Do you know why benchmarking is more and more popular? 

Benchmarking refers to the process of analyzing and evaluating the differences between your company and your competitors. With this information, you will be able to understand the differences between you and your competitors, the similarities between you and them, and what you are doing that your competitors are not doing. Benchmarking offers a great look inside, and the companies that implement it tend to come out much stronger.

The importance of benchmarking can be understood by looking at its history.


A brief history of benchmarking

Xerox had launched a photocopier in the 1960s that achieved record sales in the market. In those years, Xerox had not much competition; however, many companies, primarily from Japan, entered the market by the end of the 1980s. The sales of Xerox began to decline.


David Kern, one of its top executives, began analyzing how its main competitors were bringing copiers to market. By analysing the main competitors of Xerox, David Kern identified areas for improvement in the way the company operated.



Benchmarking - What does it mean?

It is a systematic and continuous process for evaluating and analyzing products, services, and processes in an organization. Besides analyzing the competition or the company itself, it is also important to compare the conclusions with the best practices that an industry has at a given time.


There are different types of benchmarking based on what is being measured.


Aspirational: Get ideas from leading companies in the market, who may or may not be your direct competitors, but can help you understand where marketing and communication are going in the future. 

Trends: Previous activities are used to establish goals, projections, and standards. 

Earned: Marketing efforts are judged based on the success they achieve.

Competitive: Performance and growth targets are determined based on direct competitors.


Why is benchmarking important?