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What is Competitive Intelligence - a brief guide

AWARE: UK competitive intelligence consultants offering competitor analysis and research services, competitive intelligence training & workshops and CI and marketing strategy consultancy.

Strategy, Training, Research Services for Competitive & Marketing Intelligence

About Us > Our Experience

About AWARE
Our Experience

AWARE was founded in March 1995, by Arthur Weiss, to provide professional competitive intelligence and marketing analysis services in the UK and Europe. Prior to starting AWARE, Arthur was the European Marketing Information manager for a blue-chip information services company with responsibility for coordinating all competitive intelligence operations across 10+ countries within Europe.

AWARE personnel have experience in a number of business sectors,
for example:

FMCG;
Pharmaceutical;
Telecoms;
Financial Services;
Utilities;
Manufacturing;
Defence;
Information Services;

and many others.

Clients include major FTSE and other quoted organizations, as well as smaller private companies. We are also used by other consultancy firms when they need to provide CI Services to their own clients.

Example projects include:

Analysis of the market entry options available to a telecom company entering a new European market
Audit of the existing competitive intelligence process for a financial service company
Strategic analysis of a key competitor for a medical device manufacturer
Study of research activities and drug pipelines in one disease area with a specific focus on three pharmaceutical companies
Benchmarking analysis comparing client and competitor products for an information company
Discovery of launch plans for new product line for a grocery manufacturer
In-depth profiles on major competitors for a construction company
Market analysis looking at all UK competitors in a commercial insurance sector
Ongoing monitoring of competitor activity for a high-street retailer, including identification and monitoring of Internet competitors
Study of e-business activity of the top European publishers
Due diligence study looking at potential joint-venture partners, for a niche software company.

AWARE offers organizations expert advice in how to find and use information - on competitors, the business environment and on their internal operations. We have written and lectured on competitive intelligence to multinational audiences. For a quick overview of CI, check out our brief guide to competitor analysis.

Contact us today
for a free evaluation or advice on
how to find information on your competitors.

To help you in your search for business information, try our lists of Internet competitive intelligence resources. Or why not look through our other favourite sites. If you are unsure where to go next, but need to know a lot more, have a look at our list of competitive intelligence and business strategy books. All are recommended and you can purchase them from direct links to Amazon, at substantial discounts to regular bookshop prices.

Quick Tip: Deadly Sins

The Seven Deadly Business Sins

1) Greed - Are you satisfied with what you've achieved or are you always seeking more, and never consolidating and strengthening what you currently have?
2) Opinion - Do you ever dismiss ideas without analysis? There have been many opportunities that were missed because opinionated management failed to see the wider picture.
3) Routine - Just because something worked in the past does not mean that it will continue to work in the future.
4) Emotion - Is the reason for your decision based on analysis, or emotion? Many managers are driven by their fears and desires without ever stopping to justify the reason for their fear or hatred or love. Often these prove to be unjustified and unjustifiable.
5) Ego - Do you make decisions because you are the cleverest, the biggest, the market leader? Are you obsessed with your own image and abilities? Many leaders in the past also thought that they were invincible. A quick look at history shows that they were not!
6) Success - Over-confidence is dangerous and can blind you to competitors seeking to emulate your success.
7) Hope - Can you justify your reasons why things will improve, or are you just burying your head in the sand, and refusing to see reality?

These seven deadly business sins are based on some work by Ben Gilad, one of the foremost Competitive Intelligence experts. Businesses need to understand their blindspots - what they would rather not see, and work to remove them. Each of these seven sins is a type of blindspot if it dominates the thinking within the company. It's OK to have each to a certain degree, balanced by the others. (All businesses need to believe in themselves, have hope, aim to make money....). The problem is when one aspect starts to govern the way things are done in the company, preventing rational and logical thought.

Competitive Intelligence Training

Do you need to
know more about
Competitive Intelligence?

We offer in-house Competitive Intelligence Training, customised to your requirements.
Find out about our training services today!

Finding Competitive Intelligence using Online Sources

AWARE consultants are experts at discovering competitor information online and have developed a market-leading course on Finding Competitive Intelligence using Online Sources. This course has been given as an in-house course to numerous companies across industries (IT, publishing, telecoms, chemicals....) and countries, as well as publicly at SCIP annual and European conferences, the London International Online Information Conferences and other similar events.

The workshop has received high praise for its unique approach to finding competitive intelligence on the Internet. The workshop - available as a half-day or full day in-house training course - teaches attendees how to find actionable competitive intelligence rather than just present a list of sources that quickly date. Like all AWARE's in-house training, the course can be customised to focus on industry or competitive area.

For more information on this workshop and how it can help you become a more effective Internet researcher check out our Competitive Intelligence Training and ask us about our courses on finding CI information.

Institute of Competitive Intelligence
UK Course Schedule

ICI holds regular public training courses & workshops on a range of competitive intelligence related topics. Courses take place across Europe, the USA and elsewhere. The next UK based ICI courses will take place in November 2010 and February 2011 in central London.

Course Schedule
If you register 40 days in advance, deduct 5% from total fees.

Further information on the Institute of Competitive Intelligence.

Our services in competitive intelligence research, competitor analysis and CI training will help you integrate and use competitive and marketing intelligence in your business, strategic and marketing planning processes. Whether you need research, advice or training, our mission is to support our clients so that they achieve their growth objectives.

For the best UK & European competitive intelligence and competitor analysis services, contact us today.

AWARE Phone numbers: 0845 430 9125 (International: +44 20 8954 9121). Fax: 0845 430 9126 (International: +44 20 8954 2102)

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Last page / site update: Wednesday, June 9, 2010