Project: Choose Company & Peers
CHOOSE an organization of focus & peer companies.
Answer ALL questions below and DO NOT turn in until feedback has been received on the exploration assignment.
Note: It’s simple. Please turn in on time so we can then build on it and get feedback from me as needed before we start seeking out data and bringing it in. Note: this is not hypothetical. It’s not a proposal. You need to CHOOSE. You reserve the right to change your mind as we progress. A decision now and an adjustment later is better than indecision.
Following up from last week’s tentative choices is the first question. Where before you were exploring and getting feedback about what you could choose, now let’s go with it!
Question 1. a) What organization are you choosing that excites you (what do you light up about when talking to friends or family about) and b) Do you have access to any of its data directly?
Question 2.
List out what you think 3 “peer competitors” might be that are closest.
Example: LaCroix: Pellegrino, Perrier, Dasani Sparkling.
List out what you think 3 “innovative challengers” might be.
Example: For LaCroix: compare to Bubly, Ugly Drinks, New York Seltzer (old brand being marketed new), Brooklyn Seltzer Boys (niche regional player, different old school delivery model)
List out 3 companies that might be interesting to compare to that are in a slightly different industry (but related). Example: LaCroix maybe: Soda Stream, iSi Soda Siphons which are an alternative method to create or other alternatives: Kombucha brands, Coconut water, tart cherry juice, pomegranate juice, maple water, alkaline water brand. This category is a lot more open ended, depending on what you think could be interesting to learn from. For example, these are mostly American or Global brands; what about the three top sparkling waters in Mexico, Germany, Australia or Bali? I bet they have at least some differences in marketing, product, etc.
Other examples:
Here’s one for AirBnB
Peer Competitors: AirBnB: VRBO, HomeAway, HomeStay
Innovative Challengers: CouchSurfing.com (although it was before AirBnB), Flipkey, Turnkey, OneFineStay
Different but Related Industry: HipCamp, Outdoorsy, RVShare
Beats (Apple) Headphones
Peer Competitors: Bose, Sony, Panasonic, JBL, Jabra
Innovative Challengers: Master & Dynamic, Bowers and Wilkins, 1More, Under Armour collab with JBL
Different but Related (Better Premium headphones): Sennheiser, Grado, Shure, Audio-Technica, Klipsch, Bang & Olufsen
Different but Related (earbuds): Apple Airpods, Google Pixelbuds, Anker, Samsung Galaxy or Gear whatever
or you could go very different and go to speakers or anything else tangential.
Lululemon
Peer Competitors: Athleta, UnderArmour
Peer Competitors (big athletic global companies): Adidas, Nike, Puma, Fila
Innovative Challengers (Online stars): Alo, OutdoorVoices, Fabletics
Innovative Challengers (Yoga pro brands): Manduka, Prana,
Innovative Challengers (niche players): GTS, Onzie, Teeki, Vyayama, Girlfriend Collective, k deer
Different but Related (Men’s focus which is a Lulu priority now): Rhone, Ohmme
Note: as you can tell, it depends on how you define a peer, etc. Just make sure it’s a fairly coherent organization
