Competitive Brief

Competitive Brief

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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)

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

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

1. 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

(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:

Content Type Coverage

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