What Is Competitive Intelligence?

Competitive Intelligence (CI) is often also called strategic intelligence, business intelligence, corporate intelligence, competitive information, commercial intelligence, and marketing intelligence.

Whatever its name, CI consists of two elements.

First - the use of public sources to develop data (raw facts) on competition, competitors, and the market environment.

Second - the transformation, by analysis, of that data into information (usable results).

A key maxim is that 90 percent of all information that a company needs to make key decisions and to understand its market and competitors is already public or can be systematically, legally and ethically developed from public data. Public, in CI, means all information you can legally and ethically identify, locate, and then access. It ranges from a document released by a competitor as a part of a local zoning application to an interview with a member of an advertising agency working for a competitor.

CI is divided into two major areas, active and defensive.

Active CI involves the development of intelligence on all aspects of businesses and the competitive environment. Active CI processes are those aimed at collecting raw data and analyzing that data to provide finished intelligence.

Defensive CI is the process of protecting your firm against the competitive intelligence efforts of your competitors. Defensive CI processes are heavily dependant on a working knowledge of CI techniques.

For some tips on using CI and on protecting your company against your competitors, read our “Competitive Intelligence Tips for Businesses of All Sizes”.

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