Audience research
Part of How to research customer data platform buyers in England without manufacturing a persona
Customer data platforms competitor research: source rules
A source-led method for customer data platforms competitor research: define the CDP job, separate source types, record unknowns and set stop rules.
Customer data platforms competitor research should produce a dated evidence ledger, not a story about who leads the UK market. This page sets source rules for that work; it does not compare suppliers, and no suppliers were named or reviewed for this checklist. Public claims cannot establish customer numbers, revenue, share, performance or suitability unless a source directly measures the defined fact.
What to take away
- Separate evidence into five layersregister fact, first-party claim, contractual record, independent evidence and unknown.
- Record the exact legal entity, service, edition, evidence date and unresolved fields for every candidate.
- Stop when product identity is ambiguous, material terms cannot be matched to the edition, extraction authority is unclear or evidence is too old.
Fix the research question
- Define the buyer jobidentity reconciliation, profile governance, preference propagation, activation or another exact function.
- Set the UK geography rule and evidence cut-off.
- Include the buyer's current manual or internally built route.
- State exclusions, such as generic CRM, analytics or warehouse services lacking evidence of the qualifying function.
Do not start with a directory labelled CDP. The same brand may cover several legal entities, editions and service classes.
Separate five evidence layers
- Register fact:record the legal entity, registered address, status and filing date exactly as shown. The GOV.UK Companies House information service lists the company details available from the public register. Those entries do not prove current product capability, UK service delivery or commercial quality.
- First-party claim:capture the supplier page, exact service or edition, wording, page date and geography. Mark it supplier-published. A feature page does not independently prove accuracy, security, accessibility or outcomes.
- Contractual record:identify the terms, privacy notice, data-processing provisions, service description and change date that actually apply to the candidate.
- Independent evidence:preserve the competent authority, test body or researcher's method, sample, date, scope and limitations. A review of one edition should not be applied to another.
- Unknown:leave the field unknown when evidence is absent or incompatible. Do not convert silence into a negative claim.
Source categories to check: the Companies House information service, the ICO controllers and processors guidance, the ICO register of fee payers for each relevant legal entity, G-Cloud listings on the Digital Marketplace where relevant, supplier trust centres and subprocessor lists, the NCSC supplier assurance questions, and independent test bodies with published methods. Record the access date for each source.
Illustrative ledger row (public register source, not a CDP candidate; verify its date before reuse).
Field / Entry
- Entity
- Companies House
- Edition
- Companies House information service, public register
- Evidence date
- 9 May 2026
- Source
- Companies House information service
- Access date
- 9 May 2026
- Unknown
- CDP product capability and England service delivery
Check data and operational boundaries
- List sources, identifiers, join methods, profile outputs and activation destinations; record evidence for any claimed identity graph or profile-unification function, consent or preference store, activation connectors and data-residency position.
- Record controller, processor or other roles from actual decisions rather than contract labels. The ICO's controllers and processors guidance supplies the UK regulator boundary.
- Capture subprocessor access, transfers, retention, correction, suppression, deletion and export routes.
- Ask for least-privilege administration, audit logs, incident handling and recovery evidence.
- Test critical admin and export tasks separately for accessibility.
The NCSC supplier assurance questions can organise security and exit requests. It is neither an approval nor proof that an undocumented control exists.
Data and Operational Boundaries
- List sources, identifiers, join methods, profile outputs
- Record controller or processor roles from decisions
- Capture subprocessors, transfers, retention, deletion routes
- Ask for least-privilege admin, audit logs, recovery
- Test admin and export tasks for accessibility
Respect use restrictions and intellectual property
- Record the page or dataset terms and permitted collection method before extracting material.
- Save only what the research question needs, with source and access date.
- Do not copy protected databases or content merely because a browser can display them.
- Keep personal data out of a competitor ledger unless a documented purpose and qualified review require it.
GOV.UK guidance on sui generis database rights explains that database contents may receive automatic protection distinct from copyright in selection or arrangement. Legal review must assess the intended use.
Close with comparability, not ranking
For every candidate, show the exact legal entity, service, edition, evidence date and unresolved fields. Compare only common units and the same buyer task. Reject traffic estimates, review counts and search visibility as proxies for market share or customer outcomes. Record conflicts and funding for every independent source.
Stop when product identity is ambiguous, material terms cannot be matched to the edition, extraction authority is unclear or evidence is too old for the decision. The output should be a prequalification ledger and a list of permissioned questions.
Before you act
- Confirm who can authorise extraction and who signs off the ledger.
- Set a review date for the evidence cut-off and list the unresolved fields that would stop a candidate.
- Check that the buyer job and the UK geography rule still match the shortlist before you contact suppliers.
Common questions
What should competitor research produce instead of a story about market leadership?
Use the ledger to test each claim against the buyer job. If a supplier page is the only source, mark the field unknown and note the page date. If a register entry is the only source, record the filing date and do not treat it as proof of capability.
How should unknown evidence be treated in the ledger?
Leave the field unknown and note why the evidence was absent or incompatible. Do not read silence as a negative finding. Revisit the field when a dated source appears, and record the access date.
What should the final output be, and what should it avoid declaring?
Produce a prequalification ledger and a list of permissioned questions. Compare only common units and the same buyer task, and note any source whose method or sample does not match the edition.
