Aimed at people new to competitive intelligence (CI) and competitive analysis, covering the what, why and how type questions.

The course introduces competitive intelligence, explaining where it fits into business and how. Also covered are:

• the differences between CI, market research and knowledge management;
• competitive intelligence ethics and legalities;
• the competitive intelligence process;
• key intelligence topics;
• information sources;
• how to find and use sources;
• basic competitive analysis;
• reporting competitive intelligence to business decision makers

and more.

The format is primarily lecture style, although the course includes a number of workshop and discussion type exercises.

For more information on this or any of our competitive intelligence training courses or workshops - whether on content, prices, possible dates or other details, contact us. To reserve a course, please fill in our course booking form.

Aimed at people with a basic knowledge of competitive intelligence, or marketing analysts moving into a CI type function.

The course follows on from the Competitive Intelligence Theory and Practice course (although can cover some of the same topics as an introduction if felt necessary) and looks at aspects such as:

• defining information needs (Key intelligence topics);
• finding information sources;
• building an internal network of sources;
• secondary information sources;
• primary information sources;
• basic CI analysis;
• communication.

The format is primarily lecture style, although the course includes a number of workshop and discussion type exercises.

For more information on this or any of our competitive intelligence training courses or workshops - whether on content, prices, possible dates or other details, contact us. To reserve a course, please fill in our course booking form.

Aimed at people familiar with competitive intelligence concepts but lacking research skills.

The course introduces and covers the ways that intelligence can be obtained - through both primary and secondary research methods. The range of secondary sources available is outlined and basic primary research techniques are covered.

The course also covers areas such as

• research planning,
• finding & evaluating sources,
• verifying data,
• communicating the research.

This course is an introduction to the more detailed courses offered below looking at primary research, secondary research and the use of online sources.

For more information on this or any of our competitive intelligence training courses or workshops - whether on content, prices, possible dates or other details, contact us. To reserve a course, please fill in our course booking form.

Aimed at people familiar with competitive intelligence concepts but lacking primary research skills.

This course is more practical than some of our other courses, and attendees are encouraged to practice and discuss interviewing approaches.

The course looks at

• the ethics of competitive intelligence interviewing;
• what can and can't be obtained;
• types of information source;
• finding information sources;
• internal information sources;
• interview planning;
• personality profiling;
• elicitation techniques;
• obtaining information at trade shows and conferences;
• communicating primary source information;
• integrating the research results into the overall CI process.

For more information on this or any of our competitive intelligence training courses or workshops - whether on content, prices, possible dates or other details, contact us. To reserve a course, please fill in our course booking form.

Aimed at people familiar with competitive intelligence concepts but requiring a deeper knowledge and understanding of secondary research approaches.

This course looks at how to find secondary information sources online and offline. It examines the types of source available and includes exercises in which attendees are encouraged to think of where competitive information can be found.

The course covers aspects such as

• research planning including what to research;
• turning key intelligence topics into research questions;
• online versus offline sources;
• evaluating source reliability;
• integrating information into internal systems;
• communicating CI information

and more.

For more information on this or any of our competitive intelligence training courses or workshops - whether on content, prices, possible dates or other details, contact us. To reserve a course, please fill in our course booking form.

Aimed at people familiar with competitive intelligence concepts who would like to learn how to find CI using online sources more effectively.

The focus for this course is using the Internet to find CI, although other online sources are also covered.

The course looks at

• the structure of the Internet;
• the types of competitive intelligence information that can be found online;
• search methodologies;
• different search tools for finding web-based information, examining their pros and cons;
• the effective use of search engines - included advanced search facilities;
• finding information on the deep/invisible web;
• blogs, podcasts, discussion groups and other "Web 2.0" features;
• the evaluation of search results;
• evaluating and benchmarking competitor web-sites;
• finding hidden information on competitor web-sites.

Internet Intelligence is available as a full-day or half-day option. The full-day option includes several exercises allowing attendees to put the techniques taught into practice and attendees are expected to have access to the Internet for these exercises. The half-day option is ideal as "something different, but challenging" for conferences where several other training choices are included.

This is one of our most popular courses, and was the first course offered by AWARE. Launched in 1997, this was the world's first course covering the topic of finding competitive intelligence on the Internet. Since then the course has been continuously updated to keep it at the forefront of current developments. Today the course covers topics such as the type of information available on blogs and podcasts, and how to get the best out of Google, whereas in 1997, Google, blogs and podcasts did not even exist.

For more information on this or any of our competitive intelligence training courses or workshops - whether on content, prices, possible dates or other details, contact us. To reserve a course, please fill in our course booking form.

AWARE's CI analysis course flows on from the Competitive Intelligence Theory & Practice or the Competitive Intelligence Techniques courses and is aimed at giving a deeper look at competitor analysis and the analysis of the overall business environment.

The course includes a number of workshop style exercises where attendees are encouraged to look at and start to analyse their own competitive position.

Topics covered typically include

• situation analysis techniques,
  • PEST (or PESTLE) analysis,
  • SWOT analysis,
  • Capability assessments,
  • Porter's 5-Forces and Value Chain analyses.
• blind-spot analysis.
• product portfolio analyses.
• personality analysis.
• basic financial analysis.

and more. Like all AWARE courses, the content is generally customised for each organization, and the techniques covered can reflect those felt to be relevant to attendees.

The course concludes with an emphasis on the importance of integrating the results of analysis into practical decision making.

For more information on this or any of our competitive intelligence training courses or workshops - whether on content, prices, possible dates or other details, contact us. To reserve a course, please fill in our course booking form.

Aimed at people familiar with competitive intelligence concepts but with minimal or no knowledge of company reports analysis and financial information.

This course covers the typical content of company accounts, looks at what the figures mean and examines how they give indications of strategy and company strengths and weaknesses.

The course also looks at differences between different types of company based on the industry, country or business size and includes a number of case studies / worked examples. Also covered are typical sources for financial information - such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission or the UK Companies House, and what can be found in such sources.

Client competitors can also be included as one of the case exercises, giving the course an immediate practicality.

For more information on this or any of our competitive intelligence training courses or workshops - whether on content, prices, possible dates or other details, contact us. To reserve a course, please fill in our course booking form.

This course is aimed at introducing the concept of competitive intelligence and showing how it can benefit small and medium sized businesses.

The focus is on the types of information that SMEs can obtain themselves at minimal cost. The course draws from several other courses, covering

• competitive intelligence ethics;
• primary and secondary research techniques;
• finding competitive intelligence on the Internet;
• using existing company resources as a source for competitive intelligence;
• trade show intelligence;
• finding competitive intelligence on a low or zero budget.

As well as our CI for SMEs course, we also offer more general courses in marketing for SMEs. (e.g. select the Marketing Planning for SMEs option).

For more information on this or any of our competitive intelligence training courses or workshops - whether on content, prices, possible dates or other details, contact us. To reserve a course, please fill in our course booking form.

AWARE's scenario planning workshop looks at what scenario planning is and how it can help businesses prepare for the future - 5, 10 or more years ahead.

The workshop aims to start the scenario planning process and build some initial scenarios that can act as the seed for full scenarios that would be developed as part of a formal scenario planning exercise to be incorporated in strategic plans. The workshop attendees will be expected to undertake some pre-work to gain full value from this course, and unlike all AWARE's other courses, the scenario planning workshop requires at least 5 participants. (For more information on scenario planning, visit our scenario planning pages).

For more information on this or any of our marketing intelligence training courses or workshops - whether on content, prices, possible dates or other details, contact us. To reserve a course, please fill in our course booking form.

AWARE's marketing research training course is based on the syllabus for the Chartered Institute of Marketing's Professional Diploma in Marketing module on Marketing Research & Information.

The course covers the following topics:

• what is and isn't marketing research (including the difference between marketing research, knowledge management and competive intelligence research);
• marketing research ethics;
• constructing a marketing research brief for agencies or internal use;
• evaluating marketing research proposals;
• marketing research techniques
  • primary qualitative / quantitative methods;
  • observation research;
  • mystery shopping;
  • secondary research, etc;
• sampling;
• research analysis;
• reporting results.

This course focuses on the importance of effective marketing research as a tool for understanding customers and markets - and thus complements the competitive intelligence courses which focus on the competitive environment within which organizations operate.

For more information on this or any of our marketing intelligence training courses or workshops - whether on content, prices, possible dates or other details, contact us. To reserve a course, please fill in our course booking form.

AWARE's market forecasting workshop looks at various techniques for market forecasting - ranging from simple extrapolation and time series analysis to delphi forecasts and scenario planning.

The aim is to help companies understand the data they collect and use it to understand their business enviroment and anticipate the future.

For more information on this or any of our marketing intelligence training courses or workshops - whether on content, prices, possible dates or other details, contact us. To reserve a course, please fill in our course booking form.

This course aims to help managers gain the skills and knowhow needed to create a marketing plan that works for their organization.

Marketing and business planning is essential for SMEs if they are to compete against larger organizations - both in their home environment and internationally. Often smaller businesses feel that their is insufficient time to plan for a future beyond a few months ahead - especially when they see that their market is changing rapidly.

Knowing how to do a basic marketing plan - setting a business mission based on managment's vision, and then building objectives and strategies to fulfil this, that reflect the realities of the businesses enviroment and company capabilities is a skill that all SME managers should have. AWARE's Marketing Planning for SMEs aims to give business managers and owners this skill.

For more information on this or any of our marketing intelligence training courses or workshops - whether on content, prices, possible dates or other details, contact us. To reserve a course, please fill in our course booking form.