Competition comes in several classes. Let’ discuss.
First of all, you, as a business person, have obviously known about the class of “direct” competitors since you went into business, and probably you have known about this class of competitor as far back as those tender years when you were first able to sit up and recognize for what money was actually used. Direct competitors, of course, are those other companies which sell the same products or services that your own company sells.
Secondly, you’ve most likely known about the class of “indirect” competitors, also just about as long as you’ve known for what money is used. When you were a kid with five bucks burning a hole in your pocket, you knew that you could use that moolah to buy a toy or you could use it to buy a movie ticket or you could use it to buy an ice cream cone. None of the companies which produced those goods or that service were direct competitors, but they were indirect competitors vying for that five bucks in your pocket.
The classes of direct and indirect competition are not new. Business people have always taken seriously the impact of direct and even indirect competition, and have planned and altered their business models accordingly. This is well-known.
“Irregular Competition” Introduced
But what perhaps isn’t as well-known to you is the class of competition which I have named “irregular competition.” That is a term I coin and a concept which I define and introduce to you today.
When your direct and indirect competitors bring their offerings to market, they tell that market just how great are their offerings and how well those offerings can meet the needs and wants of the market targeted. And while making their sales pitch, those direct and indirect competitors play with the image of your company. Your competitors, direct and indirect alike, will take every opportunity to portray your company image in a manner that would not please you and by doing so communicate to your common market how well your products or services do not meet the needs of those consumers that you jointly serve.
Either through comparative advertising, or through innuendo, or via some other communications mechanism, your direct or indirect competition promotes the image of their own company and demotes the image of your company. Again, this is well-known. So if it’s well-known, why am I writing about it?
I write about this in order to make a point about competition in general, either direct or indirect, and to tie that point into the less well-known concept of “irregular competition.” Competition is not just about promoting competing products or services. It’s also about demoting, about tearing down, tearing down the image of the competitor. To tear down the image of a competitor means to battle for what the competitor’s company or brand image means, and to achieve an agendized goal in the process.
In the case of your direct and indirect competition, that agendized goal is to sell more products or services than does your company. The irregular competitor is similar in this regard; they have an agenda and a goal. But in the case of the irregular competitor, the nature of their agenda is different. The irregular competitor is not selling products or services. The irregular competitor wants to promote an advocacy agenda at the expense of your company. The irregular competitor wants to promote a program which has as its goal the attainment of some political, social, or cultural change. And one way the irregular competitor achieves its goal is by altering the meaning of your company or brand image in the marketplace.
The irregular competitor which I introduce today is more specifically known as the activist organization, the NGO (non-governmental organization), or the IGO (inter-governmental organization) which pursues an agenda of advocacy for a political, social, or cultural issue and in so doing competes with your company for the meaning of your brand or company image.
Why Would They Do This?
This irregular competition does this because they recognize that by attempting to influence, or even control, what your company or brand image means, the irregular competitor can use the notoriety of that image to achieve publicity and legitimacy for the cause that they pursue.
The irregular competitor is not interested in selling their own products or services that will replace those of your company’s in the marketplace. But they are interested in reducing the sale of your products or services, just as are your traditional direct or indirect competitors, in order to pressure your company into helping them achieve their political, social, or cultural goals.
Just As Much a Threat as the Regular Competitor
And because of their agenda and its intent, this irregular competition is no less a threat to your company than the direct or indirect competitor. Indeed, in many ways irregular competition may be more of a threat than the direct and indirect competitor. Therefore, the irregular competitor must be regarded with as much seriousness as the regular competitor.
The irregular competitor is here. They are not going away. They must be dealt with just as any other competitive threat should not be ignored. And it is within this blog, Telofski.com, that we will discuss the ins and outs of dealing with this new competitive threat in your business environment.
