A competitive landscape compares a company and its major competitors across specific parameters. The research criteria lay out these parameters, including the specific companies to research.

Generally, a competitive landscape compares 2-3 companies across five parameters, including company overview, target market, products/services, competitive advantage, and value proposition.

Sometimes, the Research Criteria may ask for other parameters such as each company’s business model (e.g., wholesale, direct-to-consumer, business-to-business, or marketplace, etc.), pricing, financial data (e.g., revenue or funding), marketing messages, customer ratings or reviews, etc. Make sure to stick to the parameters outlined in the Research Criteria.

Minimum Requirements

• Include 2-3 competitors per 3-hour request.
• Include a minimum of 5 data points (e.g., company overview, value proposition) for each competitor. Note: Company website, locations, and/or founding year/founder name are part of one data point, i.e., company overview.
• Data Points- (Provide a minimum of five)
  • Brief company overview that includes (as available) HQ locations, other location information, founding year, or other relevant information. (This should be a minimum of 2-3 sentences).
  • Geographical footprint (where they operate)
  • revenue and/or funding information
  • list of key products/services & pricing (if available)
  • competitive advantage (point of differentiation from their competitors)
  • competitive advantage
  • names and LinkedIn URLs of their C-Suite level executives
  • 3-5 press releases from the last 12-24 months with a one-sentence explanation. (If readily available)
• Provide a minimum of one image per 3-hour request. Add an image for each concept discussed, if possible.

Locating Information for a Competitive Landscape

• Read through the Research Criteria carefully to understand the client has requested data for each company.

• Start with a direct search using keywords and search strings. If you cannot find information through a general search, use more specific search strings, Boolean and X-ray searches, as well as filters to pull relevant results.

  <aside> 🧠 Note: Search strings and advanced search methods, e.g., X-ray and Boolean search, are tools, not strategies. Do not mention these in your research reports. Instead, note the publishers of the resources, reports, and databases consulted (e.g., International Data Group (IDG)).

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• Prioritize official resources over third-party data. Where possible, prioritize as follows:

  Company filings (annual/quarterly reports, investor presentations) > official website & press releases > social profiles > industry reports > company mentions in reputed news articles > third-party company databases.

• Only use high-quality, industry-specific, and reputable sources. Wonder’s Master Resource List has a great collection of resources to consider.

• Ensure the sources you use provide the most recent data. If you perform any calculations, utilize the most recent figures available.

Findings

• Organize your findings using bullets and concise headings/subheadings.

• If the Research Criteria ask for information to be compiled in a spreadsheet, remember to cite your spreadsheet in the introduction section of the report. Make sure the link is shareable and editable.

  • For a spreadsheet project where the write-up can be minimal (per the Research Criteria), summarize the findings or 3-5 important findings from the spreadsheet.

  <aside> ⚠️ Before working on a spreadsheet or presentation job, ensure you have read and understood how to work in shared spreadsheets or presentations. Learn more on the ‣ page.

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Take a look at the commonly requested parameters in a competitive landscape project, what information to include for each, and where to find this information: