Competitive marketing intelligence in a digital, data-based world

This article explores the applicability of some ideas from the world of competitive information and strategy to direct and digital marketing. It is based on the writer’s experience of working in both areas, particularly in customer insight. It first explores some of the key ideas of competitive strategy, including those derived from learning about national challenges (the case of Japan Inc. v USA Inc.) and warfare, and then considers how the resulting ideas might be applied to the winning of new customers and defence of existing customers in the digital marketing world.