Competitive Brief

# Competitive Brief

> If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see [CONNECTORS.md](../../CONNECTORS.md).

Create a competitive analysis brief for one or more competitors or a feature area.

## Usage

``` /competitive-brief $ARGUMENTS ```

## Workflow

### 1. Scope the Analysis

Ask the user: - **Competitor(s)**: Which specific competitor(s) to analyze? Or a feature area to compare across competitors? - **Focus**: Full product comparison, specific feature area, pricing/packaging, go-to-market, or positioning? - **Context**: What decision will this inform? (product strategy, sales enablement, investor/board materials, feature prioritization)

### 2. Research

**Via web search**: - Product pages and feature lists - Pricing pages and packaging - Recent product launches, blog posts, and changelogs - Press coverage and analyst reports - Customer reviews and ratings (G2, Capterra, TrustRadius) - Job postings (signal of strategic direction) - Social media and community discussions

If **~~knowledge base** is connected: - Search for existing competitive analysis documents - Find win/loss reports or sales battle cards - Pull prior competitive research

If **~~chat** is connected: - Search for competitive mentions in sales or product channels - Find recent deal feedback involving competitors

### 3. Generate the Brief

#### Competitor Overview For each competitor: - Company summary: founding, size, funding/revenue if public, target market - Product positioning: how they describe themselves, who they target - Recent momentum: launches, funding, partnerships, customer wins

#### Feature Comparison Compare capabilities across key areas relevant to the analysis. See **Feature Comparison Matrices** below for rating scales and matrix templates.

#### Positioning Analysis Analyze how each competitor positions themselves — target customer, category claim, key differentiator, and value proposition. See **Positioning Analysis Frameworks** below for the positioning statement template and message architecture levels.

#### Strengths and Weaknesses For each competitor: - **Strengths**: Where they genuinely excel. What customers praise. - **Weaknesses**: Where they fall short. What customers complain about. - Be honest and evidence-based — do not dismiss competitors or inflate their weaknesses.

#### Opportunities Based on the analysis: - Where are there gaps in competitor offerings we could exploit? - What are customers asking for that no one provides well? - Where are competitors making bets we disagree with? - What market shifts could advantage our approach?

#### Threats - Where are competitors investing heavily? - What competitive moves could disrupt our position? - Where are we most vulnerable? - What would a "nightmare scenario" competitive move look like?

#### Strategic Implications Tie the analysis back to product strategy: - What should we build, accelerate, or deprioritize based on this analysis? - Where should we differentiate vs. achieve parity? - How should we adjust positioning or messaging? - What should we monitor going forward?

### 4. Follow Up

After generating the brief: - Ask if the user wants to dive deeper on any section - Offer to create a one-page summary for executives - Offer to create sales battle cards for competitive deals - Offer to draft a "how to win against [competitor]" guide - Offer to set up a monitoring plan for competitive moves

## Competitive Landscape Mapping

### Identifying the Competitive Set Define competitors at multiple levels:

**Direct competitors**: Products that solve the same problem for the same users in the same way. - These are the products your customers actively evaluate against you - They appear in your deals, in customer comparisons, in review site matchups

**Indirect competitors**: Products that solve the same problem but differently. - Different approach to the same user need (e.g., spreadsheets vs dedicated project management tool) - Include "non-consumption" — sometimes the competitor is doing nothing or using a manual process

**Adjacent competitors**: Products that do not compete today but could. - Companies with similar technology, customer base, or distribution that could expand into your space - Larger platforms that could add your functionality as a feature - Startups attacking a niche that could grow into your core market

**Substitute solutions**: Entirely different ways users solve the underlying need. - Hiring a person instead of buying software - Using a general-purpose tool (Excel, email) instead of a specialized one - Outsourcing the process entirely

### Landscape Map Position competitors on meaningful dimensions:

**Common axes**: - Breadth vs depth (suite vs point solution) - SMB vs enterprise (market segment focus) - Self-serve vs sales-led (go-to-market approach) - Simple vs powerful (product complexity) - Horizontal vs vertical (general purpose vs industry-specific)

Choose axes that reveal strategic positio