# Competitive Brief: [Product/Market Area]

A standalone deliverable for stakeholders who need competitive intelligence to make decisions — without reading the full analysis. This brief answers: where do we stand, what threatens us, and where should we go?

**Date:** [Date]
**Author(s):** [Names]
**Audience:** [Who this brief is for — product leadership, exec team, board, etc.]
**Scope:** [Product category, job, or market segment analyzed]

---

## Executive Summary

[3-5 sentences. State the competitive situation plainly. What is the market doing? Where do we sit? What is the single most important thing the reader should know?]

---

## Our Position Today

### What we do well
- [Strength 1 — what customers consistently praise]
- [Strength 2]
- [Strength 3]

### Where we lag
- [Weakness 1 — where competitors outperform us]
- [Weakness 2]
- [Weakness 3]

### Positioning statement
> For [target segment] who [need/job], [product] is a [category] that [key differentiator]. Unlike [primary competitor], we [primary advantage].

---

## Competitive Landscape

### Market shape
[Is this a crowded market with many similar players, or a few dominant ones with distinct positions? Is the market growing, consolidating, or fragmenting?]

### Key competitors

| Competitor | Type | Their bet | Their weakness |
|-----------|------|-----------|---------------|
| [Name] | Direct | [What they're investing in — their strategic direction] | [Where they fall short] |
| [Name] | Direct | [Their bet] | [Their weakness] |
| [Name] | Indirect | [Their bet] | [Their weakness] |
| [Name] | JTBD | [Their bet] | [Their weakness] |

### Positioning map

```
High [Y-axis label] │
                     │    [Comp A]
                     │                    [Comp C]
                     │         ★ US
                     │
                     │  [Comp B]
                     │              [Comp D]
Low                  │
                     └────────────────────────────
                    Low [X-axis label]     High
```

**Empty quadrants:** [Are unoccupied positions opportunities or dead zones? Why?]

---

## What Customers Are Telling Us

### Table stakes
Customers expect these from everyone. Missing any of them is disqualifying.

1. [Feature/attribute every competitor has]
2. [Feature/attribute]
3. [Feature/attribute]

### Unmet needs
No competitor handles these well. Evidence from reviews, interviews, or support data.

1. [Need] — *Source: [where you found this]*
2. [Need] — *Source: [where you found this]*
3. [Need] — *Source: [where you found this]*

### Switching triggers
What makes customers leave one product for another in this market?

1. [Trigger — e.g., "pricing change," "missing integration," "team outgrows the tool"]
2. [Trigger]

---

## Threats

| Threat | Who | Why it matters | Timeline |
|--------|-----|---------------|----------|
| [Competitor entering our space] | [Name] | [Impact on our position] | [When this could happen] |
| [Feature parity closing] | [Name] | [Our differentiator is eroding] | [Timeline] |
| [Market shift] | [Trend] | [How this changes the game] | [Timeline] |

### Signals to watch
- [Signal 1 — what would tell us a threat is materializing, e.g., "Competitor X launches a free tier"]
- [Signal 2]
- [Signal 3]

---

## Opportunities

### Where we can win

| Opportunity | Evidence | Effort | Impact |
|-------------|----------|--------|--------|
| [Opportunity 1] | [What data supports this] | [Low/Med/High] | [Low/Med/High] |
| [Opportunity 2] | [Evidence] | [Effort] | [Impact] |
| [Opportunity 3] | [Evidence] | [Effort] | [Impact] |

### Value innovation moves

| Action | What | Why |
|--------|------|-----|
| **Eliminate** | [What to drop entirely] | [No one values this — it's industry inertia] |
| **Reduce** | [What to do less of] | [Market over-invests here relative to customer need] |
| **Raise** | [What to do much better] | [Underserved by competitors, high customer demand] |
| **Create** | [What to introduce] | [No one does this, but the job demands it] |

---

## Recommendation

[2-4 sentences. Take a clear stand. Based on the competitive landscape, what should we do? This is not a list of options — it's a point of view.]

### Immediate actions (next 30 days)
1. [Action]
2. [Action]

### Strategic moves (next quarter)
1. [Action]
2. [Action]

---

## Appendix

### Methodology
[Brief description: how many competitors analyzed, what sources were used, when the research was conducted]

### Full analysis
[Link or reference to the complete competitive analysis document, if one exists]

### Review schedule
- **Next update:** [Date — typically quarterly]
- **Trigger for ad-hoc update:** [Events that would warrant an immediate refresh — e.g., major competitor launch, funding round, acquisition]
