Imagine you are working in the marketing departmentof ZestBars, a fictitious, medium-sizecompany that makes energy bars. Your manager would like you to lead the process todefinethe company's brand positioning strategy. When you review her proposal for how you shouldlead this process, there is no mention of performing a competitive analysis.

How should I respond to the manager's suggested brand positioning strategy? The response should include:

• A rationale for why the marketing team should analyze the competition.
• The specific value a competitive analysis can bring to the energy bar company.
• Three specific steps the marketing team could take to begin the process of completing a competitive analysis.

I am allowed to include specific names of energy bar competitors in my response to illustrate the argument tothe manager.