# Landscape Analysis / Competitive Research

A **landscape analysis** (otherwise known as competitive research) is an in-depth overview and analysis of a brand, its competitors and complementary brands, and overall trends/interesting happenings/general insights of the brand’s industry.

At Vaudeville, we generally perform the landscape analysis at the beginning of a project to get smarter about the industry and help frame the strategic thinking.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any fancy research tools, so you’ll have to use your best Googling skills to find this information. This means that you’ll also have to use your best judgment on which sources are legitimate - as not all sources are created equal! For example, when looking for audience data for Billboard competitors, we used their media kit numbers (instead of a random article or Wikipedia stats). Below is a general guideline on what you should be looking for - but if you can’t find something, don’t sweat it.

**Tip:** always make sure to keep a list of your sources in case someone (Michael) asks where you found that information!

### Landscape Analysis Guidelines / What to Include:

#### A general overview of the brand and any other properties the company owns \* This is usually for internal use only - so we can be smart about the client

* Format: A one-slide dossier on each property.
* Include: an overview, audience, content, social channels, and anything else you deem important/relevant to the industry.
* Example: [PGM / Valence properties](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xt2b-F0-6IwOXByONpjhAqEO5R1TQesZbdlLWm0t67Y/edit#slide=id.g46825f1aef_0_0)\\

#### An in-depth audit of the primary brand we’re doing the project for and any competitors / complementary brands

* Format: A table in Google Sheets, with a column for each brand and a row for each information category.
* Include: what it is, audience data, platforms (e.g. apps, web, etc.), brand hierarchy (if this is part of a brand “family” like Vox), business model, any revenue info, social channels/high-level social #s, general strengths/weaknesses, and anything else you deem important/relevant to the industry.
  1. For Billboard (a music brand and editorial website), we also included the following categories: types of content, content frequency, editorial franchises and features, and membership value prop/pricing info/purchase flow.
* Example 1: [Billboard landscape audit](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xt2b-F0-6IwOXByONpjhAqEO5R1TQesZbdlLWm0t67Y/edit#slide=id.g46825f1aef_0_0)
  1. This can later be boiled down into a more focused [slide deck](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1E7QZ2Jr7vvSjP7wBxwR9AzswxdfIWiuiwHtwuVOD4nI/edit#slide=id.g497c3cc231_1_31) (slides 1-14, in this case with a focus on membership).
* Example 2: [TYT Subscription Comparisons](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QYV2mKofJS4KbjvQ8A3sKJcPx0Bblbpzk5cWGrHBhbA/edit#gid=1147603618)
  1. This was a more specific landscape analysis of only subscriptions, later adapted into a [landscape discussion deck](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Icy-t8bqJ8WnGepDS2gQfYWk-sb4u3Os--eInBxU1-M/edit#slide=id.g36f0ff63e7_0_439).
* Things we love / things to steal within and out of the industry, as long as it’s applicable to the client’s brand
  1. Format: A slide deck with screenshots / screen recordings of the example and short blurbs of what it is / how it can apply to the client.
  2. Include: Cool things that other people are doing that do not necessarily fit in the competitor analysis section - this will vary depending on the client.
     1. For Billboard, we looked for:
        * Content features, products, and memberships that are cool and compelling, regardless of their relationship to music
        * Interesting data visualization / charts
        * Cool social distribution / content franchises. (e.g. Buzzfeed AM to DM, NBCU’s Snapchat shows, Instagram live shows / stories / interesting ways to do storytelling in posts, etc.)
  3. Example: [PGM Thought Starters](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1a4qz0gMbEA_grwF-3iAb8nUfKpQDGIg0AVvbBlMGW70/edit)

Of course, all of the above is just a general guideline on how to perform a good landscape analysis. Depending on the client and the ask, this can be divided into parts, or shortened to a single slide deck or Google sheet.\\
