Blue Ocean Shift

Blue Ocean Shift guides you through the steps to beating out your competition by creating new markets that aren’t overcrowded.

They key to finding a blue ocean is to create a new market. There are three types of strategies to do so:

Disruptive innovation Non-disruptive creation Redefining an existing problem

Disruptive innovation happens when new technological advancements beat out older ones and “disrupt” the industry. One example of this is when Netflix began streaming videos online. Their disruption put Blockbuster and much of the VHS industry out of business.

Next we have non-disruptive creation, which means neither replacing or destroying a market. Instead, this type of blue ocean comes when a company forges into addressing a previously unsolved problem. When Pfizer created Viagra, for example, it brought a solution to a problem that hadn’t been addressed yet.

And last is taking a problem that exists and redefining it. A company named Groupe SEB took this strategy with making french fries. Most people think this side dish had to be deep fried and unhealthy. But the ActiFry fryer they created made it possible to make french fries with only a little oil and no frying. They saw the existing problem in a new light and created a brand new market for it.

In other words, you need to replace an existing product with a breakthrough, solve a brand new problem, or look at an existing customer struggle differently.

Good businesses solve problems. To do that, you have to examine what makes it difficult for people to accomplish a task to uncover their pain points. A good blue ocean strategy takes a look at the hidden troubles customers might have. New opportunities lie within these mysteries, but how can you find them? Using what the authors call a buyer utility map, you can see different areas that customers might struggle. Imagine a table made of six rows and columns. Across the columns, you have the buyer experience stages: Purchase Delivery Use Supplements Maintenance Disposal Then, down the rows, you’ve got what are called utility levers: Customer productivity Simplicity Convenience Risk reduction Fun and image Environmental friendliness Once you’ve built out your table, walk yourself through each stage a customer experiences when using your product. In the case of a company that sells wine, for example, they would start with looking at how a person chooses a bottle. They would examine each stage of the experience, looking for pain points that aren’t currently being solved. To make this most effective, as yourself questions like “what makes it hard for the customer to be productive?” and “what takes away the fun of using it?” With each answer, also examine why customers would feel the…