Food & Beverage · ChallengeRival Markets
Launch a drinks company into a market that is already crowded.
You, the founder
You're about to run your own drinks company. Your rivals are starting at the same time with the same money. Build your brand, keep products on the shelf, and try to finish ahead.
The business
You have just launched a bottled-drinks company in a growing urban market. Rival companies launched the same day with the same cash. Build the brand, keep the shelves stocked, protect your margin.
Rival Markets is a food & beverage challenge. You run one company; the computer companies launched the same day with the same cash and are deciding every quarter too.
What you control
- Price — what a bottle costs, against a market that notices.
- Production — how many units to make, inside the capacity your people give you.
- Marketing — spend that builds awareness, with diminishing returns.
- People — staffing and training; capacity, morale and service follow.
- Finance — borrowing and repaying inside a credit limit, with interest.
- Events — a viral moment, a cost shock, a quality scare, a slowdown: each one has options.
What you practise
From the challenge catalogSpotting opportunitiesReading customers and marketsValue propositionPricingCosts and cash flowOperationsMarketingCompetitive positioningManaging riskTeamworkAdapting under pressureDeciding from evidenceReflection
Pricing and price sensitivityDemand and market shareMarketing with diminishing returnsCapacity, production and inventory riskStaffing, training, morale and productivityCash against profitFinancing and interestCost shocksElasticity in a downturnTrade-offs
How a challenge runs
Length
4 quarters
about 15 minutes · Launch, build awareness, absorb a cost shock, finish strong.
Length
6 quarters
about 25 minutes · Adds a consolidation quarter and a reputation test before the final push.
Length
8 quarters
about 35 minutes · Two cost shocks, an expansion quarter and the longest reputation arc.
Difficulty
Founder
More guidance and a forgiving competitive environment. 3 computer companies · full guidance.
Difficulty
Operator
The standard challenge. 4 computer companies · coach notes only.
Difficulty
Executive
Minimal guidance and the toughest competitive environment. 5 computer companies · no guidance.
Competition intensity
Standard market
Customers as the challenge normally models them.
Competition intensity
Crowded market
Customers are readier to buy nothing at all and more sensitive to price. Harder for every company, yours included.
Replayability
Play it back
Same market, different decisions: a replay faces the same field and carries your last run as a fixed comparison line. Six competitor strategies, four events, three difficulties and two markets.
In class
3, 4, 5 rounds
3 rounds ≈ 50 min · 4 rounds ≈ 70 min · 5 rounds ≈ 105 min. Hosted by a teacher.
No account needed. You get a resume code so you can carry on from another device.
Start a ChallengeSimulated values are for learning. They are not real forecasts.