At technology firm Plateau Systems Ltd. in Arlington, Va.,
Director of Corporate Communications David Pedreira gets an email
notice from his clipping service whenever the competition puts out
a press release. He talks to analysts and reporters all the time,
not just about his own PR efforts, but also about the buzz from
competing firms. He reads the competition's quarterly and annual
reports from cover to cover.
"If you are going to be in corporate PR, you have got to be a
news junkie," he says. "You have got to relish keeping on top of
what is going in your space."
Such competitive intelligence can offer a meaningful glimpse
into the other team's PR strategy. Unlike other forms of inside
information, a corporation's PR strategy is right there in front of
you, visible in press releases, media coverage, corporate Web sites
and other media depositories. But how to take it all in? And what
to do with it once you've got it?
Brian Freeman casts a wide net. As director of marketing and PR
at the Minneapolis law firm Faegre & Benson, he tracks press
clips from competing firms. "It tells us what they think is
important to them, what areas of practice they are trying to market
and what identity they are trying to shape," he says. In addition,
Freeman will comb the competition's Web sites to see what kinds of
press releases they are putting out, and he will read the
newsletters from other law firms, to see how those firms are
communicating to their clients.
Another way to gauge a PR strategy is by looking at the PR firm
or firms engaged by the competition. "Do they use the same one in
all geographic markets, or do they use a variety? Are these
generalists or specialists? What size of agency do they use? What's
the reputation of their agency?" asks Morgan McLintic, a vice
president at Lewis PR. "A competitor using a tightly integrated,
rapidly growing, innovative agency is obviously a threat, but if
they're using a waning star whose best talent has left, then you've
little to fear."
At Parrish Blanchard Schaefer PR, President Aline Parrish
divines the competition's strategy based on its presentation at
trade shows and on press tours. Media briefings, trade show booths
and industry events (or the lack thereof) can indicate a particular
communications approach.
That's a broad spectrum of sources to track just in order to
find out what the enemy is up to. But PR strategists say it's worth
it.
"The worst thing is to develop what you think is a great
message, and then find out that the number one or number two
competitor is sending out the same message," said Mike Neumeier, a
vice president at PR firm Abovo Group in Atlanta. In his work with
emerging firms, Neumeier will always begin with an assessment of
the competition's communications efforts. "Many times these clients
don't have a good sense of the landscape in terms of what the
competition is doing."
At The SheaHedges Group, Account Director Erich Shea produces
for his clients a weekly intelligence report base on the
competition's media hits, new product announcements, new hires and
earnings reports. "We know everything that is being written about
the competition," says Shea. He is ready to act on that
information, too. "If we see that a competitor is getting a much
higher volume of top-tier media coverage, that would move me to
take a look at what our tactics are and to consider whether maybe
our priorities right now should change, that maybe we need to be
much more aggressive with the media in getting our core message
out."
Shea makes a fine distinction, though, in planning his
responses. "My counsel to my clients is that your message does not
change, but the way in which you communicate it has to be
flexible," he says.
Clearly, its a fine line when it comes to the kind of actions
that may be driven by competitive PR intelligence. Even if you know
what the competition is doing, experts say, it often does not make
sense to do anything about it.
Pedreira's firm, for instance, markets heavily in a number of
industry verticals. The competition has mirrored that message from
time to time, but Pedreira has held his course. "You just keep on
with your campaign, make sure your strategy is strong, and you
still will be perceived as the leader," he says.
Others respond more aggressively to their intelligence findings.
When Freeman sees another law firm scoring major coverage, "it
means that we redouble our efforts to look at new opportunities,"
he says. "If we see them trying to sneak up on us, we are going to
work that much harder to look for new publications and new
opportunities."
At Housatonic Community College in Connecticut, PR Director
Anson Smith tries to pump up the volume when his competitive
intelligence shows activity among the competition. "What we try to
do is see how the competition is encroaching on our message, and
when we find them doing that, that is when we respond, for instance
by trying to cultivate the journalists they are working with. Or we
may find new ways to package that message, new ways to talk about
the things that we have that are unique, things that they do not
have," he says.
It should come as no surprise to see so many variables at play
when it comes to PR intelligence. While the clips and news releases
may be there for the taking, it's not always clear exactly what
they mean, or what one ought to do about it. "It is more art than
science," says Freeman. "Frankly, you have to know your own
industry, so that when you see bits and pieces of things in the
media, you can see how those are reflective of what a firm may be
doing."
Proceed with Caution
Competitive intelligence can be a boon if it helps a PR
practitioner craft a meaningful and effective message in the face
of the competition's efforts. But there can be a down side, too,
when a peek into the opposing camp's PR tactics yields a false
impression of the competition's strategy.
"We will sometimes get excited or very interested in
competitors' announcements, because it looks like they are really
announcing something big," says Erich Shea, account director at The
SheaHedges Group. "We will gather all the information we can -- and
then it will turn out to be a vaporware release, something that
does not represent as big a threat as we thought."
Still, Shea does not think of this as wasted energy. "In my mind
it would have been a disservice for us to ignore it," he says. "We
were going on the information that we saw, and you don't always
know how important something is based just on what you read."
CONTACTS: Mike Neumeier, 678.597.3322, [email protected];
Brian Freeman, 612.766.7000, [email protected]; Anson Smith,
203.332.5229, [email protected]; Morgan
McLintic, 619.516.2559, [email protected]; Aline
Parrish, 817.226.4332, [email protected]; Erich Shea,
703.287.7814, [email protected]; David
Pedreira, 703.292.0213, [email protected]