What is a Blue Ocean Strategy?
A Blue Ocean Strategy is a business approach that involves creating a new market or industry where competition is minimal or nonexistent. This strategy focuses on identifying untapped customer needs and wants, creating new products or services, or developing innovative business models. By doing so, companies can differentiate themselves from their competitors and offer unique value propositions to customers, making the competition irrelevant. The term "blue ocean" comes from the idea that the company is sailing in uncontested waters, creating a new market space for themselves. The goal of a Blue Ocean Strategy is to create new demand, expand the market, and generate profitable growth for the company.
What's included in this Blue Ocean Strategy Template?
- 3 focus areas
- 6 objectives
- 6 projects
- 6 KPIs
Each focus area has its own objectives, projects, and KPIs to ensure that the strategy is comprehensive and effective.
Who is the Blue Ocean Strategy Template for?
The Blue Ocean Strategy Template is for organizations and businesses of all industries and sizes that want to develop a Blue Ocean Strategy. This template is particularly helpful for companies that are facing intense competition and want to find new ways to stand out in the market. It is also useful for startups or companies that are entering a new market and want to differentiate themselves from existing players. The Blue Ocean Strategy Template provides a framework for companies to focus on differentiation, low cost, and value innovation as key areas for building a Blue Ocean Strategy. It is a flexible tool that can be adapted to fit the unique needs and goals of each organization, regardless of their size, industry, or location.
1. Define clear examples of your focus areas
A focus area in the context of this plan is a broad goal that your company is trying to achieve. The Blue Ocean Strategy template focuses on three key areas: differentiation, low cost, and value innovation. To create a Blue Ocean Strategy, a company would need to identify ways to differentiate their products or services from competitors, optimize operational efficiency to lower costs, and create new products or services to capture untapped customer needs.
For example, in the Blue Ocean Strategy created previously, the focus areas were as follows:
- Differentiation: Develop unique product features and create a distinct brand identity.
- Low Cost: Optimize operational efficiency and leverage technology for cost savings.
- Value Innovation: Create new products/services and collaborate with customers.
2. Think about the objectives that could fall under that focus area
Objectives are the desired outcomes that fall under each of the focus areas. Objectives for differentiation could include identifying customer needs and wants, conducting market research to develop unique product features, and developing a branding strategy to set the company apart from competitors.
Objectives for low cost could include conducting a cost-benefit analysis to identify areas for cost savings, implementing automation and digital tools to streamline processes, and reducing waste to lower production costs.
Objectives for value innovation could include fostering a culture of innovation to encourage idea generation, engaging customers to co-create and refine products/services, and launching new products/services to capture untapped customer needs.
3. Set measurable targets (KPIs) to tackle the objective
To measure the success of the objectives, specific key performance indicators (KPIs) would need to be identified. For example, KPIs for differentiation could include an increase in customer satisfaction score or brand recognition. KPIs for low cost could include a decrease in operational costs or an increase in productivity. KPIs for value innovation could include the launch of new products/services or an increase in customer retention rate.
4. Implement related projects to achieve the KPIs
To achieve the KPIs, related projects would need to be implemented. For example, to increase customer satisfaction, a company could conduct market research to identify customer needs and wants and develop new product features based on that research. To decrease operational costs, a company could implement automation and digital tools to streamline processes and reduce waste. To launch new products/services, a company could foster a culture of innovation and engage customers to co-create and refine those products/services.
5. Utilize Cascade Strategy Execution Platform to see faster results from your strategy
To see faster results from the strategy, use Cascade Strategy Execution Platform designed to help organizations execute their strategy effectively. With Cascade, companies can align their objectives, KPIs, and related projects, track progress, and make adjustments as needed. It also provides real-time visibility into performance metrics, allowing companies to quickly identify areas that need improvement and take corrective action. By using a strategy execution platform like Cascade, organizations can streamline their strategic planning and execution process, leading to faster and more effective results.