Playbook
Research & brief workflow
Perplexity· Claude·~20 min
Why this matters
Competitor research used to mean hours of clicking through websites, copying snippets into docs, and trying to synthesize it all. By the time you finished, the data was already stale.
This workflow chains Perplexity (fast web research with citations) and Claude (structured analysis and writing) to get you from zero to a sourced strategy brief in about 20 minutes.
What you get
Executive Summary
The premium pet food market ($12B, growing 8% YoY) is dominated by 5 players competing on ingredient quality and subscription convenience. A clear gap exists in the $6-8/lb range for subscription-first brands targeting health-conscious millennials with transparent sourcing.
Competitive Landscape
| Brand | Price/lb | Model | Differentiator |
|---|---|---|---|
| FreshPaws | $9.50 | Subscription | Vet-formulated recipes |
| NomNom | $11.20 | Subscription | Fresh delivery, custom portions |
| PetPlate | $8.90 | Hybrid | Human-grade ingredients |
| Ollie | $10.00 | Subscription | AI-personalized meal plans |
| Spot & Tango | $7.80 | Subscription | Sustainability focus |
Gap identified
No major player owns the $6-8/lb subscription tier with transparent sourcing. Spot & Tango is closest but leads with sustainability, not transparency.
Recommendation
Position at $7.50/lb with farm-to-bowl traceability as the core differentiator. Target: health-conscious pet owners aged 25-40 in urban markets.
Step-by-step
Search competitors
Open Perplexity and search for your competitors. Be specific about your market segment — the narrower your scope, the better the results.
Who are the top 5 competitors in [your market, e.g. "premium pet food in the US under $10/lb"]? For each, list their website, pricing model, and target audience.
✓ A list of 3-5 real companies with actual URLs and accurate descriptions.
Deep-dive each competitor
Ask Perplexity to dive deeper into each competitor. Focus on their positioning, pricing, and what makes them different.
For each of these competitors, summarize: - Their value proposition (one sentence) - Pricing model (subscription, retail, hybrid) - Target customer (who are they selling to?) - Recent news or funding Competitors: [paste competitor list]
✓ Specific data points — actual prices, real customer segments, recent events. Flag anything that seems like a hallucination.
Compare pricing in a table
Take the research from Perplexity and paste it into Claude. Ask Claude to organize it into a comparison table — it's better at structured analysis.
Create a comparison table of these competitors with columns: Brand, Price/lb, Sales Model (retail/subscription/hybrid), Target Customer, Key Differentiator. Research data: [paste Perplexity output]
✓ A clean table with consistent formatting. Check that prices and models match what Perplexity found.
Analyze positioning gaps
Ask Claude to find the gaps in the market. Where are competitors clustered? Where is there open space?
Based on this competitor analysis, identify: 1. Where are competitors clustered? (price point, customer segment) 2. What gaps exist in the market? 3. Where could a new entrant position themselves? [paste comparison table]
✓ A clear positioning insight — not just a summary of what exists, but where the opportunity is.
Write the strategy brief
Ask Claude to pull everything together into a strategy brief with sections: Executive Summary, Key Findings, Competitive Landscape, Recommendation.
Write a strategy brief with these sections: 1. Executive Summary (2-3 sentences) 2. Key Findings (bullet points) 3. Competitive Landscape (the comparison table) 4. Market Gaps (positioning analysis) 5. Recommendation (where to position and why) Cite sources for every factual claim. [paste all research]
✓ A brief that's concise (under 2 pages), has cited sources, and ends with a clear recommendation.