Competitor product intelligence for a BIM-enabled 3D viewer enables real-estate firm develop a new product with enhanced features

Challenges.

As the viewer had a very niche segment in social housing industry, the competitor intelligence team was faced with challenges such as:

• In-depth knowledge of housing data management products and bylaws of Netherlands to compare each product based on its unique features and capabilities;
• Getting together a competitor pool which provided similar services, given that, most competitors on our radar used viewers with single building view against client benchmark product of a viewer which could give a view of thousands of buildings.
• Inputs and intelligence on the features gathered from web research and analysis of competitors were not comprehensive. It did not give a complete, drill down view of feature and product performance.
• Language constraints were faced since most companies spoke in native languages including Dutch, French etc.
• Strong analytical skills to weigh value for money for each product.

Solution.

• Prepared a strategic development plan for a 3D viewer prototype to help client formulate their own product. The plan presented in a well-structured format was based on:
  • Competitive product research to weigh and compare features, capabilities, user reviews and value for money of various viewers against one another.
  • Comprehensive insights on leading products through an extended search beyond Netherlands including USA, UK, and other European countries.

Approach.

• A team of technical experts with a background in Architecture was formed to prepare a technical as-is assessment document of current features, their strengths, and limitations.
• An exhaustive list of the features and functionalities of existing product and a wish list of desired functionalities was shared by the client.
• Gathering marketing intelligence on competitors’ products: 
  • The research team acquired understanding of the current business scenarios for building configurator, creating market planning scenarios and strategic approach plan.
  • Possibilities of tie-ups with other market leaders of similar products were looked into during the research stage.
  • Research experts, owing to their extensive experience in architecture domain, compiled the competitive research report using secondary online sources of 15 different market leading 3D viewers offering relevant features.
  • To get the comprehensive idea of the features listed on competitors’ websites, the project team had telephonic conversation and emails with the company executives.
  • As the team had extended their research to various geographies, resources with native language fluency including Dutch, French etc. were hired on contracts for seamless communication with local sales representatives.
  • The exhaustive research report was documented in Excel spreadsheet to map each product against its features and functionalities [existing and future launch] by assigning weightage to each feature and be able to draw comparison.
• Quality check of the report:
  • A senior QC person validated the research report against the inputs from client for existing and wish list of features and functionalities.
  • Reports and dashboards prepared through web research were validated for their authenticity against the market users’ reviews available on open web sources.
• A detailed comparative report, with duly checked quality and accuracy was shipped to the client
• Suggestions for the most viable product design based on cost structure and service offerings were shared with the client based on the reports