During a market downturn, a global market leader in building supplies became concerned with the growing success of its main competitor. They needed to react quickly and determine how the competitor was gaining market share and experiencing rapid growth.
We began by researching open and proprietary data sources to build a profile on the competitor. We focused on key financial data, marketing and distribution strategies. Armed with this data, we presented our findings to our client’s CEO and executives and collaborated on areas of interest to explore further.
Factory field investigations, uncovering transport and labor costs, and client and competitor comparisons across manufacturing processes helped reveal key differences between the two companies. We also spoke with industry insiders, and researched intellectual property practices. We found the competitor to have more efficient sales processes, and areas where they were able to reduce costs. These findings were then analyzed to deliver specific recommendations of improvement to our client.
Through our recommendations, the client was able to empower their sales force through improved infrastructure, training and support. They were also able to negotiate the cost of raw goods and analyze their manufacturing processes. As a result, the Client enacted changes that saw an EBITDA increase of 27% within a year.
Our client’s growth strategy weighed heavily on acquiring competitors geographically, expanding city-by-city, and we helped to evaluate a key acquisition.
When a Fortune 100 global consumer goods company’s competitor was acquired, we predicted how their new market strategy might affect our client.
Our client, an industry innovator, asked us to investigate a competitor that began using a similar delivery system and product packaging to their own.
An acquired dairy company suffered an EBITDA decline of $30 million. We analyzed the client’s due diligence process and built a complete picture of the company.
A private equity firm invested in a company in Central Asia and was preparing it for sale. We provided guidance to improve the company’s competitive profitability prior to sale.
Our client felt its understanding was limited in growth markets and needed a strategy, and we knew they could only do this with insights into its competition.
When a transportation company was experiencing strong competition, we studied the competitor and determined how it was achieving its competitive advantage.
Even when Africa’s GNP was growing, our client was experiencing stagnant sales in its largest African market. We investigated market dynamics to uncover potential causes.