Concentric Circles of Competition by Jim Joseph

Your Business's Competitors Extend Well Past Those With Similar Products

When it comes to marketing your business, attracting customers is more about beating your competitors with the quality of your product over their product. Successful marketing is also about building your brand over their brand. The following exercise called “Concentric Circles of Competition” by Jim Joseph, published on Entrepreneur.com, will help you do that :


The exercise is relatively simple, but the visualization of your competition is incredibly insightful in analyzing your business.

• In the inner most circle, simply list your closest competition: the products that are the most similar and offer the same functional benefits. These are your top-of-mind competitors you face daily.
• In the next circle out, list the competition that is perhaps a little less direct, but still a threat to your product’s success.
• Keep going, layer by layer, listing competitors that are less and less direct. Once you get past the first couple of circles, your competition becomes more about your brand and about the emotional benefits you offer rather than just your products.
• By the time you are outlining the most indirect competition in the outer most circle, these businesses are generally fighting against your brand, challenging what it stands for. You are competing with them on an emotional level, often with little bearing to the product features. (…)

Draw some concentric circles and map out your direct and indirect competition. (…)You’ll see that the threats to your brand are far greater than those to your products, but you may not have ever thought about it that way before. This means your action plans are going to be very different as a result, and perhaps more impactful.

 Source: Entrepreneur.com