Start with the customer, not with a list of brands.
Competition is relevant only when the product, Buyer Persona and market context are explicit.
Leader + five relevant competitors.
Direct competitors are only one category. Consider attention, demand, channels and substitutes when they compete for the same customer decision.
| # | Brand | Role | Why relevant? | Website / evidence starting point |
|---|
Score observable activity across the journey.
Use 1–5 only when evidence exists. Use N/O when a signal cannot be observed. Unknown is not zero.
Two readings: competitor pressure and technique intensity.
Horizontal reading shows who applies the strongest visible pressure. Vertical reading shows saturated or underused techniques.
Competitive pressure
Technique intensity
Visibility is broader than SEO.
Assess the observable relative presence of the brand where the customer discovers, compares and decides.
Current positioning diagnosis
Build a focused positioning plan.
The goal is not “do more marketing”. The goal is to define which objective is justified by the evidence and how it will be measured.
| Priority | Positioning dimension | Action | Evidence / rationale | KPI | Baseline | Target | Owner | Horizon |
|---|
Make the output defendable.
Your handover should contain the competitive set, journey matrix, matrix reading, positioning diagnosis and one strategic implication.
Research toolkit
Export your evidence
Keep your working evidence. Your score is useful only when another person can understand why you assigned it.
Generate the document you will submit.
This final evidence consolidates the complete exercise into one shareable document: context, competitive set, matrix, diagnosis, positioning and action plan.
The classroom example is optional. Every new page load starts blank. Use “Start blank / reset example” at any time to clear the exercise.