Catalog Doctor: Intense, Competitor Analysis

Patient: Doc, I feel like my competitors are growing, but my business remains flat. Do you have any suggestions?
Catalog Doctor: Studying your competitors is a great way to get ideas on how to reinvigorate your catalog program, regain market share and revitalize your customer base.

Patient: Can you prescribe something for me, Doc?
Catalog Doctor: Here are 10 easy tips for doing a competitor analysis to help you find your rivals’ strengths and weaknesses, and zero in on your best paths for growth.

ONE: Set Specific Goals

If you set concrete goals, you get concrete results from your competitor analysis. And you’ll avoid the risk of investing time and effort in a study that just gets filed away and forgotten.

A proven goal: Launch five new catalog initiatives.Think of the advance if every year you added just five improvements to your catalog/Web program. Solid goals help you get there.

Warning: Make them action-oriented. Avoid goals like, “Come up with five new ideas.” Ideas tend to get loved, filed and forgotten. (In No. 9, the Doctor looks at specific initiatives you might launch.)

TWO: Identify Your Competitors

Your competitors usually fall into three tiers:

Tier 1 — Direct competitors. If you sell fruitcake, your direct competitors are other catalogers that sell fruitcake. You’ll probably have three to six direct competitors. These are the key players to examine — the ones to study in-depth. Candy or gourmet meat catalogers aren’t your direct competitors. When you gather the quantitative data (see pg. SIX), put them on your spreadsheet.

Tier 2 — Related competitors. If you sell fruitcake, related competitors are other catalogers that sell food by mail, especially baked goods and other desserts. If your research staff is small and overworked, pick a handful of Tier 2 competitors to include on your spreadsheet. If your staff has time, include them all.

Tier 3 — Affinity competitors. These are catalogs outside your category that your customers probably buy from. One way to find them is by looking at list rentals/trades that work for you. For example, most food catalogers have a few apparel catalog lists. Tier 3 competitors don’t need to be included on your spreadsheet, but be sure to include them in your brainstorming and discussions.

THREE: Become a Customer

Are you delighted?

Denny Hatch defines marketing as “the business of acquiring customers and continually delighting them.” Learn your competitors’ “delight factor” (and your own) by becoming a customer and ordering regularly.

Important: Write everything down.

Tally the quantitative:
■ number of rings to answer;
■ time on hold;
■ time on the call;
■ number of products in stock;
■ number of products out of stock;
■ time for order to arrive; and
■ correct product shipped.

Tally the qualitative:
■ friendliness/attitude;
■ product knowledge;
■ answered question(s);
■ product packaging; and
■ expectations.

Ask your team to compile a list of all the data points it feels are critical to your product line and your customers.

Become your own customer. If that’s awkward for you or your employees, hire a “secret shopper” (e.g., a temp service, friend, relative).

FOUR: Get on and Stay on Competitors’ Mailing Lists

If you order regularly — e.g., two to three times a year — you get mailed regularly. But for a Tier 2 or Tier 3 competitor, you may not want to order (regularly).

So, as soon as its mailings drop off, request a catalog again. When it arrives, write the date received on it. Then either enter it on an ongoing spreadsheet or dump the catalog in a bin for later data-batch entry. Staying on mailing lists means you’ll always have the latest catalogs on hand, plus you’ll gain insight into mailing patterns.

FIVE: Get Competitors’ Datacards

Ask your list broker. You’ll find good information on datacards, e.g., 12-month buyer counts, average order, gender percentage.

Recommendation: Keep a running multiyear entry of datacard info from your Tier 1 competitors to track important trends.

Example: If 12-month buyer counts steadily are shrinking, the programs isn’t working well anymore, so avoid replicating it!

Now you’re armed with lots of solid, raw material. Time to dig in!

SIX: Compile Quantitative Data

“Quant,” any data that can be turned into a number or a “yes/no,” goes on your spreadsheet. Just about any untrained staffer or temp who knows Excel or 123 can compile and enter quant if you provide a clear data list and instructions.

Strive for a readable, easy-to-access printout. Keeping the spreadsheet as simple as possible creates greater efficiency.

Hint: Try to keep all data on a single spreadsheet (even avoid tabs and links); run the competitors in columns across the top and the data in rows down the side.

In tip Nos. 3 and 5, I listed some quant to collect for each competitor. Here’s more:
■ estimated number of mailings per year;
■ trim size;
■ page count;
■ number of products;
■ density (average product count per page);
■ average price point (a big pain to count, but important);
■ average shipping/handling for $X size order to a single address; and
■ average shipping/handling for $X size order to multiple addresses.

There’s more! Again, have your team members compile a list of all the data points they feel are critical to your particular product line and your customers.

Efficiency hint: Don’t bother gathering more data than is actionable — no use creating busy work.

Must-do: Be sure one of the catalogs is yours!

SEVEN: Compile Qualitative Data

“Qual” data is subjective, so it needs a more experienced, analytical marketer or a team (e.g., a copywriter for copy review, merchant for product review) to accumulate. Qual includes:
■ Design: Is it good? Bad? Upscale? Downscale?
■ Copy: Is it clear? Confusing? Compelling? Long or short? What’s the voice?
■ What product categories are offered?
■ Is pricing comparable on perceived-comparable products?
■ Covers: Do they have impact? What characterizes the cover style?
■ Offers: Are they weak or strong? Communicated powerfully?

Have your team members compile a list of all the data points they feel are critical to your product line and customers.

EIGHT: Spot Strengths, Weaknesses

Now’s your chance to study, analyze and learn from all that comparative data. Analyze quant: “Our call-answering speed is a strength; we’re in the top 10 percent compared to the competition. Our shipping charges are a weakness; we’re high.” Analyze qual: “Competitor A’s front covers are stunning, that’s their strength and our weakness. But our offers pop more than almost all the competitors’ offers; we’re strong there.”

Efficiency hint: Search out competitors’ weaknesses. It’s easier to become strong where your competitors are weak than to try to beat your competitors head-to-head where they’re already strong.

NINE: Build Growth Initiatives

Remember our goal? Launch five new catalog initiatives. Options flow from your strength/weakness analysis. Here are several examples of growth initiatives:
Learning: Your service is tops, but your competitor’s service sounds better in its catalogs.

Initiative: Promote your service more clearly and powerfully.
Learning: Your product density is too low. You’d like to increase your products but also worry about increasing your out of stock, which is just middling.
Initiative: Create samplers of top sellers in each category. This means you offer new products, which can be built up from the in-stock items available.
Learning: You were impressed with credibility-building testimonials you saw in a couple of competitors’ catalogs.
Initiative: Create a regular program of customer testimonials for future catalogs.

TEN: Take Action!

Your final step: Put your learnings and initiatives into action. Each initiative needs an action plan, a team to execute and deadlines. Ongoing initiatives also need ongoing systems (e.g., adding testimonials, which need systems for collecting, storing, editing, getting permissions and forwarding to creative).

These 10 tips will bring fresh new programs, improved efficiencies, higher response and a catalog that stands up to — and even leads — the competition.

Susan J. McIntyre is president of McIntyre Direct, a full-service catalog marketing agency and consulting firm based in Portland, Ore. You can reach her at (503) 286-1400 or at susan@mcintyredirect.com.