Leaders from the world’s largest companies, equity research firms, hedge funds, and the Federal Reserve rely on Morning Consult’s 30,000 daily survey interviews in 45 countries covering more than 5,000 brands, economic indicators, and risk metrics. Category Advantage measures the drivers of brand strength by capturing mental availability and emotional closeness among competitors.
Category Advantage measures the drivers of brand strength by capturing both mental availability (likelihood a brand comes to mind) and emotional closeness (how strongly consumers connect with a brand) among all competitors. Schedule a private briefing on this research. .
The core insight: DraftKings wins when people want to turn outcomes into competition. The brand’s mental sequence is clear: I participate → I make a call → The outcome resolves → I see how I did vs. others → I share or internalize the result. This sequence should be reinforced consistently in product, communications, and media. It differentiates DraftKings from FanDuel’s “act now” immediacy and from Kalshi/Polymarket’s “understand reality” positioning.
1. Clarify the core role: “where participation becomes competition.” DraftKings’ organizing idea is clear: you don’t just watch outcomes — you compete on them. This unifies sports betting, event-driven markets, knowledge-based returns, and social comparison. It should be the anchor for how DraftKings frames its role across the category.
2. Reframe non-sports events as contests, not forecasts. DraftKings already has meaningful association with tracking real-world outcomes (36%). Growth will come from framing those moments as: “Who called it?” “How did you do vs. others?” “Did your view beat the crowd?” This extends into news-driven events, cultural outcomes, and real-world developments without drifting into analytical territory.
3. Use social proof as a primary growth lever. DraftKings’ strong associations with bragging rights (50%) and comparing predictions (47%) are strategic assets. Reinforce the sequence: I participate → I make a call → The outcome resolves → I see how I did vs. others → I share the result. This is DraftKings’ distinctive competitive loop.
4. Be disciplined about speed vs. competition. Live moments matter, but they should serve the broader goal of competitive resolution, not just quick action. DraftKings should not try to out-compete FanDuel on immediacy — its advantage is engagement and competition.
5. Measure success through retrieval priority, not just breadth. Future success should be judged by stronger top-of-mind retrieval across both sports and non-sports competitive moments, growth in mental market share that outpaces penetration, clear differentiation from FanDuel (speed) and Kalshi/Polymarket (analysis), and a larger, more coherent associative network anchored in competition.
Morning Consult conducts over 30,000 daily proprietary surveys in 45 countries covering more than 5,000 brands and 50 economic indicators.
Our category advantage research is aimed at understanding the needs driving consumers in your category — and how your brand can own more of them. This research is built on validated principles of brand-driven growth and powered by Morning Consult’s industry-leading sampling technology.
Capture both mental availability (the likelihood your brand comes to mind when consumers face a need or occasion) and emotional closeness (how strongly consumers connect with your brand), benchmarked against competitors.
Directly tied to mental availability, see the specific needs, occasions, and triggers that drive purchase decisions in your category, and how strongly your brand is linked to them.
Direct investment toward the moments and consumer segments with the greatest potential to grow your brand.
Get survey results in 4–5 days through a centralized dashboard and short-form memo that equips stakeholders with clear direction on where and how to win.