Marketing Archives

Blue Ocean Strategy: Book Overview

What is Blue Ocean Strategy about? What is the difference between a blue ocean and a red ocean? In their book Blue Ocean Strategy, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne argue that the solution to business success is to operate in an uncontested market (the “blue ocean”). They contrast it with a “red ocean”, a marketplace where fierce competition has stained the water with the blood of the combatants. According to the authors, crowded markets and red ocean strategies tend to produce minimal profit margins, while blue ocean strategies lead to more profitable growth. Below is a brief overview of the

How to Create a Blue Ocean Product That Sells

How do you design a blue ocean product? What is the key to creating a product in a yet uncontested market? To begin brainstorming ideas for a blue ocean product offering, think of a product or service your company already sells, to use as a starting point. To help you come up with product ideas, Kim and Mauborgne explore some different approaches you can take to brainstorming. Here are seven potential routes you could take to brainstorm a blue ocean product that sells.

Blue Ocean Innovation: Better Value at Low Cost

What is value innovation? How do Kim and Mauborgne define “value innovation” in the context of blue ocean strategy? Value innovation is the cornerstone of Kim and Mauborgne’s blue ocean strategy. The authors clarify that blue ocean innovation is not a matter of merely raising or lowering value in order to raise or lower your costs. Instead, Kim and Mauborgne assert that you need a breakthrough that allows you to offer better value at a lower cost. Keep reading to learn about the concept of blue ocean innovation (or “value innovation”) and how it creates blue oceans through new ideas

How Advertisers Exploit Your Purchasing Habits

How do advertisers manipulate customers into buying their products? How do they use cues to trigger purchasing habits in your subconscious? In his book The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg explains how advertisers influence customers to buy their products by learning about and manipulating their purchasing habits. They achieve this through sales promotions, rearranging shelves, or tracking your habits online. Continue reading to learn how advertisers use the psychology of habit to sell more products.

Blue Ocean Strategy: Review & Critical Reception

What is Blue Ocean Strategy about? What is the key premise of W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne’s blue ocean business model? In Blue Ocean Strategy, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne argue that the key to building a successful business is to create a blue ocean—a brand-new market for an innovative idea. You can create such a market by focusing on your product’s characteristics that customers really care about while discarding the characteristics they don’t. This creates a new product offering that doesn’t currently exist, in a space without direct competitors. Here is our review of Blue Ocean Strategy.

What to Do If Your Blue Ocean Turns Into a Red Ocean

What is the difference between a blue ocean and a red ocean market? How do you prevent a blue ocean product from becoming a red ocean? Kim and Mauborgne caution that when you create a blue ocean market, imitators will inevitably arrive, eventually turning it into a red ocean. There are two ways you can respond: 1) prolong your blue ocean, and 2) find a new blue ocean. Let’s consider each of these approaches in turn.

Measuring Customer Experience: The Blue Ocean Way

What are your customers thinking? How do you measure KPI for customer experience? There are many different approaches to measuring customer experience. In their book Blue Ocean Strategy, Renée Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim advise that you use what they call a “buyer utility map,” which is essentially a customer experience scorecard for analyzing how your customer responds to your product at every stage. A blank example of a customer experience scorecard is shown below.

4 Hurdles to Kim and Mauborgne’s Blue Ocean Strategy

Companies With Successful Business Strategies

How do you execute a blue ocean strategy? What are the most common challenges you’re likely to encounter when putting your blue ocean strategy in motion? Once you’ve got a strategy, it’s time to execute it. In Blue Ocean Strategy, Kim and Mauborgne oversee four potential hurdles that you’ll have to overcome to implement a blue ocean strategy at your company and offer advice on how to overcome them. Let’s take a look at each one in turn.

Blue Ocean Strategy: Pricing to Maximize Revenue

How is pricing determined in the blue ocean strategy? What are the benefits of low-cost pricing? Blue Ocean Strategy authors W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne advise setting your price to maximize the number of buyers in your market. In other words, you want to select a price that will make your product attractive to as many potential customers as possible. Keep reading to learn about the blue ocean strategy pricing approach.

Exceed Customer Expectations to Gain Loyalty

Does your business exceed customer expectations? Why isn’t it good enough to simply meet customer expectations? In their business fable Raving Fans, management experts Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles say that, if you want to create “raving fans” of your business, you need to go beyond meeting expectations. It’s only when you exceed a customer’s expectations that they become loyal to your company. Here’s why you should aim to exceed rather than satisfy.