Conducting competitive intelligence with HEC Junior Conseil

What is a competitive intelligence ?

Competitive intelligence is often a type of service that is underestimated by small companies - unfortunately to a fault. Every year, HEC Junior Conseil assists a large number of companies who need to monitor the practices and innovations of their competitors, enabling them to save time and money while improving their positioning in relation to their rivals.

Competitive intelligence means observing the competition, its practices, new developments and results. As its name suggests, competitive intelligence is a long-term long-term observation Its duration can vary from a few months to several years. Competitive intelligence is used to provide customers with information on direct, indirect or potential competitors. monitoring the market and its competitors. There are a number of indicators that can be used to carry out competitive intelligence: the arrival of new products or services on the market, the implementation of competing sales initiatives, marketing or communication campaigns, the appearance of major innovations in the business sector, the economic performance of competitors, etc.

In concrete terms, a company wishing to carry out a competitive watch will come to HEC Junior Conseil and ask, for example, for X months of monitoring of new developments (e.g. marketing) by X competitor companies. As soon as a news item is identified on one of a competitor's social networks, on its website or on specialized press sites, it is noted and formatted with an analysis of the associated potential threat and strategic recommendations for our company.

In general, companies use competitive intelligence to :

Developing effective business strategies

Anticipating and planning for market opportunities and disruptions

Assess competitors' market positioning

During the launch of a new offer to check that it is not copied by the market

For example, HEC Junior Conseil worked on a competitive intelligence mission for a European leader in construction and engineering. The group was interested in the trends and uses of tomorrow in the building and public works sector, and wanted to strengthen its presence on the smart-cities market. It therefore entrusted us with this competitive intelligence mission, which was ultimately a success, as it has enabled our client to become one of the European leaders on the smart-cities market.

This is often one of the first steps for entrepreneurs It is often one of the first steps for entrepreneurs who have to formalise all their research and documentation and is useful both for the start-up and for future investors. The form of the business plan is often predetermined and leaves little room for originality. The business plan is therefore primarily a detailed plan that start-ups set for themselves and that they are expected to follow for the next few years.