Insight
Know your enemy and know yourself.
Sun Tzu's Art of War states that "water flows according to the land, and soldiers win according to the enemy", which means that strategies should be formulated according to different situations. Benchmarking allows us to understand the market environment of a brand as well as the current situation of its competitors in a short period of time.
Before developing a brand value proposition, we need to identify the differentiation of the brand's positioning. This must be done through a variety of data collection and analysis, including benchmarking, self-branding, and customer segmentation surveys, and benchmarking helps us to identify the advantages that differentiate us from competing brands.
How to conduct competitive and benchmarking analysis? For Pro, benchmarking analysis is conducted by brand consultants and brand designers, and comprehensively examines and analyzes the brand's strategic foundation and visual identity from different perspectives. Through benchmarking analysis, we can find out the differentiation of a brand's positioning, and develop a brand strategy base and visual identity that is suitable for the field and different from that of competitors. In addition to providing valuable information for brand strategy development, it also helps to enhance the executive team's mastery of a specific field. Below are two preparations before conducting a benchmarking analysis:
1. How to list analytical objects
The list of brands for benchmarking analysis can be divided into two categories. The first category is direct competitor brands in major markets, where understanding direct competitors can be the most direct way to find out the points of difference between ourselves and our competitors, and the other category is non-direct competitor benchmarking brands, which provide the direction and drive for brands to outperform their competitors, and serve as a reference for brand differentiation.
Among them, non-directly competing benchmark brands can also include cross-domain brands. Cross-domain benchmarking analysis can provide brands with the discovery of breaking away from the framework of the same product, which helps innovative thinking. Take primona Dream Chicken as an example, since the product is priced higher than other chicken essence brands, we have crossed over to other high-end food brands, such as Human Uneven, Caviar, Smoked Salmon, and Macarons, which helps the brand break away from the framework of the same product category. This helps the brand to see more possibilities and establish a unique position in the category.
Case reading:primona dream chicken（The primona Dream Chicken is a brand that is outside the box of similar brands and has established itself as a unique brand.)
2. How to develop analytical projects
The items that need to be reviewed can be divided into three main categories. The first category is the strategic foundation, such as vision and mission, brand positioning, and core values; the second category is visual identity, including logos, colors, and images; and the third category is the communication strategy, including advertisement slogans, promotional texts, and videos. The third category is communication strategy, which includes advertising slogans, promotional videos, etc. Different projects and industries will be strengthened. Take the information security system X-FORT as an example, due to the complexity of the functions of the information security software system and the need to take into account the relationship with the software development company's identity image, the benchmarking analysis focuses on the relationship between the corporate identity and the product identification, as well as the categorization of the functional modules.
Case reading:X-FORT Boutique Technology
Upward and downward experience design that allows customers to perceive the value of the brand's presence
Once the above two directions have been determined, we can start to conduct a large amount of data search, including primary data provided by the client, secondary data collection, corporate interviews and customer interviews, all of which can be used as a source of data for analysis. Different sources of data will help us to obtain a more complete information and perspective. After collecting the above information, we can further analyze how the brand clearly presents its unique position, how it builds relationships with its target audience, and whether the messages communicated are consistent and coherent across all touch points.
It is expected that everyone can effectively utilize benchmarking analysis to understand the market and competitors, and then find out the differentiated positioning of the brand, and understand the needs of the target customers through interviews, and ultimately develop the brand value proposition and establish a unique impression in the minds of the customers.