Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create an Uncontested Market Space

Strategy is one of our primary services at Lifelong Development, and our second book in our 2025 reading series, Blue Ocean Strategy, has added a fresh perspective lens on an approach to strategy. Instead of focusing on competing in existing markets, this book challenges businesses to create entirely new market spaces where competition becomes irrelevant. 

This new market space, where there's no need to fight in oversaturated markets, is where the 'blue ocean' in the title came from. What if your business no longer had to swim in the shark-infested waters, where competition creates 'red oceans'? 

The Big Aha: A Different Perspective on Strategy 

The most eye-opening idea in Blue Ocean Strategy is how it challenges the conventional approach to strategic planning. Instead of fixating on beating the competition, it encourages companies to step back and rethink how they create value. This isn’t about incremental improvements—it’s about breaking free from industry norms and redefining the playing field. 

Rather than just competing better, businesses should focus on competing differently. That means shifting from a mindset of market share battles to one of value innovation—where you create a leap in value for both customers and your business. The key tool for achieving this? The Strategy Canvas. 

The Strategy Canvas: Mapping a Path to Blue Oceans 

One of the most practical takeaways from Blue Ocean Strategy is the Strategy Canvas. This tool helps businesses visually map out their industry’s competitive factors and identify opportunities to break free from the pack. 

Here’s how it works: 

1. Identify the Industry’s Key Competitive Factors: What are the elements that businesses in your space compete on? Price, features, service, brand reputation? 

2. Plot Your Competitors: Look at how different competitors invest in these factors. Are they all following the same trends? 

3. Identify Your Unique Value Proposition: Where are the gaps? What are customers overlooking? Utilize The Four Actions Framework, which was developed by Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne to challenge current strategies. The Four Actions Framework includes: 

   1. Eliminate – Which factors that the industry takes for granted should be eliminated? 

   2. Reduce – Which factors should be reduced well below the industry’s standard? 

   3. Raise – Which factors should be raised well above the industry’s standard? 

   4. Create – Which factors that the industry has never offered should be created? 

Take Yellow Tail wine as an example from the book. Instead of competing with wine companies by offering many years of aging or big marketing gimmicks, they eliminated the use of enological terminology, reduced wine complexity, and slightly raised pricing—creating an entirely new, and refreshing wine category. 

Check out the image below of Yellow Tail’s strategy canvas. 

Strategy Canvas of Yellow Tail A New Value Curve

Another strong example is Tesla. Instead of competing directly with traditional luxury automakers in the crowded gasoline-powered car market, Tesla created a blue ocean by focusing on high-performance electric vehicles with cutting-edge technology. They eliminated the reliance on dealership networks, reduced dependency on fossil fuels, and raised the standards for battery technology and autonomous driving features. See the image below for a visual representation. By creating a brand that appealed to luxury car buyers and environmentally conscious consumers alike, Tesla redefined the automobile industry and positioned itself in a market where competition was minimal. 

Strategy Canvas of Tesla A New Value Curve

Why the Fresh Perspective is Important 

Reading is so important because it awakens your senses to new ideas and new ways of thinking about your business. This book has allowed me to view strategic planning in a way that encourages thinking and moving beyond the existing landscapes of my industry. And I think it will for you as well. 

Conclusion 

Blue Ocean Strategy isn’t just a business theory; it’s a mindset shift. It provides a way to break free from the brutal competition of Red Oceans and instead create new, uncontested market space. The Strategy Canvas is a powerful tool to help businesses uncover their unique value proposition and position themselves in a way that makes competitors irrelevant. 

If you’re interested in reading the book for yourself, you can find it here. 

Our next book blog, on The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, will be posted on February 24th. Stay tuned!