Competitor Targeting

Most books on competitive intelligence are full of vague theoretical constructs regarding information gathering and storage. This book, on the other hand, gets right down to the nitty-gritty, with proven techniques for identifying and laying waste to a company's most serious competitors. Readers learn why going on the offensive rather than just gathering information on competitors helps increase market share and shareholder value. And they get loads of practical advice and guidance on identifying the most serious competitors, flushing out competitors' secrets, using technology to advance a competitive initiative, creating strong allies, "harvesting" competitors' employees, staging a successful counter offensive when you've been targeted, and much more.

Ian Gordon (Toronto, Canada) is President of Convergence Management Consultants, a leading strategic marketing consulting firm. He is a founding member of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals, President of the Association for the Advancement of Relationship Marketing, and the former head of Ernst & Young's (Toronto) strategic marketing consulting practice.

Contents

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Ch. 1 The New Marketplace 1
• Ch. 2 The Competitive Imperative 47
• Ch. 3 The New Competition 77
• Ch. 4 Planning Competitor Targeting 99
• Ch. 5 Competitive Intelligence 143
• Ch. 6 Competitor Targeting Strategies 201
• Ch. 7 Turning Competitors into Losers 269
• Ch. 8 Competition and Collaboration 323
• Ch. 9 Competing for Tomorrow's Customers 361
• Index 373