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name: competitive-brief description: Research competitors and generate a positioning and messaging comparison with content gaps, opportunities, and threats. Use when building sales battlecards, when finding positioning gaps and messaging angles competitors haven't claimed, or when a competitor makes a move and you need to assess the impact. argument-hint: "<competitor or market segment>"

Competitive Brief

If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see CONNECTORS.md.

Research competitors and generate a structured competitive analysis comparing positioning, messaging, content strategy, and market presence.

Trigger

User runs /competitive-brief or asks for a competitive analysis, competitor research, or market comparison.

Inputs

Gather the following from the user:

1. Competitor name(s) — one or more competitors to analyze (required)

2. Your company/product context (optional but recommended):

   • What you sell and to whom
   • Your positioning or value proposition
   • Key differentiators you want to highlight

3. Focus areas (optional — if not specified, cover all):

   • Messaging and positioning
   • Product and feature comparison
   • Content and thought leadership strategy
   • Recent announcements and news
   • Pricing and packaging (if publicly available)
   • Market presence and audience

Research Process

For each competitor, research using web search:

1. Company website — homepage messaging, product pages, about page, pricing page
2. Recent news — press releases, funding announcements, product launches, partnerships (last 6 months)
3. Content strategy — blog topics, resource types, social media presence, webinars, podcasts
4. Review sites and comparisons — third-party comparisons, analyst mentions, customer review themes
5. Job postings — hiring signals that indicate strategic direction (optional)

Research Sources

Gather intelligence from these categories of sources:

Primary Sources (Direct from Competitor)

• Website: homepage, product pages, pricing, about page, careers
• Blog and resource center: content themes, publishing frequency, depth
• Social media profiles: messaging, engagement, content strategy
• Product demos and free trials: UX, features, onboarding experience
• Webinars and events: topics, speakers, audience engagement
• Press releases and newsroom: announcements, partnerships, milestones
• Job postings: hiring signals that reveal strategic priorities (e.g., hiring for a new product line or market)

Secondary Sources (Third-Party)

• Review sites: G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, Product Hunt — customer sentiment themes
• Analyst reports: Gartner, Forrester, IDC — market positioning and category placement
• News coverage: TechCrunch, industry publications — funding, partnerships, narrative
• Social listening: mentions, sentiment, share of voice across social platforms
• SEO tools: keyword rankings, organic traffic estimates, content gaps
• Financial filings: revenue, growth rate, investment areas (for public companies)
• Community forums: community forums (e.g. Reddit, Discourse), industry chat groups (e.g. Slack communities) — user sentiment

Research Cadence

• Deep competitive analysis: quarterly (full research across all sources)
• Competitive monitoring: monthly (scan for new announcements, content, messaging changes)
• Real-time alerts: ongoing (set up alerts for competitor brand mentions, press, job postings)

Competitive Brief Structure

1. Executive Summary

• 2-3 sentence overview of the competitive landscape
• Key takeaway: your biggest opportunity and biggest threat

2. Competitor Profiles

For each competitor:

Company Overview

• What they do (one-sentence positioning)
• Target audience
• Company size/stage indicators (funding, employee count if available)
• Key recent developments

Messaging Analysis

• Primary tagline or headline
• Core value proposition
• Key messaging themes (3-5)
• Tone and voice characterization
• How they describe the problem they solve

Product/Solution Positioning

• How they categorize their product
• Key features they emphasize
• Claimed differentiators
• Pricing approach (if publicly available)

Content Strategy

• Blog frequency and topics
• Content types produced (ebooks, webinars, case studies, tools)
• Social media presence and engagement approach
• Thought leadership themes
• SEO strategy observations (what terms they appear to target)

Strengths

• What they do well
• Where their messaging resonates
• Competitive advantages

Weaknesses

• Gaps in their messaging or positioning
• Areas where they are vulnerable
• Customer complaints or criticism themes (from reviews)

3. Messaging Comparison Matrix

| Dimension | Your Company | Competitor A | Competitor B | |-----------|-------------|--------------|--------------| | Primary tagline | ... | ... | ... | | Target buyer | ... | ... | ... | | Key differentiator | ... | ... | ... | | Tone/voice | ... | ... | ... | | Core value prop | ... | ... | ... |

(Include user's company only if they provided their positioning context)

4. Content Gap Analysis

• Topics your competitors cover that you do not (or vice versa)
• Content formats they use that you could adopt
• Keywords or themes they own vs. opportunities they have missed

5. Opportunities

• Positioning gaps you can exploit
• Messaging angles your competitors have not claimed
• Audience segments they are underserving
• Content or channel opportunities

6. Threats

• Areas where competitors are strong and you are vulnerable
• Trends that favor their positioning
• Recent moves that could shift the market

7. Recommended Actions

• 3-5 specific, actionable recommendations based on the analysis
• Quick wins (things you can act on this week)
• Strategic moves (longer-term positioning or content investments)

Analysis Frameworks

Messaging Comparison Frameworks

Value Proposition Comparison

For each competitor, document:

• Promise: what they promise the customer will achieve
• Evidence: how they prove the promise (data, testimonials, demos)
• Mechanism: how their product delivers on the promise (the "how it works")
• Uniqueness: what they claim only they can do

Narrative Analysis

Identify each competitor's story arc:

• Villain: what problem or enemy they position against (status quo, legacy tools, complexity)
• Hero: who is the hero in their story (the customer? the product? the team?)
• Transformation: what before/after do they promise?
• Stakes: what happens if you do not act?

This reveals positioning strategy and emotional appeals.

Messaging Strengths and Vulnerabilities

For each competitor's messaging, assess:

• Clarity: can a first-time visitor understand what they do in 5 seconds?
• Differentiation: is their positioning distinct or generic?
• Proof: do they back up claims with evidence?
• Consistency: is messaging consistent across channels?
• Resonance: does their messaging address real customer pain points?

Content Gap Analysis Methodology

Content Audit Comparison

Map content across competitors by:

| Topic/Theme | Your Content | Competitor A | Competitor B | Gap? | |-------------|-------------|--------------|--------------|------| | [Topic 1] | Blog post, ebook | Blog series, webinar | Nothing | Opportunity for B | | [Topic 2] | Nothing | Whitepaper | Blog post, video | Gap for you | | [Topic 3] | Case study | Nothing | Case study | Parity |

Content Type Coverage

| Content Format | You | Comp A | Comp B | Comp C | |----------------|-----|--------|--------|--------| | Blog posts | Y | Y | Y | Y | | Case studies | Y | Y | N | Y | | Ebooks/Whitepapers | N | Y | Y | N | | Webinars | Y | Y | Y | N | | Podcast | N | N | Y | N | | Video content | N | Y | Y | Y | | Interactive tools | N | N | N | Y | | Templates/Resources | Y | N | Y | N |

Identifying Content Opportunities

1. Topics they cover that you do not: potential gaps in your content strategy
2. Topics you cover that they do not: potential differentiators to amplify
3. Formats they use that you do not: format gaps that could reach new audiences
4. Audience segments they address that you do not: underserved audiences
5. Search terms they rank for that you do not: SEO content gaps

Content Quality Assessment

• Depth: surface-level or comprehensive?
• Freshness: regularly updated or stale?
• Engagement: do posts get comments, shares, links?
• Production value: text-only or multimedia?
• Thought leadership: original insights or rehashed content?

Positioning Strategy

Positioning Statement Framework

For your company and each competitor, define (or reverse-engineer) their positioning statement:

For [target audience], [product/company] is the [category] that [key benefit/differentiator] because [reason to believe].

Example:

For mid-market SaaS marketing teams, Acme is the campaign management platform that unifies planning and execution in one workspace because it is built on a single data model that eliminates tool fragmentation.

Positioning Map

Plot competitors on a 2x2 matrix using the two most important dimensions for your market:

Common axis pairs:

• Price vs. Capability (low cost / basic vs. premium / full-featured)
• Ease of Use vs. Power (simple / limited vs. complex / flexible)
• SMB Focus vs. Enterprise Focus (self-serve / individual vs. sales-led / team)
• Point Solution vs. Platform (does one thing well vs. does many things)
• Innovative vs. Established (new approach vs. proven track record)

Identify which quadrant is underserved or where your differentiation is strongest.

Category Strategy

• Create a new category: if you do something genuinely different, define and own the category (high risk, high reward)
• Reframe the existing category: change how buyers evaluate the category to favor your strengths
• Win the existing category: compete directly on recognized criteria and out-execute
• Niche within the category: own a specific segment, use case, or audience

Positioning Pitfalls to Avoid

• Positioning against a competitor rather than for a customer need
• Claiming too many differentiators (pick 1-2 that matter most)
• Using category jargon the customer does not use
• Positioning on features rather than outcomes
• Changing positioning too frequently (confuses the market)

Battlecard Creation

A competitive battlecard is a one-page reference for sales and marketing teams. Include:

Header

• Competitor name and logo
• Last updated date
• Competitive win rate (if tracked)

Quick Overview

• What they do (one sentence)
• Their target customer
• Pricing model summary
• Key recent developments

Their Pitch

• How they describe themselves
• Their primary tagline
• Their top 3 claimed differentiators

Strengths (Be Honest)

• Where they genuinely compete well
• What customers like about them (from reviews)
• Features or capabilities where they lead

Weaknesses

• Consistent customer complaints (from reviews)
• Technical limitations
• Gaps in their offering
• Areas where customers report dissatisfaction

Our Differentiators

• 3-5 specific ways your product or approach is different
• For each: the differentiator, why it matters to the customer, and proof

Objection Handling

| If the prospect says... | Respond with... | |------------------------|----------------| | "[Competitor] does X too" | "Here is how our approach differs..." | | "[Competitor] is cheaper" | "Here is what that price difference gets you..." | | "I've heard good things about [Competitor]" | "They are strong at X. Where we differ is..." |

Landmines to Set

Questions to ask prospects early that highlight you