With extensive sales and marketing experience, James Alton Bechand worked as a salesman for almost 20 years before establishing his first company, Aris Graphics. In 2004, he founded Mesh Creative Group, a marketing agency for small to medium-sized corporations. At Mesh Creative Group, James Alton Bechand helps companies in developing strong brands.
One of the first steps to build a strong brand is to research and study competitors within the same industry. This process is called competitive analysis which involves the evaluation and categorization of all competitors to compare their weaknesses and strengths.There are mainly three types of competitors: direct, indirect, and tertiary. Direct competitors are those that offer the same products and services in the same industry. These companies target exactly the same audience as the business doing competitive analysis.
Meanwhile, indirect competitors offer the same product or service within the same geographical area. However, indirect competitors target a different audience or serve a different need.
Lastly, tertiary competitors sell products or services similar but not equal to the business doing the competitive analysis. Although tertiary competitors cannot be considered a threat, they can quickly choose to become indirect or direct competitors with a few strategy changes.
