competitor-analysis

name: competitor-analysis description: Analyze competitors — positioning, features, pricing, traffic, ads. Triggers on "competitor", "competitive analysis", "alternatives page", "đối thủ", "so sánh", "phân tích cạnh tranh".

Competitor Analysis

Research, map, and exploit competitive gaps. Covers competitor identification, feature comparison, positioning analysis, traffic estimation, ad monitoring, and alternatives page creation. Includes Vietnam-specific research sources and marketplace intelligence.

Initial Assessment

Before analyzing competitors, determine:

1. Analysis scope? Full competitive landscape, head-to-head comparison, specific dimension (pricing, features, content, ads)?
2. Known competitors? List any competitors the user already knows. Discover additional ones through research.
3. Market? Vietnam domestic, international, or both?
4. Deliverable? Internal report, public alternatives/comparison page, pitch deck positioning, or strategy recommendations?
5. Product category? SaaS, e-commerce, service, marketplace — determines which research sources apply.
6. Brand context loaded? Read docs/brand-guidelines.md for own positioning and differentiators.

Core Methodology

Competitor Identification

Identify three tiers of competitors:

Tier 1 — Direct competitors: Same product, same audience, same market. Research: Google search "[product category]", check who ranks for target keywords, ask the user who they lose deals to.

Tier 2 — Indirect competitors: Different product, same problem solved. Research: ask "How do people solve this problem without our product?" Spreadsheets, manual processes, and free tools are indirect competitors.

Tier 3 — Aspirational competitors: Same category but different tier (larger, more established). Research: who does the target audience admire or reference? These set market expectations.

Competitive Intelligence Framework

For each competitor, gather data across six dimensions:

Positioning Gap Analysis

After gathering data, map competitors on a 2x2 matrix using the two dimensions most important to the target audience:

                    High [Dimension A]
                         │
            ┌────────────┼────────────┐
            │  Comp C     │  [GAP?]    │
            │             │            │
Low [Dim B] ┼─────────────┼────────────┤ High [Dim B]
            │  Comp A     │  Comp B    │
            │             │            │
            └────────────┼────────────┘
                         │
                    Low [Dimension A]

Common dimension pairs: Price vs Features, Ease-of-use vs Power, Enterprise vs SMB, Local vs Global.

The empty quadrant is the opportunity. Position there if the audience demand exists.

Workflow

Scenario 1: Full Competitive Landscape Report

1. Load brand context from docs/brand-guidelines.md
2. Identify 5-10 competitors across all three tiers
3. For each competitor, fill the six-dimension intelligence table
4. Build feature comparison matrix:

   | Feature | Us | Comp A | Comp B | Comp C |
   |---|---|---|---|---|
   | [Feature 1] | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
   | [Feature 2] | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
   | Price/mo | $X | $Y | $Z | $W |
   

5. Create positioning 2x2 map
6. Identify gaps: features we have that they don't, price points nobody covers, audiences underserved
7. Write strategic recommendations: where to differentiate, where to compete, where to avoid
8. Save to assets/reports/competitive-landscape-YYYY-MM-DD.md

Scenario 2: Alternatives / Comparison Page

1. Load brand context and competitive landscape report (if exists)
2. Select 3-5 direct competitors for comparison
3. Structure the page:
   • H1: "[Product] vs [Competitor] — Honest Comparison [Year]"
   • Overview: brief description of both products (fair, not biased)
   • Feature comparison table: balanced, include areas where competitor is stronger
   • Pricing comparison: transparent, with notes on value-per-dollar
   • Who should choose us: specific use cases where we win
   • Who should choose them: specific use cases where they win (builds trust)
   • Verdict: clear recommendation with reasoning
4. Write for SEO: target "[Product] vs [Competitor]" and "[Competitor] alternatives" keywords
5. Tone: confident but fair. Readers distrust biased comparisons.
6. Save to assets/articles/comparison-[us]-vs-[competitor].md

Scenario 3: Ad Intelligence Report

1. Monitor competitor ads using available tools (see Vietnam Sources below)
2. Collect: ad copy text, creative type (image/video/carousel), CTA, landing page URL
3. Categorize ads by: objective (awareness/traffic/conversion), audience targeting signals, offer type
4. Identify patterns: what messaging do they repeat? what offers appear most? what platforms do they prioritize?
5. Find gaps: messaging angles they're NOT using that we could own
6. Save to assets/reports/ad-intelligence-[competitor]-YYYY-MM-DD.md

Vietnamese Competitive Research Sources

Free Tools for Vietnam Market

Vietnam-Specific Intelligence

Marketplace intelligence: Shopee and Lazada provide visible data that's goldmine for competitive analysis:

• Monthly sales count per product (visible on listing)
• Total reviews and star rating
• Price positioning relative to category average
• Seller response rate and ship time (operational benchmarks)
• Flash sale participation frequency

Facebook Page analysis: Vietnamese businesses are very active on Facebook. Analyze competitor pages for:

• Posting frequency and content mix
• Top-performing posts (sort by engagement)
• Comment sentiment (Vietnamese comments reveal honest feedback)
• Response time badge (indicator of customer service investment)
• Facebook Shop catalog and pricing

KOL/KOC partnerships: Track which influencers promote competitors:

• Search competitor brand name on TikTok and Instagram
• Check tagged posts and #ad/#sponsored content
• Estimate spend based on KOL tier (reference launch-strategy skill)
• Identify KOLs open to working with multiple brands in the category

Vietnamese Competitor Positioning Patterns

Common positioning strategies in Vietnam market:

Output Specification

• Format: Markdown with comparison tables, 2x2 maps (text-based), and strategic recommendations
• Location: assets/reports/ for internal reports, assets/articles/ for public comparison pages
• Naming: competitive-landscape-YYYY-MM-DD.md, comparison-[us]-vs-[competitor].md, ad-intelligence-[competitor]-YYYY-MM-DD.md

Quality Checklist

• Competitors identified across all three tiers (direct, indirect, aspirational)
• Six-dimension intelligence table completed per competitor
• Feature comparison matrix includes areas where competitor wins (honest)
• Positioning gap identified with strategic recommendation
• Vietnamese research sources utilized (Meta Ad Library, Shopee, Facebook Groups)
• Comparison page is fair/balanced (not pure sales pitch)
• Brand context from docs/brand-guidelines.md used for positioning
• Output saved to assets/ with correct naming

Related Skills

• seo-optimization — Keyword gap analysis against competitors
• pricing-strategy — Competitive pricing analysis
• ads-management — Ad creative intelligence for campaign planning
• copywriting — Comparison page and positioning copy
• launch-strategy — Competitive positioning for launch messaging