Blue Ocean Strategy is about competing in uncontested market spaces, as opposed to the bloody, red oceans of highly competitive markets. There are many ways to get to a Blue Ocean, such as:
- competing in a market small enough to be ignored by bigger competitors
- introducing your product idea to a market that hasn't seen it before
- creating an entirely new market niche
- offering a product that provides something customers value highly at low cost
- for a product I can provide, what customers are out there who larger companies ignore?
- instead of fighting over the same market, can I introduce or adapt this product to a new market?
- what have competitors bundled into their products that customers DON'T want?
- can you strip out what customers don't want and give them more of what they DO want?
The authors of Blue Ocean Strategy seized upon a great example: Cirque de Soleil.
- People have always liked the circus, but...
- it was the same old tired show (clowns and elephants)
- it was smelly
- it was no longer cheap, so the product competed poorly against similarly priced alternatives
- Cirque got rid of all the labor-intensive, cost-intensive stuff (animal acts, aisle concessions) and kept the low-cost, high-value acrobatics that people liked. They then enhanced the acrobatic elements and added a level of sophistication that justified the higher price point of a live performance. High value to the customer - low operating costs = high margins :)
Taking apart products and services you use in daily life until you only have the parts that you actually like might be a great way to start thinking of a Minimally Viable Product.
Blue Ocean Strategy - it's an oldie, but a goodie :)
