Competition: a social marketer's friend or foe?

In public health social marketing, is there such a thing as "healthy competition," or is the term an oxymoron? The primary focus of this article is on a type of competition that may not often be considered by public health social marketers--competition from other marketing activities that exist in the marketplace in which your intervention is operating. This could also be termed "promotion" competition. The purpose of this article is to briefly review promotion competition and then review competitive factors that can impact a social marketing initiative's success, examine how to conduct a useful competitive analysis, and offer strategies for maximizing the benefits and minimizing the negative implications of competition on your efforts.