Competitor

Anyone the audience would choose instead, including doing nothing. Naming them honestly is the start of standing apart.

The honest competitor list starts with the audience, not the industry. Whoever they would choose instead is a competitor, and the incumbent is usually doing nothing: living with the problem, using the spreadsheet, keeping the old supplier out of inertia. Beating nothing requires a different argument than beating a rival.

Naming rivals honestly sharpens the work: it forces the question of what they do genuinely well, which is where flattering strategy decks go quiet. Position against their real strength, not their caricature. And watch the flank, categories are usually disrupted by someone who was on nobody's list.