competitive-brief

What this skill does

# Competitive Brief

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

Research competitors and generate a structured competitive analysis comparing positioning, messaging, content strategy, and market presence.

## Trigger

User runs `/competitive-brief` or asks for a competitive analysis, competitor research, or market comparison.

## Inputs

Gather the following from the user:

1. **Competitor name(s)** — one or more competitors to analyze (required)

2. **Your company/product context** (optional but recommended):
   - What you sell and to whom
   - Your positioning or value proposition
   - Key differentiators you want to highlight

3. **Focus areas** (optional — if not specified, cover all):
   - Messaging and positioning
   - Product and feature comparison
   - Content and thought leadership strategy
   - Recent announcements and news
   - Pricing and packaging (if publicly available)
   - Market presence and audience

## Research Process

For each competitor, research using web search:

1. **Company website** — homepage messaging, product pages, about page, pricing page
2. **Recent news** — press releases, funding announcements, product launches, partnerships (last 6 months)
3. **Content strategy** — blog topics, resource types, social media presence, webinars, podcasts
4. **Review sites and comparisons** — third-party comparisons, analyst mentions, customer review themes
5. **Job postings** — hiring signals that indicate strategic direction (optional)

### Research Sources

Gather intelligence from these categories of sources:

#### Primary Sources (Direct from Competitor)
- **Website**: homepage, product pages, pricing, about page, careers
- **Blog and resource center**: content themes, publishing frequency, depth
- **Social media profiles**: messaging, engagement, content strategy
- **Product demos and free trials**: UX, features, onboarding experience
- **Webinars and events**: topics, speakers, audience engagement
- **Press releases and newsroom**: announcements, partnerships, milestones
- **Job postings**: hiring signals that reveal strategic priorities (e.g., hiring for a new product line or market)

#### Secondary Sources (Third-Party)
- **Review sites**: G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, Product Hunt — customer sentiment themes
- **Analyst reports**: Gartner, Forrester, IDC — market positioning and category placement
- **News coverage**: TechCrunch, industry publications — funding, partnerships, narrative
- **Social listening**: mentions, sentiment, share of voice across social platforms
- **SEO tools**: keyword rankings, organic traffic estimates, content gaps
- **Financial filings**: revenue, growth rate, investment areas (for public companies)
- **Community forums**: community forums (e.g. Reddit, Discourse), industry chat groups (e.g. Slack communities) — user sentiment

### Research Cadence
- **Deep competitive analysis**: quarterly (full research across all sources)
- **Competitive monitoring**: monthly (scan for new announcements, content, messaging changes)
- **Real-time alerts**: ongoing (set up alerts for competitor brand mentions, press, job postings)

## Competitive Brief Structure

### 1. Executive Summary
- 2-3 sentence overview of the competitive landscape
- Key takeaway: your biggest opportunity and biggest threat

### 2. Competitor Profiles

For each competitor:

#### Company Overview
- What they do (one-sentence positioning)
- Target audience
- Company size/stage indicators (funding, employee count if available)
- Key recent developments

#### Messaging Analysis
- Primary tagline or headline
- Core value proposition
- Key messaging themes (3-5)
- Tone and voice characterization
- How they describe the problem they solve

#### Product/Solution Positioning
- How they categorize their product
- Key features they emphasize
- Claimed differentiators
- Pricing approach (if publicly available)

#### Content Strategy
- Blog frequency and topics
- Content types produced (ebooks, webinars, case studies, tools)
- Social media presence and engagement approach
- Thought leadership themes
- SEO strategy observations (what terms they appear to target)

#### Strengths
- What they do well
- Where their messaging resonates
- Competitive advantages

#### Weaknesses
- Gaps in their messaging or positioning
- Areas where they are vulnerable
- Customer complaints or criticism themes (from reviews)

### 3. Messaging Comparison Matrix

| Dimension | Your Company | Competitor A | Competitor B |
|-----------|-------------|--------------|--------------|
| Primary tagline | ... | ... | ... |
| Target buyer | ... | ... | ... |
| Key differentiator | ... | ... | ... |
| Tone/voice | ... | ... | ... |
| Core value prop | ... | ... | ... |

(Include user's company only if they provided their positioning context)

### 4. Content Gap Analysis
- Topics your competitors cover that you do not (or vice versa)
- Content formats they use that you could adopt
- Keywords or themes they own vs. opportunities they have missed

### 5. Opportunities
- Positioning gaps you can exploit
- Messaging angles your competitors have not claimed
- Audience segments they are underserving
- Content or channel opportunities

### 6. Threats
- Areas where competitors are strong and you are vulnerable
- Trends that favor their positioning
- Recent moves that could shift the market

### 7. Recommended Actions
- 3-5 specific, actionable recommendations based on the analysis
- Quick wins (things you can act on this week)
- Strategic moves (longer-term positioning or content investments)

## Analysis Frameworks

### Messaging Comparison Frameworks

#### Value Proposition Comparison

For each competitor, document:
- **Promise**: what they promise the customer will achieve
- **Evidence**: how they prove the promise (data, testimonials, demos)
- **Mechanism**: how their product delivers on the promise (the "how it works")
- **Uniqueness**: what they claim only they can do

#### Narrative Analysis

Identify each competitor's story arc:
- **Villain**: what problem or enemy they position against (status quo, legacy tools, complexity)
- **Hero**: who is the hero in their story (the customer? the product? the team?)
- **Transformation**: what before/after do they promise?
- **Stakes**: what happens if you do not act?

This reveals positioning strategy and emotional appeals.

#### Messaging Strengths and Vulnerabilities

For each competitor's messaging, assess:
- **Clarity**: can a first-time visitor understand what they do in 5 seconds?
- **Differentiation**: is their positioning distinct or generic?
- **Proof**: do they back up claims with evidence?
- **Consistency**: is messaging consistent across channels?
- **Resonance**: does their messaging address real customer pain points?

### Content Gap Analysis Methodology

#### Content Audit Comparison

Map content across competitors by:

| Topic/Theme | Your Content | Competitor A | Competitor B | Gap? |
|-------------|-------------|--------------|--------------|------|
| [Topic 1] | Blog post, ebook | Blog series, webinar | Nothing | Opportunity for B |
| [Topic 2] | Nothing | Whitepaper | Blog post, video | Gap for you |
| [Topic 3] | Case study | Nothing | Case study | Parity |

#### Content Type Coverage

| Content Format | You | Comp A | Comp B | Comp C |
|----------------|-----|--------|--------|--------|
| Blog posts | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Case studies | Y | Y | N | Y |
| Ebooks/Whitepapers | N | Y | Y | N |
| Webinars | Y | Y | Y | N |
| Podcast | N | N | Y | N |
| Video content | N | Y | Y | Y |
| Interactive tools | N | N | N | Y |
| Templates/Resources | Y | N | Y | N |

#### Identifying Content Opportunities
1. **Topics they cover that you do not**: potential gaps in your content strategy
2. **Topics you cover that they do not**: potential differentiators to amplify
3. **Formats they use that you do not**: format gaps that could reach new audiences
4. **Audience se