes.
A competitor analysis is a great way to obtain information about important competitors
and use that information to predict competitor behaviors whilst making better business
decisions.
Using a competitor analysis template you can compare how your company rates
against your competitors across a wide range of aspects.

This article will focus on explaining what a competitive analysis is and how you can use
the template I have created to make better informed business decisions.
My competitor analysis template has been adapted from Michael Porter’s, Competitive
Strategy 1980, with theories and thoughts taken from Jim Riley, Daniel
Burtein andBusiness Lifestyle Solutions.
Before I go straight into showing you the customer analysis template, I wanted to bring
to light some of the key reasons why you would want to do a competitor analysis and
what benefits you can get out of doing one.
Why do a competitor analysis?
The main goals of a competitor analysis are to understand who your competitors are,
what strategies they are using and have planned, how competitors might react to your
company’s actions, and how to influence competitor behavior to your advantage.
A lot of the time, this data is easily accessible – so you will need to dig deep into annual
reports, press releases, product brochures, patent applications and much, much more!
I will take you through the most common places to find each piece of information in the
customer analysis template.
So now you know why you should do a competitor analysis, what are the real
benefits?


Can assist your management with developing marketing strategies



Can identify opportunities in the market that are under-served



Can help you take advantage of competitors weaknesses to grow market share



Can allow you to make better informed decisions about your strategy and ensure you
can create sustainable competitive advantages



Can help you with forecasting future investments

Now let’s get into the competitor analysis template. I recommend you download and
print the template here so you can fill it in while I take you through each section.
I break the template down into 12 key sections:









Competitor Profile


Overview



Competitive advantage

Marketing Profile


Target market



Market share



Marketing strategies

Product/ Service Profile


Product/Service offerings



Pricing and costs



Channels

SWOT Profile


Strengths



Weaknesses



Opportunities



Threats

As I go through each of these sections, make sure analyse your company, then
analysethree of your most important competitors.
Competitor Profile: Overview

The competitor profile and overview involves analyzing competitors using Michael
Porter’s framework based on four key aspects:


Competitors objectives



Competitors assumptions



Competitors strategy



Competitors capabilities

Objectives and assumptions drive the competitor while the strategy and capabilities are
what the competitor is capable of doing. See the diagram below to see the components:
Competitor Objectives: these objectives are not always financial; they can commonly
be related to a company’s growth rate and market share. The reason you want to know
a competitors objectives is so you can better plan for their strategies.
Let’s say your competitor is focusing on short term revenue – you can likely suspect they
will spend most their efforts on holding strong positions for the top performing products
as opposed to investing in research and development to roll out new products.
Competitors Assumptions: assumptions are made by management most the time
based on past experience, but can also include beliefs about its competitive position,
regional factors, industry trends and rules of thumb.
The Honda example I brought to light earlier is a classic. U.S. manufacturers had failed
in the past with attempts to sell a smaller motorbike and as such had written off the
market segment, leaving a gaping opportunity for Honda to grab market share.
Competitors Strategy: this information is often hard to find. A lot can be revealed in
annual shareholder reports, 10K reports, interviews with analysts, statements by
managers and press releases.
Cash flow is also a great indicator of a competitor’s strategy, try looking up their hiring
activity, R&D projects, capital investments, promotional campaigns, strategy
partnerships, mergers and acquisitions.
Competitors Capabilities: once you have knowledge of the above three aspects, you
can make better informed decisions about the capabilities of a competitor. These
decisions can help fend off competitor attacks and help you make strategic attacks
based on competitor’s abilities to respond quickly and effectively.
A company’s capabilities are also linked to its strengths. So completing a SWOT
analysis (I go through this later) can provide further interesting intelligence.
How to find information for your competitor profile
Davidson (1997) believes the sources of competitor information can be neatly grouped
into three categories:



Recorded data: this is easily available in published form either internally or externally.
Good examples include competitor annual reports and product brochures;



Observable data: this has to be actively sought and often assembled from several
sources. A good example is competitor pricing;



Opportunistic data: to get hold of this kind of data requires a lot of planning and
organisation. Much of it is “anecdotal”, coming from discussions with suppliers,
customers and, perhaps, previous management of competitors.

The table below lists possible sources of competitor data using Davidson’s
categorization:

Task 1: Competitor Profile
Complete your competitor profile – use the recommended sources to find the data and
try get as much info as possible.
Competitor Profile: Competitive Advantage

This section is important. Do you know what your competitive advantage is?
I like to define competitive advantage as your point of differentiation – something that
makes you different from your competitors.
Jim Riley defines it as an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers
greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and
service that justifies higher price.
Jim is spot on, but I like to keep things simple.

Task 2: Competitive Advantage
Think about what makes your company different than your competitors. Next, do the
same thing for your three competitors. If you’re struggling, pick up the phone and give
your competitors a call – just ask them!
Go one step further and actually talk to their customers – ask them why they shopped
with the competitor company. You’ll get some lovely responses and more than likely
find out their competitive advantages.
Marketing Profile: Target Market

Did you know that some of your competitors may not actually be your competitors?
In this step I want you to define your primary target market.
Your primary target market is the group of customers that you service the most. For
instance, you are an IT Company that services Accounting firms in New York. That’s a
very specific target market, but for demonstration purposes – your competitors are the
ones competing with you for a share in that market. You can broaden things out and
target a number of different verticals in New York, but I recommend you try keep things
as targeted as possible to ensure you find the most relevant competitors to compare
against.
Task 3: Target Market
Identify who your target market is (if you don’t already know) and then do some research
on your competitors to see who their target market is. A good place to start would be
their website and marketing communications – see who their existing clients are, have a
look at their messaging.
Note: if you find out your actual competitors are different from what you original selected
– make sure you change them and redo section one: competitor profile.
Marketing Profile: Market Share

Market share can be defined as the percentage of the market you account for. In the
previous task you identified your target market – now it’s time to calculate your market
share.
In a survey by the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB), 67% of
respondents prefer to calculated their market share metric as a dollar value – for
instance – you have $300,000 share in a $1.8 million dollar market which equates to a
16.7% market share.
So why is this relevant for your competitive analysis?
Well, you want to know how you stack up against your competitors to ensure you can
make better business decisions – read more this in my article on competitive
benchmarking. This metric can help you with setting goals and objectives for the future
to ensure you grow your business and take a bigger piece of the revenue available.
Looking at these statistical trends overtime can also give you good intelligence on your
competitor’s behavior If their market share has increased steadily over the past couple
of years you can safely bet they are looking to gro market share in your market, which
means stealing market share from you! If you are aware of this, you can make
necessary defensive strategies to combat their attacks.
Task 4: Market Share
Complete a market share analysis.
Marketing Profile: Marketing Strategies

Your closest competitor is ramping up a new radio campaign – wouldn’t it be nice to
know that ahead of time?
Well, it certainly would – but unless you have some overfriendly competitors that love
sharing, chances are you probably won’t.
That doesn’t mean you can’t strategically predict what your competitors might do.
In this section of the template, make sure you fill in your marketing strategies and predict
those of your competitors. If you are not familiar with what they are doing, do some

research and observe what they are doing – good sources to be looking at include their
advertising campaigns and promotions. The goal here is to try and predict what they
might have planned for the future and how that will affect you.
Let me demonstrate this with an example. You might have a competitor in your list that
primarily services another particular market but have a couple of clients in your market.
They recognise an opportunity for growth and think they can steal a bit of the market
share that you hold and as a result, launch a radio campaign targeted at your market!
Now what do you do?
Hopefully you’ve been doing your analysis and have a defensive marketing strategy in
place. For example, you can be proactive and reach out to all your clients with a
special‘value adding’ quarterly meeting – giving you an opportunity to strengthen your
relationship and retain your clients. By being prepared, you can stay one step ahead
of your competitors.
Task 5: Marketing Strategies
Write down your current marketing strategies and any you have in the pipeline. Now get
moving and see what your competitors are doing – give them a call, do some research
on their site – do whatever you can to become more familiar with their strategies. You’d
be surprised how many competitors would actually tell you what they are planning.
Product/Service Profile:

Your product and/or service mix includes your range of products and services. This
section of the competitor analysis template involves comparing your offerings to those of
your competitor.
It is important here to take a look at your product range, product quality and brand
credibility.
I recommend you firstly take a look at your product range and see where your strengths
lie. Next, be honest with yourself and rank your quality standard on scale of 1 to 10.
Lastly, rank your brand credibility and if you hold any.

Now do the same for your three competitors, using the same judging scale. Look out for
areas where your product or service differs from your competitors.
This section gives you the opportunity to identify new viable markets that can be
exploited with a new product, or make product variations to fill a gap in an existing
market. These opportunities can be explored further with more research and by
completing section four of this template which discusses the SWOT.
Task 6: Product/Service Profile
Complete the product/service profile – rate your company then your competitors on a
consistent performance scale.
Product/Service Profile: Pricing and Costs

Pricing can tell a lot about your competitors. Here you want to be looking at what pricing
strategies you and your competitors are implementing.
Key questions to be asking about yourself and your competitors include:


Am I a low-cost or high-cost provider?



What are my mark-ups? 75% but currently offering 15% to get stock moving?



Do I work off volume sales or once off purchases?



Do my prices differentiate depending on the medium – online vs brick n’ mortar?



Am I using a cost-based, customer-based or competitor-based pricing strategy?

Task 7: Pricing and Costs
Answer all these questions about your company and your competitors. Pricing is an
observable source so you should be able to get most of the answers by looking at your
competitors offerings.
Product/Service Profile: Distribution Channels

The internet has disrupted the more traditional distribution channels. This section
involves looking at how you distribute your product/service to your customers and how
your competitors do it.
Jim Riley talks about how each layer of marketing intermediaries that performs some
work in bring the product to its final buyer is a ‘channel level’.
I recommend you break down your distribution channels down as a percentage.
Task 8: Distribution Channels
First, start with your company – how do you get your products or services into your
customers hands?
It might be that 50% of the work is done remotely, 30% on site and the remaining 20%
done automatically?
Now look at your competitor’s distribution channels – are they automating more
aspects? Do they use more middle men? Do they spend more time in front of the
clients?
Two questions I love asking are:


Does there strategy resonate better with customers than yours?



Do they have better customer satisfaction metrics than you?

SWOT Profile: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

The final section of the competitor analysis template includes analyzing four aspects
from the traditional SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).
A SWOT analysis is traditionally used by companies to audit their current business
processes and monitor competitors. I like to break the SWOT down to internal and
external factors.

Internally, lays your company’s strengths and weaknesses. These are things that you
have control over – hence internal. Examples of strengths include your brand and your
perceived quality. Weaknesses might be your lack product range.
Externally, lays your companies opportunities and threats. These are aspects which you
have limited/no control over – but must be aware of and monitor closely. Examples of
opportunities might be government strategy that opens up doors to new markets, while
threats might be a new competitor deciding to enter your market.
Understanding your own SWOT is only half the challenge. The really value you get from
a SWOT analysis is when you complete one for your competitors – SWOT’s are a great
way to predict competitors strategies and their competitive advantages.
In fact, a SWOT analysis links closely to what I talked about in an earlier section
regarding competitive advantage.
To form a competitive advantage, you need your strengths and opportunities to be
matching.
By understanding this dynamic, you can put strategies in place that aim to convert your
weaknesses and threats into strengths and opportunities. This will allow your company
to find new competitive advantages that will help you grow into new markets to defend
attacks from competitors.
Furthermore, by understanding your competitors weaknesses and threats, you are able
to create strategies that can exploit them and help you towards your objectives.
Task 9: SWOT Profile
Complete a SWOT analysis for your company and your competitors – make sure you get
your head around internal vs external factors – a lot of people tend to get confused. This
is the final step of my competitor analysis template and really aims to wrap up
everything and give you a good understanding of where you lie in comparison to your
competitors in the market.
In conclusion…

Some businesses think it’s best to just go about their own plans and ignore the
competitors.
I hope by going through this competitor analysis template you can now appreciate the
importance of analysing your competitors. When completed correctly, a competitor
analysis can help you your business form strategies that will capitalise on opportunities
and minimise the impact of threats from competitors.

There are few documents that get the attention of product planners and marketers the
way that a competitive analysis does. A good competitive analysis is a scouting report
of the actual market terrain that your company must navigate in order to be successful.
And there is no person better equipped to write one than a market-savvy technical
writer.
To write a good competitive analysis, you must:
 Be objective.
 Conduct fearless and thorough research.
 Write well.
If you're like most successful technical writers I know, you have these skills already.
So, how do you put these skills together to do the job?
A competitive analysis covers five key topics:
 Your company's competitors.
 Competitor product summaries.
 Competitor strengths and weaknesses.
 The strategies used by each competitor to achieve their
objectives.
 The market outlook.
A List of Competitors

The analysis begins with a list of your company's competitors. Most of the time, such
a list is comprised of what your company cconsiders to be its chief competitors.
However, there may be other companies that indirectly compete with yours, ones that
offer products or services that are aiming for the same customer capital.
You will also want to include information on companies that may be entering your
market in the coming year. Once you have compiled the list, you can highlight those
companies that will be the greatest challenge.

Competitor Product Summary

Analyze the competition's products and services in terms of features, value, and
targets. How do your competitor's sell their wares? How do they market them?
Customer satisfaction surveys conducted by the trade press can help you
tremendously. How do customers see your competition? Ask your sales force for
information -- they can be your best source of information about your competitor's
customers.
It's likewise important to include information on how competitors distribute and
advertise their products. You will want to talk about product quality and, where
possible, find out how they are staffed.
Competitor Strengths and Weaknesses

As you put together the list of competitor strengths and weaknesses, be objective.
You'll do your company no good if you allow bias toward your own products and
services to cloud your judgment. Try to see the competition's products as
though you were the competitor. What makes their products so great? If they are
growing rapidly, what is it about their product or service that's promoting that growth?
You can find this information in a variety of ways. Certainly there are numerous
Internet resources you can use -- the competitor's Web site is always a good start. The
trade press is an invaluable resource, but don't do all your research through the
Internet. Make some phone calls, talk to the journalists and consultants who are active
in the industry. These people are a lot easier to find than you'd think, and they are
often happy to share facts and opinions with you.
Competitor Strategies and Objectives

Observe how your competitors market themselves through press releases and
advertising. Quarterly and annual reports reveal a great deal of information, too. But
more than likely you'll have to do quite a lot of footwork to nail your competitors
down.
Interviews of journalists and consultants can be valuable. You will have to go to many
different sources to get a complete picture. What about your competitors' customers?
Good sales people will know who they are and can help you get this sort of
information. It takes practice and a little shrewdness on your part to piece together a
complete picture of strategies and objectives. Focus on the facts, be persistent, and
trust your intuition to help you.

Market Outlook

What is the market for your company's product like now? Is it growing? If so, then
there are likely quite a few customers left to go around. If on the other hand the
market is flat, then the competition for customers is likely to be fierce. Your company
will find itself scrambling to win market share. Is the market splintering -- is it
breaking up into niches?
The outlook portion of your analysis may seem like prognostication, but it's really a
measure of trends. By the time you've done most of your research, you'll have enough
information to determine what the outlook really is.
Writing a competitive analysis can be a challenging and interesting piece of work.
You'll learn a lot about your industry and in the process become a more valuable
resource for your company or clients.

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Strategi samudera biru, atau lebih populer dengan istilahnya dalam Bahasa Inggris, Blue Ocean
Strategy, adalah strategi yang menantang perusahaan untuk keluar dari samudra merah persaingan
berdarah dengan cara menciptakan ruang pasar yang belum ada pesaingnya, sehingga kata
kompetisi pun menjadi tidak relevan. Strategi samudra biru berfokus pada menumbuhkan
permintaan dan menjauh dari kompetensi dengan menciptakan suatu nilai dan keunikan yang tidak
sembarang unik, namun juga merupakan pangsa pasar menguntungkan. [1]
Daftar isi
[sembunyikan]

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1 Perbandingan dengan red ocean

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2 Inovasi sebagai pijakan strategi samudera biru



3 Kanvas Strategi

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4 Kerangka Kerja Empat Langkah

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5 Skema Hapuskan-Kurangi-Tingkatkan-Ciptakan



6 Strategi Pengembangan Pasar

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7 Referensi

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8 Pranala Luar

Perbandingan dengan red ocean[sunting | sunting sumber]
Dalam dunia bisnis terdapat dua macam area, red ocean dan blue ocean. Di dalam red
ocean sendiri merupakan gambaran persaingan bisnis yang ada saat ini dan ruang pasar yang
sudah dikenal sedangkan blue ocean menciptakan ruang pasar yang baru , yang belum dimasuki
oleh pesaing sebelum nya atau belum dikenali . Di dalam red ocean,batasan-batasan dalam industri
telah didefinisikan dan diterima oleh para pelaku bisnis.
Di sini, perusahaan berusaha mengalahkan lawan mereka demi mendapatkan permintaan dari
pangsa pasar yang lebih besar. Sebaliknya di dalam blue ocean strategy ditandai oleh ruang pasar
yang belum terjelajahi, penciptaan permintaan, dan peluang pertumbuhan yang sangat
menguntungkan. Di dalam blue ocean strategy, kompetisi itu tidak relevan karena aturan-aturan
permainan baru akan dibentuk.[1]

Inovasi sebagai pijakan strategi samudera biru[sunting | sunting sumber]
Menurut Kim, strategi samudera biru jarang sekali berkaitan dengan inovasi teknologi. Sebagai
contoh pabrik perakitan mobil Ford yang revolusioner dapat dilacak awal penerapannya pada
industri pengepakan daging di Amerika Serikat. Begitu juga perusahaan-perusahaan lama seringkali
merupakan pemain yang menghasilkan samudera bitu dan seringkali dihasilkan oleh unit bisnis
utama mereka.[2]
Inovasi nilai merupakan batu-pijak dari strategi samudra biru. Inovasi nilai memberikan penekanan
setara pada nilai nilai dan inovasi. Nilai tanpa inovasi cenderung berfokus pada penciptaan nilai
dalam skala besar. Inovasi tanpa nilai cenderung bersifat mengandalkan teknologi, pelopor pasar,
atau futuristis, dan sering membidik sesuatu yang belum siap diterima dan dikonsumsi oleh pembeli.

Inovasi nilai merupakan cara baru untuk memikirkan dan melaksanakan strategi yang mengarah
pada penciptaan samudra biru dan ditinggalkannya kompetisi. Penciptaan samudra biru adalah soal
menekan biaya sembari meningkatkan nilai bagi pembeli. Karena nilai pembeli berasal dari utilitas
(manfaat) dan harga yang ditawarkan perusahaan kepada pembeli, dan karena nilai bagi
perusahaan itu dihasilkan dari harga dan struktur biaya, maka inovasi nilai tercapai hanya ketika
keseluruhan system kegiatan utilitas, harga, dan biaya perusahaan terpadu dengan tepat. Inovasi
nilai adalah lebih dari sekadar inovasi. Inovasi nilai adalah soal strategi yang merangkul seluruh
sistem kegiatan perusahaan. Inovasi nilai menuntut perusahaan untuk mengarahkan seluruh sistem
pada tujuan mencapai lompatan dalam nilai bagi pembeli dan perusahaan itu sendiri.

Kanvas Strategi[sunting | sunting sumber]
Kanvas strategi adalah kerangka aksi sekaligus diagnosis untuk membangun strategi samudra biru
yang baik. Ia merangkum situasi terkini dalam ruang pasar yang sudah dikenal. Hal ini
memungkinkan anda untuk memahami di mana kompetisi saat ini sedang tercurah, memahami
faktor-faktor apa yang sedang dijadikan ajang kompetisi dalam produk, jasa, dan pengiriman, serta
memahami apa yang didapat konsumen dari penawaran kompetitif yang ada di pasar. [2]

Kerangka Kerja Empat Langkah[sunting | sunting sumber]
Menurut Kim terdapat empat pertanyaan kunci untuk menantang logika strategi dan model bisnis
sebuah industri:

1. Faktor apa saja yang harus dihapuskan dari faktor-faktor yang telah diterima begitu saja oleh
industri?
2. Faktor apa saja yang harus dikurangi hingga dibawah standar industri?
3. Faktor apa saja yang harus ditingkatkan hingga di atas standar industri?
4. Faktor apa saja yang belum pernah ditawarkan industri sehingga harus diciptakan?

Secara bersama-sama, keempat pertanyaan ini memungkinkan anda secara sistematis
mengeksplorasi cara anda merekonstruksi elemen-elemen nilai pembeli di sepanjang industriindustri alternatif demi menawari pembeli pengalaman yang sama sekali baru, sambil secara
bersamaan tetap mempertahankan struktur biaya anda pada level rendah.

Skema Hapuskan-Kurangi-Tingkatkan-Ciptakan[sunting | sunting
sumber]
Menurut Kim alat ini adalah alat analisis pelengkap bagi kerangka kerja empat langkah. Skema ini
mendorong perusahaan untuk tidak hanya menanyakan empat pertanyaan dalam kerangka kerja
empat langkah, tapi juga bertindak berdasarkan keempat pertanyaan itu untuk menciptakan suatu
kurva nilai baru. Skema ini memberikan empat manfaat utama kepada perusahaan:
1. Mendorong perusahaan untuk mengejar diferensiasi dan biaya murah secara bersamaan
untuk mendobrak pertukaran nilai-biaya.
2. Menyerang perusahaan lain yang hanya berfokus pada upaya meningkatkan dan
menciptakan, sehingga menaikkan struktur biaya mereka, serta menyerang perusahaan lain
yang sering memodifikasi produk dan jasa secara berlebihan.
3. Skema ini dengan mudah dipahami oleh manajer di level apa pun, sehingga menciptakan
tingkat keterlibatan yang tinggi dalam penerapannya.
4. Karena penuntasan upaya-upaya dalam skema ini merupakan tugas menantang, skema ini
mendorong perusahaan untuk bersemangat dalam menganalisis setiap faktorindustri yang
menjadi ajang kompetisi, sehingga ia menemukan berbagai asumsi implisit yang mereka
buat secara tak sadar dalam berkompetisi.

Strategi Pengembangan Pasar[sunting | sunting sumber]

Menurut Tjiptono [3] strategi korporat dapat dikelompokkan menjadi dua macam, yaitu strategi
pertumbuhan dan strategi konsolidasi. Masing-masing tipe terbagi lagi menjadi beberapa jenis
strategi berikut:
1. Strategi pertumbuhan (''Growth Strategies'')
Strategi pertumbuhan dapat dijabarkan lagi berdasarkan focus perusahaan pada pasar saat ini atau
pasar baru
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Strategi pertumbuhan untuk pasar saat ini.
Perusahaan yang menjumpai banyak peluang dan sedikit masalah dalam pasar yang
dilayaninya saat ini kemungkinan besar akan memilih alternatif strategi pertumbuhan
berbasis pasar yang ada saat ini.


Strategi pertumbuhan untuk pasar baru.
Apabila pasar yang dilayani saat ini dinilai kurang prospektif dalam hal pertumbuhan
penjualan maupun profitabilitasnya, perusahaan cenderung akan berusaha mencari pasar
baru yang lebih menjanjikan.
1. Strategi konsolidasi (Consolidation Strategies). Secara umum, terdapat tiga macam
strategi konsolidasi:
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Strategi penciutan (Retrenchment), yaitu mengurangi komitmen perusahaan pada
produk-produk saat ini dengan cara menarik diri dari pasar yang dinilai lemah atau
gagal. Strategi ini merupakan kebalikan dari strategi pengembangan pasar.



Strategi pemangkasan (Pruning), yaitu strategi mengurangi jumlah produk yang
ditawarkan pada sebuah pasar spesifik. Strategi ini merupakan kebalikan dari strategi
pengembangan produk.



Strategi divestasi (Divestment), yaitu menjual sebagian bisnis perusahaan kepada
perusahaan lain atau menutup unit usaha tertentu. Maka pada prinsipnya strategi
divestasi merupakan kebalikan dari strategi diversifikasi.

Artikel Ekonomi & Bisnis : Blue Ocean VS Red Ocean
Strategy
Artikel Ekonomi dan Bisnis. Pada kesempatan ini kita akan membahas dan membandingkan antara Blue
Ocean Strategy dan Red Ocean Strategy, sebagai bagian dari pendekatan/strategi kompetisi bisnis di
masa sekarang.

BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY
Blue Ocean Strategy, merupakan salah satu tema penting dalam wacana manajemen strategi lima tahun
belakangan. Digagas oleh Profesor asal Korea, Chan Kim dan rekannya dari Perancis Renee
Mauborgne, tema ini hendak mengajarkan kepada kita tentang bagaimana memenangkan kompetisi
bisnis yang kian dinamik.
Lalu apa itu sejatinya blue ocean strategy? Apa saja contoh konkrit perusahaan yang telah
menerapkannnya? Dan tahapan apa saja yang mesti dilakoni guna menjalankannya dengan berhasil?

Konsep dasar Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) adalah Value Innovation. Yaitu bagaimana kita mengalihkan
diri dari persaingan di Red Ocean yang sangat kompetitive dan berdarah, menuju pada Blue Ocean yang
membuat kompetisi jadi tidak relevan lagi. Blue ocean strategy pada dasarnya merupakan sebuah siasat
untuk menaklukan pesaing melalui tawaran fitur produk yang inovatif, dan selama ini diabaikan oleh para
pesaing. Fitur produk ini biasanya juga berbeda secara radikal dengan yang selama ini sudah ada di
pasar.

Value Innovation tidak selalu berupa inovasi teknologi, tetapi berupa inovasi untuk peningkatan
keuntungan pelanggan yang disesuaikan dengan harga jual dan biaya.
Setiap strategi selalu mempunyai resiko yang harus diperhitungkan dengan seksama.
Dengan cara seperti diatas, blue ocean mendorong pelakunya untuk memasuki sebuah arena pasar
baru yang potensial, dan yang selama ini “dilupakan” oleh para pesaing. Contoh yang paling fenomenal
dari dari kisah blue ocean ini misalnya dapat dilihat pada kisah keberhasilan Yamaha dengan skutik Mio-

nya. Dulu sebelum motor jenis ini muncul, pasar sepeda motor didominasi oleh jenis konvensional
dengan Honda sebagai penguasanya.

Melalui skutik Mio, Yamaha mengintroduksi motor dengan fitur yang berbeda secara radikal dengan
produk yang selama ini ada di pasaran. Ia juga segera membidik segmen pasar baru (new market
segment) yakni para pelanggan perempuan (female bikers). Dengan pendekatan blue ocean ini, saat itu
praktis Yamaha berenang dalam arena pasar baru, yang tidak ada players lain didalamnya. Dengan
mudah Yamaha memimpin pasar baru itu, dan itu terus bertahan hingga kini. Keberhasilan ini memang
fenomenal, sebab melalui Mio-lah, Yamaha kemudian pelan-pelan merangsek singgasana yang sudah
puluhan tahun digenggam sang jawara, Honda.

Contoh blue ocean strategy yang juga legendaris adalah drama kemenangan produk iPod dari Apple
yang merebut habis pasar musik digital. Produk iPod ini sungguh inovatif, dan sama sekali berbeda
dengan produk sebelumnya, seperti walkman atau CD music player yang dikuasai oleh Sony. Digitalisasi
musik adalah fitur kunci dari iPod, selain kemudahan penggunaannya. Dengan segera iPod menguasai
pasar baru musik digital, dan jauh meninggalkan Sony yang terpuruk dalam debu keterpurukan dan luka
kekalahan.
Contoh lain blue ocean strategy yang tak kalah dramatis tentu saja adalah kisah mendiang mbah Surip
dengan lagu Tak Gendong-nya. Ketika arena musik tanah air didominasi oleh musik pop yang mendayudayu, ia hadir menawarkan produk dengan fitur yang secara radikal berbeda dengan yang selama ini ada
di pasaran : sepotong lagu reggae yang jenaka dalam balutan gaya bohemian. Plus selarik tagline yang
amat brilian : I love you full. Dengan segera ia menjelma menjadi ikon baru, menciptakan new market
space, dan dalam arena ini ia dengan mudah menaklukkan pasar.

Kisah Yamaha Mio, iPod, dan mbah Surip adalah sepenggal kisah tentang bagaimana konsep blue ocean
strategy dibentangkan dalam kenyataan. Semua kisah ini selalu diawali dengan kejelian melihat potensi
pasar yang selama ini diabaikan oleh para kompetitor. Dan kemudian semuanya segera disertai dengan
tawaran produk dengan fitur yang unik, inovatif dan berbeda (different) dengan yang selama ini ada di
pasar.

Melalui cara itulah, para pelaku blue ocean strategy kemudian bisa menciptakan ruang pasar baru,
menjangkau new market demand dan sekaligus membuat kompetisi menjadi tidak relevan. Atau mungkin
lebih tepatnya : mereka kemudian bisa meninggalkan para pesaingnya dalam rintihan kekalahan. Mio
melesat jauh meninggalkan Honda Beat. iPod membuat produk audio Sony tergeletak sekarat dalam
ambang kehancuran. Dan nama mbah Surip tiba-tiba melambung, sebelum akhirnya benar-benar
melesat menembus langit tuju bidadari.

Inti dari Blue Ocean Strategy :
1.

Keluar dari persaingan Red Ocean yang berdarah-darah dan pindahlah pada Blue Ocean yang
menguntungkan.

2.

Fokus pada Value Innovation, peningkatan nilai tambah luar biasa pada pelanggan.

3.

Keluar dari kebiasaan berpikir industri tersebut dengan menciptakan Market Space yang baru.

4.

Gunakan Strategy Canvas dan 4 Action Framework untuk menciptakan Value dan Lowcost secara
bersamaan.

5.

Pemikiran haruslah dari Keuntungan pelanggan, baru ke harga, biaya, dan bagaimana mengadaptasikan
keadaan yang dihadapi, baik internal maupun external.

RED OCEAN STRATEGY

Red Ocean Strategy di ilustrasikan sebagai lautan yang di penuhi berbagai jenis ikan yang bersaing ketat
dalam memperebutkan makanan. Dalam perebutan tersebut, terjadi peristiwa perkelahian sengit
sehingga laut yang biru berubah menjadi merah karena percikan-percikan darah di antara mereka.
Peristiwa ini menggambarkan bahwa strategy yang di gunakan adalah bagaimana
membandingkan diri dengan pesaing (benchmark),

menilai kekuatan dan kelemahan,
menentukan strategi dan mengimplementasikan taktik mengalahkan lawan untuk mempertahankan
pasar,
mengambil porsi pasar lawan,
mematikan usaha lawan.

Red ocean, dimana semua kompetitor memberikan tawaran fitur produk yang seragam, sama, dan
semua saling memperebutkan pasar yang juga sama. Alhasil, yang acap terjadi adalah pertarungan yang
berdarah-darah, lantaran arena persaingan diperebutkan oleh para pemain yang menawarkan
keseragaman produk dan pendekatan.