Competition - P1(e)

Competition is rivalry in which every seller tries to get what other sellers are seeking at the same time: sales, profit, and market share by offering the best practicable combination of price, quality, and service. Where the market information flows freely, competition plays a regulatory function in balancing demand and supply.

• Meaning: It's important to know about the competitors in order to improve the company's image to attract more customers. Conde Nast needs to know what their competitors are and their market position. It's very common in business to have an aim to be better than the competitors but without information about them company cannot achieve this aim. To be competitive Conde Nast should analyse its prices, quality and service and to compare them to competitors' decisions on the marketing mix.

• Purpose: The purpose of awareness of Conde Nast's competitors is mainly to understand what are the company's advantages and disadvantages over the competitors and to use them in the right way. Conde Nast will be able to advertise itself by showing the benefits of choosing their media products and trying to correct its drawbacks. This will allow the company to attract more customers, to increase sales and, therefore, revenue and profit. 

I have referred to the following websites:

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/competition.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearst_Corporation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_Corporation