Competitive Intelligence (CI) in marketing research involves defining, gathering, analyzing, and distributing information about products, customers, and competitors and any aspect of the environment needed to support executives and managers in making strategic decisions for an organization. Although the term CI is also considered synonymous with competitor analysis, competitive intelligence extends beyond analyzing competitors. CI seeks to make the organization more competitive relative to its entire environment and stakeholders: customers, competitors, distributors, technologies, and macro-economic data.
There are many synonyms for competitive intelligence such as business intelligence, market intelligence, and corporate intelligence.
The CI field has been growing exponentially as it is becoming a must-have core competency for many businesses. At the core of this concept is the ability to understand the competition's position and predict the likely moves that competing companies will employ based on basic business principles.
Although the Internet is a first stop in information gathering, CI typically entails spending more time and effort gathering information by means of primary research, such as speaking with one's own employees, customers, suppliers, or outside industry experts. CI can typically be executed via the following methods:
- Primary research – This process involves the use of a human network to access meaningful intelligence.
- Secondary research – This process involves the use of secondary research sources, such as by gathering published information.
- Analysis – This process involves the use of analytical tools.
In essence, CI is a hybrid process of marketing research and strategic analysis that ultimately seeks to provide companies and their products with a competitive advantage in the marketplace.