The exercises and what came out

The market today, the strategy canvas

What the tool is

The strategy canvas is a single picture of the whole market. Along the bottom sit the things a club actually weighs when choosing a kit supplier. Up the side is how much of each thing a supplier group gives. Every supplier gets its own line on the same picture, so it is easy to see who is really different and who is only saying the same thing in a different way.

What we did

• Karim and Nader agreed the numbers together: four supplier groups, and eleven things a club weighs, for football kit, the market EKANA actually competes in.
• Two things are not on the picture, because neither turned out to decide anything. Nobody could name a club that buys a plain shirt and takes it to a local print shop, so that is not a way clubs buy. And how close or familiar a supplier feels scores the same for every supplier at this level.
• We did not run a market survey. This is what Nader knows from talking to clubs every week, and the reasons clubs have given for saying no.

What came out

Four groups a club can buy from:

• The big brands sold through distributors, such as Nike, Adidas and Joma.
• The local sports shop that has become a club's own channel, such as Deportes Polos.
• The custom specialists, EKANA's own group, alongside names like Aimar and Wade.
• And EKANA.

Where EKANA's own line sits:

• Almost on top of the specialists' line, only cheaper and without a shop. That makes EKANA the cheap version of its own group, not a different one, and it is the whole reason for this work.
• The two rows where EKANA is highest, its own design and flexible terms, the specialists share. Nothing on this picture is EKANA's alone.

Where the brands sit:

• High on everything a president can see and show off: a name people know, quality, a full catalogue, a shop.
• Low on anything custom.