Work record / Brand / SQAIRZ
SQAIRZ: my go-to-market beside a line plan and brand diagnostic
SQAIRZ already sold a pickleball shoe and asked us for a line plan and a brand diagnostic. We took the job at risk. Jimmy Khounlavong did the analysis, and I took the go-to-market.
The seat
I worked go-to-market alongside Lip Loi Creative, inside Common Ground, in June 2025. The work was based in Phoenix, Arizona, and done remotely.
| Sector | Athletic footwear; golf and pickleball |
|---|---|
| Type of work | Line plan and brand diagnostic, requested by the client, done at risk |
| Where | Phoenix, Arizona, remote |
| Years | June 2025 |
| Through | Lip Loi Creative, inside Common Ground |
| Credits | Common Ground Jesse Fowler, Go-to-market, alongside Lip Loi Creative Jimmy Khounlavong, Lip Loi Creative: market analysis, brand analysis and revenue analysis |
What I was brought in to decide
SQAIRZ makes golf footwear and was already in pickleball. Its first pickleball shoe was on sale and its second was in development. The brand had real technology, clean visuals, partnerships and athletes. Its own website, though, gave no settled view of who the shoe was for and no stated brand voice. The category is crowded, and a buyer must first be taught why a pickleball shoe exists at all.
SQAIRZ asked for the work and offered a fee. We did it at risk, which is how a lot of good work begins: a company asks, you do the work, and you get paid on the back end or you do not. The work belongs to Jimmy Khounlavong. He wrote the scope and built the diagnostic with its research framework. He also made the line plan and the product pillars, and the launch calendar. My part was the go-to-market.
What we did
- Jimmy wrote the scope of work, dated June 10, 2025. It stands on four pillars: consumer and marketplace insights, product creation, merchandising principles and brand strategy.
- During June 2025 he built a 23-slide diagnostic that starts with the consumer. It holds a research framework and a snapshot of the pickleball market from published figures, which points to 25 to 34 year olds as the target with the most potential. It also has a SWOT and consumer journey for the website, and feedback on branding, product and merchandising, including a way for each hidden technology to show on the outside of the shoe.
- He drew the tools a footwear line depends on, as worked examples built on SQAIRZ's own models and prices. They are a four-season visual line plan, a 13-week launch calendar and two product pillars, and each is labeled an example.
- I worked the go-to-market.
Results
- SQAIRZ received the two-page scope and the 23-slide diagnostic, delivered at risk before any fee.
Firm record
Common Ground keeps its own account of this engagement: SQAIRZ on the Common Ground wiki.