What is the Blue Ocean Strategy? How is it Implemented? Examples

The most fundamental point of marketing is where we stand, which customer we address and how we say it. Where are we in the competition, what benefit do we offer to the customer and how do we express it. The answers we give to these questions constitute the basic points of marketing. The blue ocean strategy describes where we stand in the competition, where we are different, and the effort to create a new market. With blue ocean marketing, we build blue oceans where we differentiate and create a new space instead of red oceans with sharks.

As every field has its challenges, blue oceans also have challenges because they are a new market. Expressing yourself in a new market and explaining yourself to people again can be quite challenging.

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What is Blue Ocean Strategy?

Blue Ocean Strategy is a business strategy concept developed by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. Unlike traditional competitive strategies, it targets an unexplored area with little or no competition, rather than the red ocean where competition is intense.

“Blue Ocean” aims to differentiate from the existing competitive environment and gain competitive advantage. Instead of creating demand in the market, this strategy aims to create a new market by thinking about how to meet existing demand.

While traditional business strategies usually involve taking part in existing competitive spaces and fighting competitors, the Blue Ocean Strategy encourages businesses to avoid competition and create a new market by offering a unique value proposition.

This strategy is underpinned by concepts such as the “value curve” and the “strategic circle”. The value curve shows the value offered to existing and potential customers, while the strategic circle refers to the elements of differentiation around the business that can provide competitive advantage.

The Blue Ocean Strategy focuses on businesses gaining competitive advantage by creatively and innovatively creating new markets and consumer segments. This strategy aims to maximize the value creation potential of businesses by increasing demand in the market.

How to Implement the Blue Ocean Strategy?

The Blue Ocean Strategy aims for businesses to create a new and unique market by moving beyond the traditional competition. You can follow these steps to implement this strategy:

• Assess the Current Situation: The first step is to understand the current competitive landscape and the position of your business. By analyzing the areas of competition in the market and current business strategies, you can understand where you can gain a competitive advantage.
• Identify Blue Ocean Opportunities: Assess customer needs, industry trends and market gaps. Consider where you can offer consumers a different value proposition and how you can move into an area where there is little or no competition.
• Create the Value Curve: Identify the unique value you can provide to existing and potential customers. Plan which elements you will use to meet customer needs and how they can make a difference.
• Define the Strategic Circle: Identify the elements of differentiation where your business can gain a competitive advantage. These elements can be in different areas such as cost, product features, service quality, distribution methods. Use these elements to differentiate your business and make it unique.
• Be Innovative: The Blue Ocean Strategy is based on innovation. You can stand out in the market by developing new products, services or business processes. Test and continuously improve your innovative ideas.
• Implementation and Monitoring: Implement the strategies you have defined and monitor the results regularly. Continuously optimize and improve your strategies by evaluating customer feedback.

The Blue Ocean Strategy aims to avoid traditional competitive environments and create value by creating new markets. Creative thinking, innovation and customer focus are essential to successfully implement this strategy.

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Blue Ocean Market and Company Examples

Here are a few examples of companies that have successfully implemented the Blue Ocean Strategy:

1.Cirque du Soleil:

• Created a new entertainment format, combining art, theater and circus elements, unlike traditional clown and animal shows.
• By elevating the customer experience, it moved away from traditional circus shows aimed at adults and children.
• By offering a higher quality show, it created a new market by differentiating rather than competing with traditional circuses.

2.Apple:

• With products such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad, Apple transcended the boundaries of computer companies and offered products in different categories such as portable music players, smartphones and tablet computers.
• It pioneered the consumer electronics industry with its user-friendly interfaces and designs, prioritizing customer experience.

3.Nintendo

• Utilizing the Blue Ocean Strategy in the gaming industry, Nintendo appealed to new players as well as traditional gamers with its Wii console.
• By offering a motion-based gaming experience that emphasizes physical interaction, it gained a unique position in the market.

These companies followed the following steps when implementing the Blue Ocean Strategy

• Creative Thinking: By evaluating the current situation, they developed products or services that differentiate themselves by going beyond traditional sectors.
• Customer Focus: By understanding consumer needs, they assessed market gaps and demand trends to deliver a new value proposition.
• Technology and Innovation: Using technology and innovation, they developed unique products or services to stand out in the industry.
• Risk Taking and Accepting Change: They made bold decisions to differentiate from traditional competition and took risks when entering new markets.

These examples illustrate how the Blue Ocean Strategy encourages businesses to create a new market by avoiding competition and creating unique value. Each has achieved great success in non-competitive fields with strategies built on innovation, differentiation and customer focus.

In this content, we tried to explain the blue ocean strategy that you can implement for your company. I hope it was inspiring for you. If you want to grow your business, you can meet Grower and take the right steps by taking smart tasks for your digital marketing processes.