- Thème:Corporate and business unit strategy
- Secteur:Media and publishing
Issue
AMR’s client was a leading US B2B publisher with brands serving a number of industry verticals. To combat the adverse impact of the recession and online migration on its advertising revenue, the client was considering a joint venture with a competitor operating in overlapping and non-overlapping verticals. Before engaging in full negotiations, our client required more detail about the operations of its competitor.
Approach
AMR undertook a program of competitive intelligence in order to map the operations of the competitor. Our research had three main phases. First, we undertook detailed discussions with our client’s employees to understand what they knew about the business in question and to compare the two companies’ structures. Second, the team conducted an exhaustive compilation of all publically available information about the company. Third, we ran a program of interviews with a number of the company’s current and former employees. Ultimately we mapped the company’s full time employees, splitting them by brand and job function, and outlined its major sales and production processes.
Recommendations
We identified that the two companies were plausible operating partners with considerable scope for cost reduction in a combined entity. In addition, the competitor’s sales force was well-aligned with customer online needs suggesting an opportunity for sharing of best practice.
Result
The depth of understanding and volume of fresh information provided by AMR enabled our client to continue its discussions from a new vantage point.
Insight from AMR’s research
AMR’s detailed mapping of the business’ employees and operations provided a level of clarity that had previously been absent. Our report provided a platform for confident and robust decision-making.