---
id: "action-identify-true-rivals"
type: "action-item"
source_timestamps: ["§ Keep Your Enemies Close"]
tags: ["market-research", "data-analysis"]
related: ["concept-true-rivalry"]
action: "Conduct consumer surveys or Google search volume analysis to measure brand association with potential competitors."
outcome: "Ensures you target a 'true rival' recognized by consumers, preventing negative messaging from backfiring as inappropriate bullying."
speakers: ["Abhishek Borah", "Johannes Berendt", "Sebastian Uhrich", "Gavin Kilduff"]
sources: ["tail2"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail2"
originDay: 2
articleStem: "hbr-tail-124-good-rivalry-brand"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/08/a-good-rivalry-can-elevate-your-brand"
sourceTitle: "A Good Rivalry Can Elevate Your Brand"
---
# Verify True Rivals via Data

**Action:** Conduct consumer surveys or Google search-volume analysis to measure brand association with potential competitors.

**Outcome:** Ensures you target a [[concept-true-rivalry|true rival]] recognized by consumers, preventing negative messaging from backfiring as inappropriate bullying.

Before launching a rivalry campaign, empirically prove that consumers view the target as a true rival — **do not rely on internal assumptions**. Use Google search-volume analysis to see how often your brand and the competitor are searched together, or deploy consumer surveys to measure the strength of association and the perception of shared history. This is Step 1 of [[framework-rivalry-leverage]].