Analysis
The Analysis domain tests whether you can turn research into insight: diagnose the situation, segment audiences, and identify what actually drives the problem. It is the bridge between data collection and planning.
Core rules
- Situation analysis synthesizes internal and external factors, publics, and the communication problem - not a list of tactics.
- SWOT separates internal strengths and weaknesses from external opportunities and threats; placing a competitor's action or a market trend as a weakness is a common error.
- PESTLE scans political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental forces.
- Stakeholder analysis maps power, interest, legitimacy, and urgency; prioritization drives resource allocation.
- Segmentation groups audiences by behavior, need, or attitude, not demographics alone.
- Root-cause analysis asks why repeatedly so the plan addresses causes rather than symptoms.
Worked example
A museum's attendance falls 18%. The draft analysis lists 'social media is crowded' and 'young people don't like museums' as weaknesses. Neither is internal or evidence-based. The data show ticket prices rose 25% and member renewals fell. The corrected analysis frames the price increase as an internal weakness, the crowded digital environment as an external threat, and the audience assumption as a hypothesis requiring research. The insight - price sensitivity among lapsed members - redirects the plan toward retention offers and pricing tests rather than a generic awareness campaign.
Traps
- Labeling tactics or outputs as analysis.
- Confusing internal weaknesses with external threats in SWOT.
- Relying on demographic stereotypes instead of behavioral evidence.
- Skipping root cause and treating the symptom as the problem.