Answer to Question #301674 in Management for sarfaraz

Question

It is rumored that a Chinese car brand FAW Haima plans to enter India. The company will also be launching FAW Haima 8S, a mid-size SUV in India. You are in charge of Mahindra & Mahindra SUV division. Suggest 5 innovative ideas to source information about your Competitor FAW Haima so that your company is better prepared to take on this new challenge. (Please assume that Covid-19 pandemic is over). 

Answer 1

Currently, technology has provided more innovative ways in which to source information about competitors. In order to collect some information about Chinese car brand FAW Haima, the marketing manager should employ;

a) Web Scraping Services

The software indexes or ‘crawls’ web content at a rapid rate so that it can be harvested for valuable data. They can zero in on a specific type of information like price, or they can just collect as much data as possible. The important thing is that it is reprocessed and organised into a clear, logical system. From the information collected it can be analysed to determine FAW Haima strengths and weaknesses.

b) Google Alerts

Google Alerts, for instance, is a simple resource which allows you to monitor competitor activities. It will send you updates when a rival makes changes to their website or content. It will also inform you if they appear in any articles or news stories. One clever thing which you can do is tag and monitor your own company. That way, you’ll be the first to know if others are discussing you online. This type of tracking is a little sneaky, but it is also a great way to find out if rivals are cashing in on something that you aren’t like FAW Haima.

c) Social Media

Most companies are aware of how influential social media can be and they are already keeping a close eye on rival pages. With just a few quick scans throughout the week, you can pick up all kinds of information about FAW Haima.

d) The Target Market

Obviously, it is disheartening when a customer jumps ship and switches to another brand or rival service. The marketing should get the feedback about FAW Haima, and utilise the information wisely to weaken the company tactics.