Clarity becomes a genuine competitive advantage.
For more than six decades, Frost & Sullivan has helped leaders and investors make sense of competitive landscapes, and on June 9 the firm took a quiet but meaningful step forward — not by changing how it measures companies, but by sharpening how it speaks about what it finds. The Frost Radar, its benchmarking tool born in 2019, now organises its findings into four clearer classifications and a rescaled visual field, reflecting a recognition that in crowded markets, the ability to communicate distinction is itself a form of rigour. It is a reminder that insight, however carefully earned, is only as useful as its legibility.
- As markets grow denser with capable competitors, investors and strategists have found it increasingly difficult to draw meaningful distinctions between companies that appear nearly identical on a benchmark chart.
- Frost & Sullivan responded not by rebuilding its analytical engine, but by redesigning the dashboard — introducing four classifications and a rescaled visual range to create sharper separation between participants.
- The firm's lead strategist was explicit: the research, validation, and scoring that determine who makes the radar have not changed by a single variable.
- The four new labels — Visionary Leaders, Growth Champions, Innovators, and Contenders — give decision-makers a faster, more intuitive read on how a company balances present performance with future readiness.
- All future Frost Radar analyses across global industries will carry these refinements, making the benchmark more immediately actionable for the investors and executives who rely on it most.
Frost & Sullivan, the research and strategy firm with more than sixty years behind it, announced in June that it has refined its Frost Radar benchmarking tool — not by altering its foundations, but by making its findings easier to act on. The Frost Radar, launched in 2019, evaluates companies across two dimensions — growth and innovation — and has become a meaningful signal of competitive standing, given the rigorous narrowing process that determines who earns a place on it.
The challenge the firm identified was one of presentation rather than analysis. As markets have grown more crowded, companies that once stood apart visually began to cluster, making it harder for decision-makers to parse genuine distinctions. The response was twofold: a rescaled visual range that creates greater separation between participants without touching underlying scores, and four new classification categories — Visionary Leaders, Growth Champions, Innovators, and Contenders — each describing a distinct balance of current execution and future potential.
Dilip Sarangan, the firm's Corporate Strategy and Digital Transformation Leader, was careful to draw the line clearly: the evaluation process, the research, the validation, the benchmarking criteria — none of it has changed. What has changed is the vocabulary used to describe results and the way those results appear on screen.
The logic is simple. In an era of unprecedented market convergence and competition, clarity is not a cosmetic concern — it is a strategic one. Frost & Sullivan plans to carry these refinements into all future analyses worldwide, with the aim of making the benchmark's core promise more legible: that some companies are genuinely better positioned than others to navigate today while preparing for tomorrow.
Frost & Sullivan, the research and strategy firm that has spent more than six decades advising corporate leaders and investors, announced on June 9 that it has refined its Frost Radar benchmarking tool—a framework it introduced in 2019 to help organisations and investors spot companies positioned to win in their markets. The change is not a fundamental overhaul. Rather, it is a recalibration of how the firm presents its findings to the world.
The Frost Radar works by measuring companies across two dimensions: growth and innovation. Since its launch, it has become a trusted signal in the market—inclusion on the radar represents a meaningful achievement, as Frost & Sullivan begins each analysis with a broad universe of candidates and then narrows the field through rigorous research and benchmarking. But as markets have grown more crowded and competitive, the firm recognised that its visual presentation and classification system needed sharpening. Decision-makers were struggling to parse meaningful distinctions between companies that appeared similar on the surface.
The solution involved introducing four new classification categories: Visionary Leaders, Growth Champions, Innovators, and Contenders. Visionary Leaders excel in both growth and innovation, positioning themselves to shape their industries' futures. Growth Champions have built strong market execution and traction. Innovators are driving technological disruption with significant upside potential. Contenders are often highly specialised firms with focused expertise and clear paths to expansion. These labels provide additional context around how each company balances current performance with future readiness.
Frost & Sullivan also rescaled the visual representation of the Frost Radar itself. As more companies achieve strong performance across multiple dimensions, meaningful visual separation becomes harder to achieve. By adjusting the plotted range, the firm created greater differentiation between participants without changing the underlying scores, evaluation criteria, or methodology. This is a presentation choice, not a methodological one. The analytical rigour that underpins the Frost Radar remains intact.
Dilip Sarangan, Corporate Strategy & Digital Transformation Leader at Frost & Sullivan, emphasised this point repeatedly in the announcement. "We have not changed how companies are assessed," he said. "We have simply improved how those assessments are represented." The firm's evaluation process—the research, validation, and benchmarking that determine which companies make the cut—stays exactly as it was. What has changed is the language used to describe the results and the way those results appear on screen.
The motivation is straightforward. Markets today are characterised by unprecedented innovation, competition, and convergence. In such an environment, clarity becomes a genuine competitive advantage. Investors and corporate strategists need to understand not just where companies stand today, but where they are headed. The Frost Radar has always aimed to provide a forward-looking view of competitive positioning. The enhancement simply makes that view easier to read.
The firm plans to incorporate these refinements into all future Frost Radar analyses across industries worldwide. For organisations seeking to understand their competitive standing or for investors evaluating potential targets, the clearer classifications and visual distinctions should make the benchmark more actionable. The underlying message remains the same: some companies are better positioned than others to navigate current realities while preparing for what comes next. Now, that message should be easier to see.
Notable Quotes
We have not changed how companies are assessed. We have simply improved how those assessments are represented.— Dilip Sarangan, Corporate Strategy & Digital Transformation Leader at Frost & Sullivan
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does a research firm need to redesign how it presents its findings? Isn't the data the data?
The data is the data, yes. But as markets get more crowded, more companies end up looking similar on the traditional two-dimensional plot. The firm wasn't changing its evaluation—it was making the distinctions it had already found more visible to the people using the tool.
So this is cosmetic?
Not quite. It's about communication clarity. If you can't see the difference between two companies on a chart, you can't act on the insight. The rescaling and the new labels—Visionary Leaders versus Growth Champions—those give decision-makers language and visual separation to work with.
But if you're just rescaling the axes, aren't you potentially exaggerating small differences?
That's a fair question. The firm says it's not changing the underlying scores or methodology, only how those scores are displayed. Whether that distinction holds up depends on how much the rescaling actually amplifies the differences. The firm maintains the integrity is preserved.
Who benefits most from this change?
Investors and corporate strategists who use the Frost Radar to make decisions about where to place capital or attention. If the tool becomes clearer, those decisions become more informed. The companies on the radar also benefit—clearer positioning means clearer market perception.
Is this a sign the Frost Radar was becoming less useful?
More that it was becoming harder to use as markets evolved. The framework itself was sound. It just needed translation for a more complex landscape.