In the midst of an era where business is highly competitive and there are new businesses. That happens almost every day. Becoming a leading business in your industry can be difficult without an effective strategy.
If you are a business owner or marketer, you may have heard the term “Blue Ocean” before. This strategy is one that helps change your business to stand out by creating innovations or new products and services. which has never been done before
This Blue Ocean strategy will help your business to be unique and memorable in a highly competitive market. In this article, we will explore the world of Blue Ocean, strategies that should be applied to make a difference for your business. Along with how to find the right Blue Ocean for you!
What is Blue Ocean?
Blue Ocean, also known as ‘Blue waters’, a market filled with the needs of the target group But there is hardly any competitor that can offer products and services that meet the needs of these people. Simply put, it is a market area where there are very few competitors or there may not be any competitors at all.
Blue Ocean Red Ocean
For this reason, Blue Ocean is an area where many businesses are striving to be the only one in the market with no competitors. And it is a strategy that every business should focus on in today’s era of high competition.
Pros and Cons of the Blue Ocean Strategy
Blue Ocean’s advantages
- : Blue Ocean Red Ocean
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- : Blue Ocean Red Ocean
- : Blue Ocean
Disadvantages of Blue Ocean
- : insight
- : Blue Ocean Blue Ocean Red Ocean
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6 ways to find the right Blue Ocean
1. Analyze the current market (Red Ocean)
The first step in finding the Blue Ocean must begin with studying and analyzing the currently competitive market, or the Red Ocean, to understand the market structure, competitors, and customer needs.
Business strengths and weaknesses and the opportunity to create a business different from what already exists in Red Ocean.
2. Find the strengths of your business that are different from other brands.
3. Study the market area and customer needs.
Another important thing that helps your business be the first in Blue Ocean is to regularly study new market areas. and the needs of customers in those markets Must analyze and understand customer problems and obstacles in detail. and try to look for opportunities to solve problems through creating new value that answers the value customers are looking for
4. Design and develop products with high value and differentiation.
Once the customer’s needs are known The key to reaching a Blue Ocean is designing and developing products or services that are unique. It is important that products and services meet new customer needs and have a value that is different from competitors.
5. Find ways to overcome limitations.
While going Blue Ocean, businesses may face challenges as it is a new and high-risk market. Whether it is the product design and development process or reaching new customer groups If you encounter limitations along the way What you can do is consider ways in which you can overcome market constraints and make a difference, such as using new technology. Price structure changes or changes in the production process
6. Create your own business success formula.
Something that should always be kept in mind is that Blue Ocean businesses do not have to follow the formulas of other businesses.
A good business should create a formula for success that suits itself and adjust business development operations to suit the situation. If you encounter an obstacle or problem Always learning new methods And applying it to your business effectively is what you should do.
Six Paths Framework
© Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne. All rights reserved.
In addition to the six methods above, finding the Blue Ocean can also be done using the Six Paths Framework, a business tool developed by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne to help businesses find alternatives to the Red Ocean market and competitors by looking for new ideas. That will lead your business to the Blue Ocean from 6 things around you:
Path 1: Look for alternative industries
The first thing is to find out if the customer wants to solve the problem he is facing. If he doesn’t buy current products and services from other businesses. What substitute goods and services can he buy? By trying to develop ideas that are different from those businesses but can still serve similar purposes to the original product. and has different uses to create a Blue Ocean
Path 2: Look for other strategic groups within the industry.
Look for businesses in the same industry as yours. But there are different groups of strategies for your business using the following steps:
- Collect factors that influence purchasing decisions.
- Eliminate factors that do not affect purchasing decisions.
- Analyze whether there are still any customer groups who have not yet purchased products or used services.
- Create additional factors from analyzing customer groups who have not yet purchased products or used services.
- Using this factor as a selling point.
- Create a new group of strategies besides price factors. From pulling out the outstanding factors Eliminate unnecessary factors and create new factors
Path 3: Look beyond the buyer group.
In some businesses, the people purchasing the product may not always be the actual target audience, such as office supplies. The person who makes purchasing decisions may be the purchasing department. that focuses on price and convenience of purchasing at the same time 3 By trying to make your product or service an attractive alternative for influential groups.
Route 4 : Look from Pain Points
Analyze and understand the problems or dissatisfaction that the target group is facing from using products or services available in the current market. Then develop products that can solve or alleviate that problem to meet the needs of the target group.
Path 5: Considering whether products attract customers with Function or Emotion.
Each customer is attracted to different things. While some people are attracted by beauty Therefore, you should try adding some factors. That attracts the other end of the purchasing decision. Function Emotion Blue Ocean
Path number 6: Look from trends.
Try analyzing industry trends and observing business changes. Whether it is technology or customer behavior to use in developing new products or services.
Examples of Blue Ocean Businesses
Nintendo
Cr. Nintendo
Just Dance:
Nintendo targets teenagers who like to do more active activities by releasing a new product “Just Dance” that focuses on movement and playing fun games. This is Blue Ocean, which has customers who used to love playing games but are about to change their behavior to focus on outside activities instead of playing games.
Nintendo Switch:
Nintendo created Blue Ocean with the Nintendo Switch, a portable gaming console that can be played in TV-connected or handheld mode. With their variety and flexibility, they aim to appeal to the fitness and gaming crowd.
Nintendo V:
Nintendo V is a game designed to allow all genders and ages to spend time doing activities together through playing games that meet the needs of all genders and all ages. This is the creation of Blue Ocean that focuses on diversity and understanding the needs of customers who are not frequent gamers.
HONDA
Honda Cub (Super Cub):
The Honda Cub gives consumers who are not interested in riding motorcycles the opportunity to customize their motorcycles according to their lifestyles. Its unique design, uniqueness and style that drivers like will allow it to reach a new market that Honda has never been able to reach before.
Honda CR-V Hybrid:
Honda creates Blue Ocean in the SUV Hybrid car market with the Honda CR-V Hybrid that provides consumers with both sportiness and Save energy And it has features that make it different from other SUVs on the market.
Apple
Cr. MacThai
iPod:
The iPod was the first MP3 player to offer a large hard drive and an easy-to-use user interface. This allowed users to carry all their music with them wherever they went, helping Apple dominate the MP3 player market.
iPhone:
iPhone was the first smartphone to offer a Muti Touch screen and an App Store, allowing users to interact with their phones in a whole new way.
iPad:
iPad was the first tablet to offer a large screen and user experience designed specifically for tablets. Users can view content and work on their mobile devices in a different way than before.
Summary
Blue Ocean is a marketing strategy that every business should pay attention to. Entering the Blue Ocean can be riskier and more expensive than the Red Ocean, but the results may change your business forever.
After reading, don’t forget to apply the 6 steps to changing from a Red Ocean to a Blue Ocean and the Six Paths Framework, looking for new ideas. That will lead your business to the Blue Ocean from 6 things around you.
Friends, which business idea do you like about entering the Blue Ocean? You can comment and share your ideas!
