You know your direct competitors. But do you know who's moving into your space from adjacent markets? Which players are gaining momentum you haven't noticed? Where the competitive dynamics are shifting in ways that will reshape your category in the next two to three years? Most leadership teams have strong instincts about their immediate competition but blind spots about the broader competitive landscape analysis that should inform their strategies.
At Meraki Research, we map the full competitive field so you can see the game board clearly. Our competitive landscape analysis goes beyond a list of competitors to reveal the structural factors, strategic groupings, and emerging threats that define how competition works in your market. We've helped companies across technology, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and consumer products make sharper decisions by understanding not just who they're competing against, but how the landscape itself is changing.
Our Approach: The Meraki Landscape Intelligence Framework
A competitive landscape isn't static--it's a living system shaped by market forces, strategic choices, and shifting customer needs. Our framework captures that dynamism through a process designed to reveal both the current state of play and where the field is heading.
Phase 1: Market Structure Mapping
We begin by defining the boundaries and structure of your competitive arena. This sounds straightforward, but it's where most competitive analysis goes wrong. Companies draw their competitive boundaries too narrowly (only direct competitors) or too broadly (everyone tangentially related), and the resulting analysis is either incomplete or unfocused.
Our mapping process identifies all relevant players--direct competitors, indirect substitutes, potential entrants, and adjacent companies with the capabilities and motivation to move into your space. We categorize them by strategic approach, creating a visual map that shows how the landscape is organised and where the competitive density is highest.
Phase 2: Strategic Group Analysis
Not all competitors compete the same way. Strategic group analysis reveals how companies cluster based on their business strategies, market positioning, and operational approaches. Understanding these groupings is essential because:
- Companies within the same strategic group are your most direct threats
- Movement between strategic groups signals major competitive shifts
- Gaps between groups may represent positioning opportunities
We plot competitors along the dimensions that matter most in your market--price/value positioning, breadth of services, geographic scope, technology approach, channel strategy, or customer segment focus. The resulting map gives your leadership team a clear, actionable view of where you sit relative to the field.
For example, we helped a regional healthcare technology company discover through strategic group analysis that their most dangerous competitors weren't the large national players (who competed on breadth) or the niche startups (who competed on innovation), but a cluster of mid-market companies pursuing the exact same "best of both worlds" positioning. That finding reshaped their differentiation strategy.
Phase 3: Competitive Dynamics & Trend Assessment
With the landscape mapped, we analyse the forces shaping its evolution. This phase examines:
- Strengths and weaknesses patterns -- Where competitors collectively over-invest and under-invest, revealing structural opportunities and threats
- Entry and exit signals -- Which companies are entering the market, which are retreating, and what those movements tell you about market attractiveness
- Consolidation indicators -- Merger and acquisition activity, partnership patterns, and investment flows that signal where the landscape is consolidating
- Technology and business model disruption -- Emerging approaches from outside your traditional competitive set that could reshape the market
- Customer switching patterns -- Where customers are moving between competitors and what factors drive those decisions
This analysis transforms your competitive landscape from a snapshot into a strategic guide that anticipates where competition is heading, not just where it stands today.
Phase 4: Implications & Positioning Recommendations
We close every engagement with a clear set of strategic implications. Given the landscape we've mapped, the dynamics we've identified, and the products and services your organisation offers, where are the greatest opportunities and threats? Which competitive positions are defensible? Where is white space that aligns with your capabilities?
Our recommendations address specific strategic decisions: Should you reposition against a different competitive group? Are there underserved segments your competitors are ignoring? What factors will determine competitive success over the next 2-3 years, and how well are you positioned against them? We provide the information and analysis your leadership team needs to make these calls with confidence.
When Competitive Landscape Analysis Is the Right Call
This service is a strong fit when:
- You're developing or refreshing your business strategies and need a comprehensive view of the competitive field to guide planning
- You're entering a new market and need to understand the full range of players, not just the obvious ones
- Your industry is undergoing significant change (consolidation, disruption, regulatory shifts) and you need an updated view of how the landscape is evolving
- Leadership has different assumptions about the competitive environment and you need a fact-based common picture
- You're evaluating acquisition targets and need to understand where they sit within the broader competitive landscape
This may not be the right starting point if:
- You need deep analysis of 3-5 specific competitors rather than a broad landscape view--a competitive analysis is more appropriate
- You need ongoing competitive monitoring and intel delivery--our competitive intelligence program provides that capability
- Your primary question is about market size and addressable opportunity--start with market sizing & TAM analysis or TAM SAM SOM analysis
What We Deliver
Landscape analysis deliverables are designed to serve as strategic reference documents your team returns to throughout the planning cycle.
Core Deliverables:
- Competitive Landscape Map -- A visual representation of all relevant players organised by strategic group, market position, and competitive approach
- Strategic Group Profiles -- Analysis of each competitive cluster including common strategies, shared strengths and weaknesses, and examples of representative companies
- Competitor Quick-Reference Profiles -- One-page summaries of each significant player covering positioning, capabilities, recent moves, and strategic direction
- Dynamics & Trend Report -- Assessment of the forces reshaping the landscape including entry/exit patterns, consolidation signals, technology shifts, and customer movement
- Positioning Opportunity Assessment -- Identification of white space, underserved segments, and defensible positions based on the landscape analysis
- Strategic Implications Brief -- Prioritized recommendations for competitive positioning, differentiation, and strategic focus areas
Formats: Executive presentation, detailed analytical report, visual landscape maps (suitable for framing and wall display in strategy rooms), competitor database (Excel/Google Sheets). Includes a facilitated strategy session with your leadership team.
Industry Applications
Technology & SaaS
Tech landscapes shift rapidly as startups emerge, incumbents pivot, and adjacent companies expand their scope. We map these movements so product and strategy teams can position against the landscape as it's evolving, not as it existed last year.
Healthcare & Life Sciences
Healthcare competitive landscapes are shaped by regulatory dynamics, reimbursement changes, and clinical evidence as much as by traditional market forces. Our landscape analysis integrates these healthcare-specific factors alongside conventional competitive dimensions.
Financial Services
Financial services landscapes are being reshaped by fintech entrants, embedded finance models, and regulatory changes. We help traditional financial institutions and challengers alike understand where the competitive field is heading and how to position for it.
Manufacturing & Industrial
Industrial landscapes are defined by capacity, technology adoption, geographic reach, and supply chain position. We map these operational factors alongside market positioning to give manufacturers a complete view of their competitive environment.
Consumer Products & Retail
CPG and retail landscapes are fragmenting as DTC brands, private labels, and niche players proliferate. Our landscape analysis helps brands understand the full competitive picture across channels and identify the segments and positions where they can win.
Professional & Business Services
Service firm landscapes are often perceived as fragmented and hard to map. Our strategic group analysis brings clarity by identifying how competitors cluster by specialization, scale, geographic reach, and delivery model--revealing positioning opportunities that aren't visible from the inside.