Competitor analysis

Five easy mistakes to avoid in your competitor analysis

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With more and more players in any given marketplace, it is essential to consider competitors in any media strategy. After all, it’s all well and good to show progress in your own efforts, but you might be missing a trick if you don’t contextualise this against players competing for a voice.

Diving blindly into your PR strategy will leave you lost in the proverbial trees. Putting a little thought into your competitor analysis provides a holistic perspective of the media awareness in your focus area, so you can better understand your benchmark and which moves to make next.

Here are five mistakes to avoid when designing your competitor analysis:

Tunnel Vision

You likely already know your immediate competitors, but there’s often dark horses that can sneak up on you without some level of monitoring. There may also be companies that exist within your market that you consider out of reach in one way or another — prematurely excluding these can stop you from meeting them on their turf.

Alternatively, there may be peer organisations that, while not directly competitors, share similar strategies and seek similar market exposure. Researching hidden, aspirational and indirect competitors can help you to see what works, adding confidence and inspiration to your own efforts.

Crowding the Field

When building an understanding of direct and indirect competitors, it can be tempting to try to capture every possible brand for monitoring and analysis. However, being too broad can result in obscured takeaways and the headache of sifting through endless content later. Refine your search by focusing on areas that need greater media awareness, such as a certain topic or company value.
If narrowing the field is proving difficult, you might consider creating multiple baskets of competitors, based on distinct products, strategies or areas of expertise, analysing them separately according to priority.

Lack of Purpose

Even with an ideal competitor analysis, things can easily get off track if there is not a clear goal or direction in mind. Using a set methodology or set of S.M.A.R.T. KPIs can help you see where you need to place your focus and why. This will greatly improve the value and efficiency of your competitor analysis, while exposing where to invest your limited resources wisely.

Tip: consider your organisation’s wider objectives when formulating your goals. Aligning with a particular outcome another team is seeking can also prove fruitful. For example, it could be beneficial to run a competitor analysis on target audiences for your sales team’s growth strategy. These purpose-driven considerations allow you to directly link the value of your work to organisational goals.

Lack of Consistency

While a one-time overview of the competitive landscape can be useful at a given point in time, fortunes can change quickly. Regularly keeping track of the changing tides ensures you are prepared for any challenge or opportunity that may come your way, as you are more effectively able to continue learning from – or reacting to – the wins and losses of your peers.

The Vuelio Insights Team recommends you perform a refresh of your competitor analysis no less than once a quarter to fully keep tabs on current happenings.

5. Ease over Value

Amidst your many competing priorities, taking the simple route for competitor analysis may seem attractive. However, the most valuable takeaways are often those that require zooming in on specific goals, widening the scope of possibility for competitors and measuring the true value of this coverage.

For example, quickly quantifying volume, reach, and Share of Voice is often a first stop on a competitor measurement journey. While these can be valuable touch points, it’s often a misconception of the true story. Despite the well-known saying, bad PR is, often, just bad PR.

Taking the extra time to measure the quality of coverage – rather than just the quantity of coverage – is essential to understand if a competitor is actually lagging behind you, or if they are quietly outcompeting you by maintaining a better quality coverage profile.

Tip: sentiment is a go-to metric when measuring coverage quality, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Consider comparing your organisation across a variety of other qualitative measures, such as prominence, key message penetration, press release coverage, quotes, etc. Quality measurement might also include looking at Share of Voice analyses on some of those qualities above (e.g. positive or negative share of voice), or within a defined list of target media.

Considering just a few of these small changes can help you to capitalise on new opportunities illuminated by new competitors, while avoiding their mistakes. This is a launching pad for achieving your S.M.A.R.T. KPIs and knowing how to confidently scale your successes moving forward.

Don’t have the time or headspace?

It’s one thing to read the tips, but it’s another to find the time and resources. The Vuelio Insights team does the work for you by creating expert-led, highly digestible media strategy reports just for you, so you can see exactly how you’re performing against competitors without the sense of analysis paralysis along the way.

How healthcare providers can improve their crisis comms

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From industrial action to labour shortages, the need for quick and effective crisis comms can be a matter of life or death in the healthcare sector. 

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for clear and transparent B2C communications has grown quick and fast. Reassurance is a foundational consumer need, particularly in times of societal upheaval.

Between 2019 and 2022, consumers expecting pharmaceuticals to aid stability in uncertain times rose from 38% to 50%, on par with their expectations of educators, friends and family networks. 

It sounds high-pressure, but it doesn’t have to be. A data-led crisis strategy is your best friend —building a template now will save you from drowning in the deep end. Knowing the who, what, when, where, and why of your coverage means you’re better equipped to reach the right audiences and minimise reputational impact in the process. 

Using industry research conducted by the Vuelio Insights team, here are five insights tips that can support your crisis strategy:

Assemble your squad 

First and foremost, a crisis committee is a sure-fire way to guarantee reliable and effective support. Involving key members from each department boosts internal alignment, efficiency and execution when it’s go time.

Measure more often than usual 

Crisis coverage often evolves at a rapid pace, so it’s a wise move to measure more frequently than usual. ROI is less of a focus in this scenario. Instead, you’ll want to produce a separate and specific set of metrics that reflect where you’d like to be when you come out of the crisis. 

Daily measurement is ideal during the peaks of the event. Many organisations choose to outsource this support, so they have more time to focus on strategy and execution.

Define your voice 

Sentiment alone won’t cut it when it comes to saving your reputation during a PR crisis. Your coverage needs to protect your reputation for key stakeholders. One of the best ways to make that happen is by having a killer set of key messages that are relevant and lightning-fast. These messages not only help you refine and prepare your response, it helps you measure how you’re doing compared to the competition and give you a chance to tweak along the way. So, let’s get started:

  • Whip up three-to-five key messages that say what you really want to say.
  • Decide where you want to shout those messages from—pick your prime platforms.
  • Check out how your coverage went—did your messages hit home? How’d your rivals do?
  • Set some KPIs to revamp any messages that fell flat or flopped. Take a look at this five-step guide to master the art of crafting key messages that hit the bullseye with your target audience.

Sorry isn’t the hardest word 

Whether or not to apologise in a crisis is an ongoing debate. When measuring 15 high-profile retail crises over the past year, our research showed that brand reputation is negatively impacted if a clear apology and resolution is not provided, but only under the circumstance that one or two brands have caused the crisis.

Where it is an industry-wide problem, public expectations are lower and independent reputations are less affected. However, in all circumstances, public recognition as early as possible had a fundamental impact on reputation in all cases. 

When Shell was called out across international press for purchasing Russian oil in March last year, it rapidly resurrected some respect by following what Pink Elephant Comms refer to as the ‘Three R’s’ – Regret, Reason and Remedy. While the story peaked around the world between 6 and 15 March 2022, the supplier’s negative sentiment rate dropped from 89% to 68% after it released an extended apology on 8 March 2022.

Prioritise trust throughout the year 

Greenwashing, woke-washing, and alike are just some of many ways that organisations can be called out in the press for making false promises to the public. 

The best way to avoid this kind of misinformation-based crisis is to engage in activities that will both boost your credibility and be of interest to the media. For example, since COP27 in November last year, STEM companies that are part of the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) have a much lower rate of allegation and investigation-based coverage than those who are not.

Want to know more about this data or how media insights can support your PR and communications? Find out more.

Six evidence-backed ways to survive a PR crisis

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When a crisis is emerging and time is scarce, staying silent can feel like the easy option — yet recent research by the Vuelio Insights team shows that shutting down communications altogether can do much more harm than good.

So, what are the most effective steps you can take to limit negative coverage around your brand? How do you measure the impact of the crisis on your brand and the wider industry?

In our recent webinar we explored how world-leading companies have successfully survived short, mid, and long-term crises, and the mistakes made by those who did not do so well.

While we analysed data across a diverse range of industries and contexts, those who performed best often adopted similar methodologies. Here are some of the most effective tactics that have positively served brands undergoing reputational risk in the press.

1. Proactive > Reactive

Being vocal, transparent, and accessible in a crisis is essential, and our insights research backs it up. It shows that brands who choose to stay silent demonstrate less control over negative coverage than those who speak up.

But timing is key, and waiting too long to reach out can have the same impact as not saying anything at all. Proactive strategies that communicate your key messages ahead of, or during, the initial stages of a crisis generate much higher media interest than those who simply react when negative coverage has emerged.

Example:

During a prolonged period of strikes and cancellations across the airline sector last year, RyanAir chose to only be reactive by sharing positive news stories after negative peaks in coverage emerged against the brand. As a result, these releases did not get much media awareness in comparison to negative coverage. However, when Virgin Atlantic released consistent and positive messaging surrounding a wide diversity of ESG efforts, before, during and after the crisis, media interest was much higher and overall sentiment balance was more equal.

Our research showed the media were much less interested in reporting on positive efforts after a negative story has emerged against a brand, whereas Virgin Atlantic’s consistent comms paid off and they maintained a ‘low and controlled’ negative reputation throughout the crisis.

2. Get your timing right

The age-old debate that the press release is ‘dead’ simply doesn’t apply in a PR crisis. Our research shows that when used right, proactive press releases can make a big impact on how your brand’s talked about in the press. However, timing is key — but starting too early can waste precious coverage opportunities.

Example:

Six months ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Coca-Cola, a FIFA partner, began releasing messaging around social solidarity to support human rights controversies related to the event. However, by the time it actually began, coverage of these campaigns had already died down but negative discussion around the ethics of the event (and those who supported it) had only just began. On the other hand, partners who chose to release messaging 2-3 weeks ahead of the first match were able to successfully dilute negative coverage throughout the event.

3. Diversify your messaging

Time and time again, Vuelio research shows that no matter the industry, brands that successfully survive reputational risks always amplify and diversify communications throughout the crisis. Rather than just responding to the situation at hand with explanations or solutions, they also push out stories related to other positive contributions that are totally unrelated to the crisis.

An ESG investment usually has the highest reputational pay-off, like Virgin Atlantic’s genderless uniforms or South Western Railway’s LGBTQI+ trains, both of which were announced doing an extended period of industrial action.

4. Consider relevant metrics

The metrics you use when monitoring day-to-day performance is much different in a PR crisis. For example, while having high coverage volumes may be a wider goal, this may not be as much of a priority when your reputation is at risk. Sentiment or prominence may be more important in this instance, so you can measure negative discussion and how visible your brand was within this coverage.

Create a separate set of KPIs that reflects the goals of your crisis strategy. Using this information, assess which metrics would be most effective for measuring performance during and after the crisis.

5. Enhance your reliability

Having a reliable reputation in the press is a sure-fire way to have more control over sentiment scores in a crisis. Research by the Vuelio Insights team shows that established and wide-reaching news outlets are more likely to share positive news stories by brands that maintain an honest and respected status, rather than those who tend to make false promises.

Awards and accreditations are to earn respect from large-scale publications, though working to accrue these extra reliability points throughout the year is going to be much more effective than waiting until crisis strikes.

Example:

In a recent study, the Vuelio Insights team found that brands which are part of the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) have a much stronger chance of getting international coverage around sustainability efforts. This is because SBTi is an external, reputable organisation that ensures holds companies accountable for climate commitments through a strategy-based target system.

6. Use your partnerships

When crisis strikes, partnerships are a goldmine for offering a large-scale and unique solution to the issue and doubling down on high-reaching positive coverage. Last year, Utilta achieved a national peak in positive coverage – higher than the likes of EDF and Octopus – due to a well-received partnership with Iceland. The collaboration offered several money-saving opportunities amidst the growing cost-of-living crisis, such as energy-saving workshops and leading research on cheaper cooking alternatives.

Partnerships are also an effective method for communicating large-scale industry change, a particularly useful method when enduring a long-term crisis. A recent example of how successful this can be was during the COP27 event last November, when seven CEOs of global pharma companies came together to announce ‘joint action’ on net zero healthcare.  This ended up being the most popular story ahead of and throughout the world-leading climate event and paved the way for months of positive media discussion towards ‘green pharma’ objectives.

Want to know more about this data or how media insights can support your PR and communications? Find out more.

10 ways energy suppliers can enhance their crisis comms

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The causes of the energy crisis have been an international debate for almost a year, though gas and electricity suppliers are often first in line to carry the weight of public outrage – which was only exacerbated when claims of profiteering began to surface in 2022.

With several independent/large scale suppliers  set to reveal ‘bumper’ results in the coming weeks, comms teams need to be prepared for any potential onslaught.

Since 1 Feb, 102 national news sources have commented on the projected elevation of PR crises for energy suppliers. Speaking on one of the biggest profit scandals of the past year, Investec analyst, Martin Young said comms in this sector has ‘arguably gotten harder’.

Similarly, a former business analyst at E.ON was quoted extensively in an FT article earlier this week, stating that suppliers actually lose money through household energy and that the  ‘limelight should be on the producers’ instead.

Now more than ever, it is vital for suppliers to be closely monitoring industry news and measuring media presence, building preventative and reactive strategies based on the results.

Here are 10 tips to enhance your crisis comms process:

1. Measure regularly and efficiently

Whether internal or external, the diversity of crises in the energy sector is high and the ability to reflect on performance can feel limited. Making an effort to monitor your media presence comes with high rewards, primarily the ability to refine and target your strategic goals.

Fortunately, there are several ways to achieve these results with a quick and high-level analysis.  Check out our four-step guide to learn more.

2. Define your key messages

Sentiment alone isn’t enough to ensure that you have successfully diverted a PR crisis. When the entire industry is affected, you need to know that the value of your positive/neutral coverage is stronger than your competitors.

While there are a few ways to do this, a strong set of key messages is one of the most effective ways to ensure that you are delivering highly relevant and reactive attitudes.

Key messages also allow you to measure your brand reputation against competitors within the specific crisis at hand. To get started, try the following:

  • Establish 3-5 key messages – what do you want to say?
  • Set your parameters – where do you want it to be heard?
  • Assess your coverage – what messages landed best? How did competitors perform?
  • Build out KPIs – how can you improve on messages that were not received well OR performed poorly?

Check out this five-step guide to learn more about creating key messages that actually land with your target audience.

3. Prioritise personability

Key messages in a crisis are as crucial as the tone set within them. Suppliers who maintain an approachable attitude with their customers maintain a much stronger ratio of prominent and positive coverage than those who do not — Octopus energy is a leading example of an energy company that holds a consistently strong relationship with the British media.

That being said, knowing your audience is key for drawing the line between personability and ignorance. OVO has been applauded for lessening its corporate tone across PR publications, but has also previously been called out for diluting the severity of the energy crisis by advising Brits to ‘cuddle pets’ to stay warm.

4. Produce more content

Among the ‘Big Six’ energy suppliers, better owned content equates to better earned content. In other words, those who publish regular blogs, newsletters and press releases have a much more valuable media presence than those who do not.

Another huge benefit of having a strong owned-media readership is that it presents an open opportunity to plug key messages and drive the brand attitude towards current crises.

5. Know how to apologise

When Shell was called out across international press for purchasing Russian oil in March last year, it rapidly resurrected some respect by following what Pink Elephant Comms refer to as the ‘Three R’s’ – Regret, Reason and Remedy.

While the story peaked around the world between 6 and 15 March 2022, the supplier’s negative sentiment rate dropped from 89% to 68% after it released an extended apology on 8 March 2022.

6. Prevention over cure

When the entire industry is baring the impact of an extended crisis, the biggest names are likely going to be in the media spotlight on more than one occasion.

In preparation for this, building early-onset preventative strategies is a much stronger method than trying to dilute a negative peak in coverage. For example, Octopus Energy’s electric blanket campaign is an ongoing success that has leveraged nationwide positive coverage throughout Winter over the past couple of years.

7. Don’t go silent

In a world where activism and ethics are at the forefront of consumer interest, the adage that ‘the best PR is invisible PR’ has become a risky perspective.

Throughout the 2022 World Cup, FIFA partners who promoted messaging in favour of human rights a few weeks ahead of the event demonstrated much more control over negative coverage throughout the competition than those who said nothing at all.

8. Explore the meaning of authenticity

Greenwashing, woke-washing and alike are some of many ways in which the media are capable of fishing out those who are authentic in their actions versus those who are not.

Fortunately, with some research, there are several visible ways to enhance legitimacy in a way that also generates media interest. For example, since COP27 in November, STEM companies that are part of the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) have seen a stronger positive Share of Voice in relation to net zero coverage than those who are not.

9. Internal alignment

Among the UK-based PR publications talking about crisis comms over the past month, approximately 62% mention the importance of internal alignment between comms, public affairs and legal teams.

A crisis comms committee with executives and key members of each department is an effective way to achieve this from a top-down level.

10. Managing misinformation

Since the start of the energy crisis, PR publications have demonstrated consistent interest in which suppliers are working with external agencies. While this coverage in itself is relatively neutral, it falls in line with ongoing accusations that PR agencies are to blame for promoting misinformation for energy clients.

Once again, prevention is the best method here – work closely with your crisis committee and agency to ensure total alignment and authenticity. Agencies are now much more cautious of how they choose to support energy suppliers, as their reputation is at stake too; total transparency from the start is the best way to mitigate any media allegations for all parties involved.

Want to know more about this data or how media insights can support your PR and communications? Find out more.

Four ways to keep up with media evaluation in a fast-paced environment

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When so much of your workload is fixated on promoting the next item on the agenda, it often feels like there is no time to stop and track the performance of your work.

When your performance is seemingly fine, it can feel tempting to put analysis aside —but in doing so, you miss out on essential insights that both improve strategy and demonstrate success to the board, C-Suite and wider business.

Fortunately, there are several ways to execute this process in a quick and efficient manner, without needing to do a deep dive into a random assortment of every possible metric.

Consistency is key — by sticking to a concise and regular set of parameters/metrics in each evaluation, you will have a much better benchmark of what ‘good’ looks like even when there is no other similarity between each campaign or news story.

If your turnover rate is high and time for reflection feels scarce, here is a four-step guide to streamline your media measurement and evaluation:

1. Consider your goals
Reflect on your PR objectives, both from a broader perspective and specific to this content. What are your wider communications goals for the year? Who and what are you looking to draw attention to? How would you like to be portrayed? What publications would you like to target?

2. Consider what is important to the organisation as a whole
Alongside your PR goals, consider what is important and achievable to your organisation as a whole? What does good look like to your stakeholders? What are the relevant pillars you can measure against to prove the value of PR, even in an ever-changing landscape.

3. Build a consistent framework

Using the information you have gathered so far, choose metrics that reflect the broader goals you are aiming to achieve and report on, as well as those specific to each piece of content. This will enable you to build a bigger picture of how the function is performing overall.

Here are just a few examples:

  • Visibility metrics such as volume / reach: if goals are linked to increasing overall media presence
  • Visibility specific to a target audience: if goals are linked with targeting specific audiences through relevant media titles
  • Link to website: if the PR goal is to drive call-to-actions through different campaigns
  • Sentiment: while cumulative improvements in sentiment may be desired, consider your industry and whether neutralising negative sentiment may be just as important as positive sentiment
  • Key Messages: while each campaign / content type might drive its own set of key messages, consider also monitoring overall organisational key messages as a pillar of consistency

The metrics chosen will be the same set you use to measure performance going forward in every evaluation, alongside your specific goals tied to each campaign/news story. By utilising a consistent framework of metrics based on wider goals, you can:

  • Draw a relative benchmark between each report, even if they have no contextual similarities to each other
  • Save time in conducting the analysis by knowing what you are measuring and how long it is going to take you

Tip: If you are new to the process, try picking two or three metrics to begin with. As you get quicker and more comfortable, more can always be added.

4. Ask for help when you need it

If you simply do not have the capacity to fit media evaluation into your schedule, there is still a solution.

The Vuelio Insights team partners with clients to produce bespoke reports that identify risks and opportunities, and demonstrate the value of your PR.

Emerging story reports are quick turnaround reports that we can deliver to support you in a fast-paced environment. Our experts work with you to ensure that you have the insights you need to understand your media performance and report it to your stakeholders, while supporting you to build a measurement framework that supports your overall goals.

Whether you need to understand campaign performance, KPIs, competitor analysis, media impact, crises, strategic decisions or your audiences,

Want to learn more about how media insights can support your PR and communications? Find out more here.

How to create key messages that actually land with your target audience

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When it comes to measuring your PR performance, numbers alone can – for better or worse – easily distort the real picture. For example, Share of Voice is always one of the first metrics Vuelio clients ask for – but what is the quality of the coverage? Brand A may have 10% more than Brand B, but how valuable is it to the brand? If it is mostly negative or passive commentary, then Brand B may have performed better overall.

Key Message Penetration is a great tool for diving deeper into your coverage to measure brand awareness and assess how well your brand messages are being delivered.

Try this simple five-step guide to get started:

1. Establish your key messages

Create a list of 3-5 key messages that highlight the main point(s) you want to get across. These are the messages you want to come to the minds of your consumers when they think about your brand, so tie them back to your brand strategy or a specific product launch, i.e.:

  • ABC Vets, pioneers in new holistic pet therapy 
  • ABC Vets, the charity for pets in need 
  • ABC Vets, providing affordable animal care to Britain since 1978 

    2. Set parameters 

    Once you have your key messages, decide on the channels that would be most valuable based on your target audience. For example:

  • What are the preferred media types of your target audience(s) i.e. print, broadcast, online news, social media etc?
  • Which publications are your audience(s) reading?
  • Which journalists/authors write these pieces?
  • Do you have a target reach i.e. regional, national, international?

3. Assess your coverage overtime

Now that you know what your messages are and the format(s) in which you would like them to appear, you can begin exploring your coverage results:

  • Establish a timeframe of how often you would like to compare your performance (i.e. monthly, quarterly, yearly).
  • When it is time to conduct your analysis, compile all earned coverage throughout your chosen period and ensure it is differentiated from owned and paid-for coverage.
  • Using your list of key messages, explore each media item for points of reference. In order to get your final penetration percentage, divide the number of key message articles by the total number of articles and times by 100.

Tip: Your coverage does not have to state the exact words in your list of key messages— it can be any earned content that fits into the category of one of your key messages.

For example, if one of your key message targets is to be a thought leader in your field, then a newspaper that cites a statistic or factual quote from your brand would count as message penetration.

4. Evaluate performance – which key messages landed best? Where?

Within your analysis, note down the parameters of when your key messages perform best/worst. For example, which key messages are most mentioned? Which media types/publications/journalists come up the most? What is the reach?

Using this data, compare the types of media that your key messages are performing best/worst in with the media that is most engaged with your target audience. For example, if the publications that are most often driving your key messages are highly engaged with your target audience, you know your brand awareness is performing well in the right places.

Reminder: You can use this type of evaluation (as well as things like sentiment and mention types) to explore the true quality and brand value of the coverage that is measured in your quantitative data.

5. Build out your KPIs

Once you have completed a comprehensive analysis, you should have a clear, qualitative and quantitative understanding of how well your key messages are being delivered to your target audience(s).

With this information, you can create a data-led set of KPIs on:

  • Your realistic and achievable penetration percentage
  • Which target publications, platforms, journalists etc. are delivering your messages
  • Who/what/when/where you would like to generate more awareness

As these analyses begin to accrue over time, you can use the former reports as benchmarks for the next. This way you can see how your key message penetration is progressing month on month, year on year.

Want to know more about this data or how media insights can support your PR and communications? Find out more.