S.W.O.T Analysis

Internal

STRENGTHS:  

• Every race is different - climate, terrain, geographies, evolving obstacles
• Tough Mudder dominates the niche market of obstacle races
• Human Resources
• Tough Mudder University -- HBR case studies and book club (dedication to professional development)
• Every employee starts as a 6-10 week intern -- only hire from within
• Great employee benefits -- pride themselves for work being a lifestyle
• 21,000+ applications for employment within the last year
• Location: DUMBO Brooklyn -- home to New York's creative industry
• Surrounded by start-ups, studios, and tons of other innovative young companies
• Strong corporate culture
• Profiled by the NY Times as a place that "exudes Gen Y cool"
• Excellent word of mouth advertising -- Tough Mudder is a marketing company that puts on events
• *Facebook
• Target Internet ads
• Tattoos
• Memories
• Training programs
• Tough Mudder Post-Party

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WEAKNESSES:

• Event participant logistics
• At a sold out event, waves of 500 people go every 15 minutes -- congestion and back-ups at obstacles
• ....
• ....

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External

OPPORTUNITIES:

• International markets
• Clustering events/cluster markets
• Membership?
• Further developing training programs -- the training programs are becoming a huge social component and a key way to grow
• Focus/development in college markets
• College student only events -- student I.D. discounted
• End of the year celebrations with friends and classmates
• Training programs could be implemented into athletic/extracurricular class offerings

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THREATS:

• Obstacle racing could just be a fad and people return to the Ironman, triathlons, and traditional marathons
• World's Toughest Mudder Competition does not compete with Ironman
• Three-mile mud runs such as Warrior Dash
• http://warriordash.com/
• HUGE competitor: Spartan
• http://www.spartanrace.com/
• They offer something for everyone: Spartan Sprint, Super Spartan, Spartan Beast, and Death Race
• Threat of new entrants = low
• Tough Mudder, Warrior Dash, and Spartan are becoming well-established and max-out the obstacle racing market

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