CHALLENGE
A North American telecom company was faced with a potential European rival entering their market. They needed solid intelligence to determine the likelihood of this threat taking place.
SOLUTION
Over 4 weeks:
- Interviewed 8 executive recruiting firms to see what they knew. (Several identified 2 overseas telecoms as possibilities.)
- Studied the annual reports of the 2 European telecoms for clues (e.g., whether pursuing a global strategy, if Canada represents a large enough market for them, etc.) as to the likelihood of either one entering the market.
- Researched entry strategies these two European telecoms typically pursue to narrow down which telecom would most likely enter the Canadian market.
- Spoke to industry professionals at a telecom conference for their insights.
- Notified a newspaper business columnist of the potential telecom entry, who then was able to have the telecom confirm what we had learned.
- The newspaper published the story six months before this competitor’s launch date.
RESULT
Our client used this intelligence to pre-empt the competitor by setting in motion an aggressive advertising campaign to win new customers and re-engage lapsed customers.
