I’m in Salt Lake City for the Adobe Omniture Summit 2011 for online marketing. I just had the opportunity to meet with Chad Warren, who is the Senior Product Marketing Manager for social media at the Adobe Omniture Unit.
Chad told me that one of his biggest challenges is competitive intelligence. Discovering how his competitors are being viewed by consumers. At the heart of this search is determining what it is that consumers really need. Is Chad’s product providing it better than his competitors?
I asked Chad about the dangers of getting too deep in to comparing yourself to your competition. If you focus too much on your competitors you create common metrics with them. The result is becoming more like your competitor rather than differentiating your business. Chad said that it was about “forging your own path.” He pointed out that you can fall into a trap of “oneupmanship instead of innovation.”
The real goal of competitive intelligence is not to see what your competition is doing, but rather how your potential customers are perceiving your competition. Your product positioning and messaging should stay true to your brand platform and not be influenced by the competition.
– Jay Ehret
See all marketing Omniture Takeaways
DISCLOSURE: Adobe sponsored my attendance at Adobe Omniture 2011
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