Your competitors probably aren’t who you think they are.

A few years ago, London (and just about every other major city) became infested with on-demand bikes. They were intriguing yet irritating. And it seemed to happen quickly, where pavements were suddenly cluttered with dozens of different bike brands vying to be noticed with increasingly garish colours.

In the midst of the melee, Uber entered with a massive fleet of bikes that were nice to look at, integrated into their existing app and priced somewhere north of a trip on the tube, but south of a taxi fare. It seemed like an unusual move for a brand competing in an increasingly competitive taxi category, but Uber (who are both a brilliant brand and a terrible business) were clever. Their customers weren’t trying to take a taxi…they’re trying to get home. A perfect application of Theodore Levitt’s quote, “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole”.

This simple insight is the basis for Jobs To Be Done, a framework that uses customer interviews to tease out the “job” someone is trying to do, why they “hired” your brand to get the job done and who else they considered along the way. In other words, a much more accurate picture of your true competition. Brands can become over-fixated on their competitive set without acknowledging that true competitors are often found in adjacent categories, who also get the job done.

Next time you’re looking at your competitive set, ask yourself if it’s time to re-word the question. Try asking your customers your version of “how would you consider getting home?” and see what comes back.