Creating a Brand Identity: A Guide for Designers: (Graphic Design Books, Logo Design, Marketing)

by Catharine Slade-Brooking

Conducting a simple competitor brand analysis 1. Start by choosing a brand to research. You can search the Internet for products and brands, or look through product catalogues or trade magazines. 2. Identify five main competitors for your research. It is useful to ask somebody else to review your list of competitor brands to ensure that the most important competitor brands are represented. 3. Compare all of the competing brands to discover the strengths and weaknesses of each one. Use the key questions listed above to guide this analysis. 4. Add to this list one company that you consider to be the best example of a brand. This one does not necessarily need to be a direct competitor, but if it is more relevant to your chosen brand this will help you to build useful data. This will be your benchmark example of who you think is doing a good job of positioning themselves. 5. Write up a short summary detailing all of the competing brands and their overall market position. 6. Finally, add one more business – not necessarily a competitor, but one in your brand’s industry – that you think is not doing a great job at positioning themselves. This will help you see what not to do with your brand design. 7. If you want to carry this exercise further you can simply create a longer list by searching for other brands to add to it. Doing this will also have the benefit of showing you who else is out there, and what they are saying.