“Poor companies ignore their competitors; mediocre companies copy their competitors; winning companies lead their competitors.” ~ Philip Kotler
Your competitors are organizations that provide similar services to you. They may also offer products and services that can replace your product. This is why it is a fallacy to think that people who provide the same services as your organization are your competitors. Former Coca-Cola CEO Roberto Goizueta famously said that water, along with coffee, tea and juice, is Coke's primary competitor. He shifted the organization's internal focus from market share to “throat share” of all daily fluid intake. When organizations have the above understanding, they will be more aggressive in their approach to retaining their customers.
In my marketing class, one of the examples I use to illustrate the activities of competitors is that a young man is courting a woman, and another man is approaching that woman. The man who comes near her will do everything possible to win the woman over to his side. If the first man slacks off, he loses the woman. In this illustration the first man is your organization, the woman is the customer, while the second man is the competitor. You should never see your customers walking away from you. You must jealously protect your customers and consumers.
Your competitors are ready and willing to take your customers away from you. They approach your customers by providing better products at lower prices and greater ease of service. They will do everything morally possible to take away your market share. If you don't manage this battle well, you will lose your customers to your competitors, and in some cases, you will never be able to get them back. When GTBank pioneered zero account opening in Nigeria, it attracted many customers. “737” USSD Banking Code made the Bank synonymous with quick and convenient banking. Other banks became alert. Customers moved to GTBank because dialing *737# was easy to remember and the service was reliable. Other banks responded later. However, in recent times, Opay and MoneyPoint have offered something that has driven a lot of customers to them.
The telecom sector tells a similar story. When MTN and Econet arrived in the Nigerian market, customers accepted whatever they offered. Customers were told that per-second billing was impossible. Then Glo came out with per second billing and aggressive pricing for data and calls. This drove many customers to Glo. Later, much changed as MTN became the market leader. Customers are not loyal. They will always follow the competitor who offers them the best value. Understanding the ecosystem of your competitors and customers doesn't have to be academic. It's the difference between market leadership and irrelevance.
Your competitors are like your opponents. Underestimating them is at your peril. He is not able to sleep. They are analyzing your weaknesses and are ready to woo your customers with better value propositions. This is not about dirty tricks. It's about a war of better execution and marketing. Recall the cola war in Nigeria, which became more intense in 2016. The Nigerian CSD market was dominated by Coca-Cola and Pepsi. However, Big Cola announced its arrival in 2015. Bigi Cola followed in 2016. RC Cola followed in 2018. All of them took advantage of the economic situation, which eroded the purchasing power of consumers. They offered consumers more value at a lower price. Due to this, Coke and Pepsi lost a lot of market share. Today, more competitors such as Pop Cola and American Cola have entered the field and the fight is on.
A similar scenario played out in the Nigerian brewing industry. Nigerian breweries and Guinness dominated the industry until the arrival of SAB Miller, which was eventually acquired by AB InBev. They entered the Nigerian market by acquiring majority stakes in existing breweries such as International Breweries (Ilesa) and Pabod Breweries (Port Harcourt). They proceeded to use the element of price and availability to attract customers of the market leaders and they succeeded. One important lesson from the above is that your competitors are constantly segmenting your market and offering better fits. If you're not innovating, you're giving up.
In 2026, marketing advice will need to be strong on customer-centric innovation to stay ahead. If you fail to listen to what customers are doing, competitors will pounce on them. As organizational leaders, we must prepare for battle. There should be continuous investment in R&D, regular monitoring of competitive activities and adequate training of sales teams; Otherwise, customer churn will skyrocket. Constant vigilance in the micro environment is not only defensible, but also a path to building resilient customer relationships that drive long-term profitability.
Oluwole Dada is the General Manager at SecureID Limited, Africa's largest smart card manufacturing plant in Lagos, Nigeria.
