Branding studios: competitor comparison
Use this competitor comparison exercise to compare alternatives against the buyer’s requirements without attacking another provider. You are discussing a positioning and identity project with a founder entering a new customer segment. The point of the practice is to make a useful decision together, including recognising when the offer is not a fit.
Produce a comparison with evidence, open questions and a clear decision criterion.
The situation
In this fictional brief, different team members explain the company in conflicting ways. The buyer wants a consistent message with a documented audience and reason to choose. Your offer is a positioning and identity project, but you must first establish whether its scope addresses the actual need.
A relevant delivery constraint is that the company must preserve recognition with existing customers. Treat that as a fact in the exercise; do not remove it to make the sale easier.
| Your counterpart | a founder entering a new customer segment |
|---|---|
| Offer under discussion | a positioning and identity project |
| Evidence available | a messaging comparison using actual customer language supplied by the client |
| Terms to clarify | Separate strategy, identity, applications, trademark checks and production. |
How to approach competitor comparison
A useful question for this stage: “What would you need to verify before deciding that either option meets the requirement?” Ask it when the conversation creates a reason for it, rather than reciting every question in order.
- Build a like-for-like comparison. Mark unknowns as unknown. Ask the buyer to rank the criteria before discussing your strengths.
- Ground the discussion in the buyer’s work. Ask: “Which customer should recognise themselves in the first sentence?” Listen for a concrete example before making a claim.
- Use evidence relevant to the decision: a messaging comparison using actual customer language supplied by the client. Explain what it demonstrates and what remains unverified.
- Produce a comparison with evidence, open questions and a clear decision criterion.
An industry-specific concern
Buyer: “We only need a new logo.”
Possible response: “A logo may be the right deliverable. First, let us check whether the difficulty is visual recognition or explaining the offer.”
Why this response helps: it acknowledges the concern, brings the discussion back to a verifiable requirement and leaves room for a different decision. Adapt the wording to what the buyer actually said.
Run the practice
- Prepare for two minutes. One person takes the seller role and one plays a founder entering a new customer segment. Read the offer and constraint separately from your preferred answer.
- Have a five-minute conversation focused on compare alternatives against the buyer’s requirements without attacking another provider. The buyer should answer consistently with the brief and ask for evidence when a claim is vague.
- Add this challenge: The buyer quotes a feature or price you cannot verify. State the limit of your knowledge and compare documented terms.
- Pause for feedback. Quote one useful question and one missed opportunity. Repeat the difficult exchange using a different response.
- Finish by writing the actual agreement. A sensible option, when it fits, is to test two positioning statements with a small set of relevant customer conversations. A clear decision to pause is also a useful outcome.
What to avoid
| Common mistake | Claiming the competing provider cannot do something without current evidence. |
|---|---|
| A stronger direction | I do not know their current terms. Here is what our proposal includes and what we should verify in both offers. |
| Scope and claim boundary | Customer interviews are evidence to interpret, not a statistically representative market survey. |
| What to measure in real work | whether target customers can accurately repeat the offer. Establish a baseline and definition before interpreting a change. |
An example conversation
Which differences between the two options matter most to your team?
Our concern is that different team members explain the company in conflicting ways. Also, the company must preserve recognition with existing customers.
Which customer should recognise themselves in the first sentence?
We only need a new logo.
A logo may be the right deliverable. First, let us check whether the difficulty is visual recognition or explaining the offer.
What would you need to verify before deciding that either option meets the requirement?
Your working sheet.
Make the exercise your own. Notes are saved in this browser when storage is available. Download a copy to keep; avoid confidential information on a shared device.
Example: different team members explain the company in conflicting ways; the company must preserve recognition with existing customers.
Example: What would you need to verify before deciding that either option meets the requirement? Industry question: Which customer should recognise themselves in the first sentence?
Example: a messaging comparison using actual customer language supplied by the client. Customer interviews are evidence to interpret, not a statistically representative market survey.
Example: Propose a clear next step, such as: test two positioning statements with a small set of relevant customer conversations. Confirm the owner and date.
Review your work
This is a reflection checklist, not an automated assessment.
Questions
Who is this branding studios exercise for?+
Can I use the example as a script?+
How should I assess the result?+
Fictional training scenario. The dialogue illustrates response choices; it is not a customer testimonial or a record of a real sale.
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