What Makes This Book Different From Everything Else on Your Shelf
Unlike typical strategy books that teach you how to outmaneuver rivals, Blue Ocean Strategy flips the script entirely. The authors argue that fighting over existing customers in crowded markets (red oceans) leads to commoditization, price wars, and shrinking profits. Instead, they propose creating new market space (blue oceans) where demand is created rather than fought over.
The book’s power lies in its practicality. Kim and Mauborgne don’t just present theory—they provide concrete tools, frameworks, and real-world examples that any organization can apply, whether you’re a Fortune 500 company, a startup, or even a government agency.
The Core Framework: Six Principles That Change Everything
The authors structure their approach around eight principles, but six form the heart of strategy formulation:
1. Reconstruct Market Boundaries
Rather than accepting industry boundaries as fixed, blue ocean strategists actively reshape them. The book introduces the “Six Paths Framework” for systematically exploring new market space:
The Six Paths to Blue Ocean Creation:
PathFocusExample1. Alternative IndustriesLook across substitutes and alternativesNetJets combined the convenience of private jets with the accessibility of commercial airlines2. Strategic GroupsExamine different strategic groups within industriesCurves fitness created a new category between traditional gyms and home exercise3. Chain of BuyersChallenge who the target buyer should beBloomberg shifted focus from IT managers to the actual users—traders and analysts4. Complementary OfferingsLook at total solution buyers seekPhilips created kettles with lime-scale filters, solving the water problem, not just boiling it5. Functional-Emotional OrientationFlip your industry's appealThe Body Shop made cosmetics functional rather than aspirational6. Trends Over TimeLook at decisive trends with clear trajectoriesApple's iTunes capitalized on the inevitable shift to digital music
Critical Assessment: This framework is brilliantly systematic, but here’s where it falls short—the book doesn’t adequately address when to use which path or how to evaluate which will yield the biggest opportunity. In practice, organizations often waste resources exploring all six paths when one or two might suffice.
2. Focus on the Big Picture, Not the Numbers
Kim and Mauborgne introduce the Strategy Canvas, a visual tool that captures the current competitive landscape and charts a new strategic course.
The strategy canvas plots:
- Horizontal axis: Key competing factors in your industry
- Vertical axis: The offering level buyers receive
How [yellow tail] wine used this:
The traditional wine industry competed on:
- Wine complexity and aging quality
- Vineyard prestige and legacy
- Above-the-line marketing
- Diverse wine range
- Elite image
[yellow tail] eliminated or reduced these factors and instead created:
- Easy drinking appeal
- Easy selection (just red or white initially)
- Fun and adventure positioning
The result? They dominated the wine market within two years, outselling French and Italian imports combined.
Critique: While the strategy canvas is visually powerful, the book oversimplifies the challenge of actually filling it in. Who determines what the “key competing factors” are? Different stakeholders often disagree violently on this foundational question. The book needed more guidance on building consensus around the canvas itself.