TASK 4

TASK 4 - Who else is out there - How good are they?

Who am i competing with?

What do they offer

What makes me better

What makes me different?

After looking at this task and seeing we had to analyse 3 agencies, i decided to analyse companies that i know about and have worked for because it gives me a more informed way of looking at the business structure and what i am competing with. I decided to look at Creative Design (company based in Stamford Lincs, worked there for summer), 23ccc (company based in Stamford Lincs, competitor of Creative Design) and T-Rex Design (company based in Peterborough). By looking at two companies that are already competing and one company that is bigger than them both gives me the opportunity to see what is going on within the industry but on a smaller scale. Each company offers a general overview of graphic design so, web design, branding and corporate identity, web banners, clothing designs and T-shirts as well as printing. 

Creative Designs, strengths are that it is a small company, they have a loyal client base and they have a reputation in the local community. Their main weaknesses are they are not big enough to handle big clients, they are too small and too few to branch out into the bigger market. They are not able to deal with multidisciplinary assignments because of their size. With regards to opportunities they have a well established position within the local town and well defined range of products to offer to their clients on a small basis. Their main threat is larger companies coming in a taking clients as well as smaller companies in the areas taking clients. The larger companies have more to offer in regards to pricing, they are cheaper as it doesn’t take as much time to get a job done as it does with Creative Design. 

23 ccc, strengths are that again they have a local community client base which works around Lecistershire and Lincolnshire, this is broader than Creative Designs.Their weaknesses are that they again as too small to tackle the whole design market and have to refrain from taking larger jobs as they don’t have enough man power to deliver. They are therefore restricted to what they can produce and are not versatile for the market they are in.  The opportunities within the company are that they are again established within the local market and have industry links with printing etc. These are some very valuable tools. They main threat of this company is other smaller agencies (such as Creative Design), looking to invade the market place. 

T-Rex, strengths is the fact they have a larger market range. They are a much bigger company employing a lot more designers and therefore have a bigger client base. And due to all of this they have more products to offer. The weaknesses because of this is the fact they are bigger and therefore you loose quality and that personal relationship with clients. They have an established range of products to offer their clients, and are well established and defined within the creative market. Their main threat is smaller companies that have a more personal touch and can develop close relationships with clients on a one to one basis. 

After looking into these companies it has made me realise what i need to to be doing and where i need to be going to have a more successful career. For example as you can see smaller companies are a lot more popular and still have a large client base, and are therefor more threatening to larger companies. My main aim would be to stay established in the market and cover every design avenue possible, showing all my abilities and how i can out do the competition.