Chronicle Editor
Chrispen Gumunyu, Business Reporter
THE country’s trade and export promotion body, ZimTrade says there is a need for companies to embrace competitive intelligence before exploring local and export markets to enable them to make informed decision in pursuit of operating their entities profitable.
Speaking at a two-day training programme on Marketing and Branding for International Competitiveness in Bulawayo last Wednesday, ZimTrade associate trainer Mr Dennis Choguya said there was a need for local firms to adopt business strategies such as competitive intelligence to have a better appreciation and understanding of their intended markets and competitors.
“Competitive intelligence is a process of gathering information on industry trends, competitors’ marketing strategies as well as product and technology changes within a particular industry.
If successfully implemented, companies are better prepared for the future because the data they would have gathered will enable them to anticipate future needs as well as insight into how their competitors are operating, which will allow them to develop relevant products to carry their companies into the future,” he said.
Mr Choguya said companies should strive to continuously use competitive intelligence so as to keep abreast with the latest business trends.
“Competitive intelligence must not be done only when a company has a problem but it must be a continuous process because it’s not only about gathering data but companies need to analyse the data, which can inspire new strategies,” he said.
Mr Choguya said local companies should invest more in latest technologies to improve on efficiency and quality of their products to enable them to be competitive on the international market.
“Local companies should benchmark their product on regional and international products, which is why we are encouraging them to take time to analyse the technologies that are being used by other companies because other companies might produce better products due to the technology they use, which can positively impact their cost structures and pricing of products,” he said.
Mr Choguya said it was important for businesses and institutions intending to break into foreign markets to have an export compliance system in place.
“Companies must view legal and regulatory frameworks because sometimes the mere make of certain certifications could eliminate them from certain markets.
We already have local farmers that supply avocados and peas to supermarkets in Britain and they had to be British Retail Consortium Certified,” he said.
He further said companies should take advantage of the growing usage of social media and utilise it as a marketing platform.
“The idea of social media marketing is that many people spend time on the internet or social media platforms so we want businesses to take advantage of this by creating accounts on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter where customers spend most of their time.
They also have to constantly update their social media pages so that they are always interesting.”
@chrispen_gee
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