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Marketing & Competitive Intelligence FAQ
Competitor, Competitive & Business Intelligence
What is the difference between business intelligence, competitor intelligence and competitive intelligence?
Although this seems a straightforward question, different people use the terms in different ways. Our definition follows:
- Competitive Intelligence is the process whereby information on the competitive environment guides and informs the company's decisions. Competitive Intelligence looks at the overall external competitive environment (which includes suppliers, customers, and other company stakeholders, as well as the economic, sociocultural, political, legal and technological environment facing the company).
- Competitor intelligence is a subset of this looking purely at competitors, rather than the overall competitive environment (which include customers, suppliers, regulators, etc.).
- Business intelligence is the widest of the three terms, encompassing the internal business systems within the company.
For other people, competitor and competitive intelligence are effectively synonymous. They use terms such as marketing intelligence and business intelligence to cover the wider environmental aspects.
To add to the confusion, business intelligence now frequently defines the data-mining processes companies use to analyse their internal information. You will also frequently encounter other related terms sales intelligence, technological intelligence, financial intelligence and economic intelligence. Essentially these are further sub-divisions, limiting information to decision processes relating to sales, technology, financial or economic business functions.
They say that the Inuit (Eskimo) have hundreds of words for different types of snow, while Arabic has numerous words for different types of camel. I wonder if this subdivision of types of "intelligence" is a similar example of refining terms to a level where the differences are essentially trivial except to the experts and just confuse everybody else.
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Quick Tip
Quick Tip: Consumers
Consumers are statistics. Customers are people. (Stanley Marcus)
How do you view your customers?
Do you see them as simply profit-streams, or customer reference numbers or do you genuinely care about them. If the former, how do you ensure that your customers stay happy with your services, when you don't recognise their individuality and humanity.
Just think how you would feel if you were treated like a number, especially if you could switch to a competitor who made you feel special!
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Books - Co-opertition
Recommended Book

Co-opetition : 1. a revolutionary mindset that redefines competition and cooperation; 2. the game theory strategy that's changing the game of business
Adam M Brandenburger & Barry J Nalebuff
Buy UK £ or US$
Read our review of this book
Michael Porter described this book as "the most important single contribution" in taking his original ideas on ways of achieving competitive advantage forward. The book is easy to read, inexpensive and contains numerous ideas to help reshape and challenge thought processes. The writers develop Porter's 5 forces model, and introduce a sixth force. They emphasise the strategic advantages of co-operation and look at game theory as a way of approaching business strategy.
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For more recommendations visit our book selection.
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Public training
Competitive Intelligence Training
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