Competitive intelligence summarized every week for the marketing team

Implementation example. This scenario describes a request we receive in this form. It is not a project delivered to a named client, and no results are claimed.

The context

A mid-size company (manufacturing, distribution, services or software) faces about ten direct competitors and a few new entrants. The marketing team has four to ten people: product manager, communications manager, content and acquisition specialists. Sales leadership and executive management regularly ask “what the competitors are doing.”

Competitive intelligence exists, but it is scattered: Google Alerts, subscriptions to competitors' newsletters, screenshots sent over the internal messaging app, a shared file updated once a quarter.

The day-to-day problem

No one has time to read everything. Important information arrives by chance or too late: a competitor changed its prices a month ago, launched an offer aimed at the same customers, hired a sales director, published a study picked up by the press.

When management asks for an update, the team spends two days piecing the history back together. The result is a long document that no one rereads.

What the team wants

“I want to receive a page every Monday that says what has changed at our competitors and why it matters to us, with the links to check.”

The solution, step by step

1. Define the scope. Together with the team, we choose which competitors to track and what matters: public offers and pricing, launches, content and campaigns, key hires, press coverage, customer reviews, trade show presence.

2. Collect public sources. The tool monitors competitors' websites (offer, pricing, news and blog pages), their newsletters, their public accounts on professional networks, the press and review sites. Only public information is collected, in compliance with the websites' terms of use.

3. Spot what has changed. For tracked pages, the tool compares this week's version with the previous one and isolates the changes: new price, new offer, new messaging.

4. Sort and summarize with AI. AI classifies each item by competitor and by topic, removes duplicates and writes a summary of a few lines. Each summary links back to its source.

5. Prioritize. Items are ranked according to rules set with the team: anything that directly affects our customers or our offers goes to the top, the rest goes into an appendix.

6. Send the digest. Every Monday, a one-page digest goes out by email or in the team's messaging tool. It ends with the points that may call for a response. The full history remains available to browse and query.

What AI does, what the team does

AI sorts, summarizes and formats. The tool collects and compares. The team chooses the sources, reads, judges what matters and decides on responses. Strategic conclusions remain human.

Data and access required

the list of competitors and their websites;
the topics to track and their importance;
the newsletters the team already subscribes to;
a distribution channel (email, team messaging).

Project timeline

Weeks 1 and 2: assessment. Review of current competitive intelligence, choice of scope and sources. This is the format of our audit (8 to 10 days).
Weeks 3 and 4: collection. Setting up source monitoring, first sorting and summarizing tests.
Weeks 5 and 6: digest. First weekly digests, fine-tuning the rules with the team.
After that: follow-up. Adding sources or competitors as needed.

Deliverables

a tool to collect the selected public sources;
a sourced, one-page weekly digest;
a searchable history of all collected information;
documented prioritization rules;
a short training session for the team.

Metrics to track

time spent on competitive intelligence each week;
the digest's read rate;
the number of items the team finds useful;
the time between a change at a competitor and the team learning about it.

These metrics are recorded at the start, then tracked every month. No results are promised in advance.

Limitations and prerequisites

Only public information is tracked. Competitive intelligence does not replace feedback from the sales team.
Some websites restrict automated collection: these sources are tracked another way or set aside.
A summary can oversimplify a nuance: the source is always available to check.

Indicative budget

The assessment corresponds to our audit, from €1,000 excl. VAT. Implementation is quoted on request, depending on the number of competitors and sources.

Frequently asked questions

Is competitive intelligence legal? Yes, as long as it covers public information and respects the websites' terms of use. No personal data is used beyond what is published.

Can we ask questions about the history? Yes, the history can be queried in natural language, with links back to the sources.

How many competitors can we track? There is no technical limit; we start with the ones that really matter, so the digest stays short.

Can we also track customers or referral partners? Yes, with the same rules.

What next?

If competitive intelligence depends on the team's spare time, the audit lets us define the sources, the rules and the digest format in 8 to 10 days.

Client challenge