Anima Palshikar Sr. Technical Writer – MarCom Cyberoam Technologies Pvt Ltd. Ahmedabad Competition Analysis: A Lesser Explored Combination of Technical and Marketing Communications

What has brought you here? Subject: Interesting or Confusing How and Why a comparison can be a combination of Technical and Marketing Communication? Relation amongst Marketing Communication, Technical Writer and Technical Communication Can we consider making a career in Competitive Analysis (how)?

What do you think, what is a Comparison? Definition says : An act of evaluating two or more things in relation to each other. Social Perception: A way of Life Philosophy: The thief of joy The reason of joy

Why Do We Need Comparisons?

Zero Moment of Truth

To understand the similarities and differences Matching the requirement to the available options To understand value for money To take a right decision To understand the market and competition To find out the strengths and weaknesses To understand the scope of improvements and Sale Different Needs Different Comparisons Consumer Vendor

Why we are discussing it in the forum of Technical Communicators?

Profile Overview - Conventional A Technical Writer Is a bridge between a Technocrat and an end user. Translates Technical concepts into simple language. Documents all the stages of a product or software life cycle. Documents all the processes of a product/service/software life cycle.

Developer and Users

Technical Writers Positioning End User Documents Development Gap Analysis BRD and PRDs Marketing Comparisons Technical Writer Market

Competitor Study in Organization Why - Market kill the competition help in decision making boost up the sales market the product Why - Development Gap Analysis Betterment of the product

Marketing Comparison

Approach – My Product is the BEST Identify/create the market Identify/choose your competitor Identify your strengths Identity competitors weakness Understand the users psychology Identify pitch line and stick with that

Marketing Comparison How to start with a Marketing comparison ? Know your product and competitor product thoroughly Study all the available literature and collaterals, User Interfaces Develop price to performance ratio analysis Hands on with product, if possible Highlight what the user will enjoy with a particular product or what their suffering would be with competitor product.

Marketing Comparison Points to compare Features Comparison Value for Money User Experience

Must Have for Marketing Comparison Interesting and useful read for the user Backed with appropriate references Improve readers knowledge regarding the product and motivate them to ask more from the competition Penetrating Customers thought process Presenting weakness of the product in a convincing way

Comparison: A Development Point of View

Approach - There is always a room for improvement Feature comparison Market need Efficiency Granularity, Usability and Scalability Innovation Price Best product with reasonable price Competitor price, Discounts, Schemes, Trade up programs

Comparison: A Development Point of View How to do a Gap Analysis? Address customer problems Analyze genuine feature requests and their scope Interact with concerned teams or customers to understand the requirement and implications

Must Have for Gap Analysis Feature requirement with use cases and visuals (if required) Business criticality - time and geography wise Brief information regarding competitors approach Clear visibility of market trends Short and crisp reading for the developers

What is the challenge? Two schools of thought Truth with hard core facts – Left Brain Marketing Standards – Right Brain Balance of Left and Right Mind

Skill Set Inside Right Attitude Eye For Detail Good Analytical mind Good understanding of customer perceptions and psychology Outside Language Statistics Graphics- Illustration Real Scenario and Use Case

About the Hangover Thumb Rule - Comparisons should not make you loose a deal Ready for the responses from the competitors. Sometimes comparisons backfire

Aid to… Sales and Marketing Campaigns Branding and Advertisements Newsletters Offers and Schemes Core Documentation

Thank You