Client Type: A leading FMCG multinational
The Brief: Press reports suggested that a close competitor was planning to launch a new product, but no public date or details had been confirmed. Our client wanted to know the launch date so they could time their own marketing strategy accordingly.
Our Approach: We conducted discreet interviews with industry contacts — including suppliers, distributors, and other informed sources — carefully avoiding any questions that might identify our client or alarm the interviewee. We knew that some potential contacts would be constrained by non-disclosure/confidentiality agreements. We used the existing published statements as an opening for interviews, cross-checking what we heard with the limited publicly available data including industry rumours, trade-show scheduling, packaging changes, retailer activity, etc.
The Result: We uncovered the likely launch date ahead of any public announcement. Our client used this information to schedule a competitive publicity campaign, dampening the impact of the competitor’s advertising.
Key Takeaway: A rule of thumb for finding information is to try to understand why information will be available. The sort of information required was time-sensitive, and it would not have been available online – meaning that the only sources would be people with knowledge of the launch date: some trade journalists, PR and advertising agencies, packaging suppliers, retailers (who would be paid to reserve shelf space although may not know why).
Traditional intelligence techniques — low-profile interviewing plus structured desk research — can often reveal reliable, decision-critical information even when direct disclosure is unlikely.
