Blue Ocean Strategy

QUOTE

Dr. Albert Szent-Györgyi once said…

“Innovation is seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.”

(Nobel Prize-winning physiologist.)

CONCEPT

Blue Ocean Strategy

Blue Ocean Strategy is a business theory that suggests companies are better off searching for ways to gain uncontested market space rather than competing with similar companies.

The term is derived from the idea of the blue ocean, representing the vast, deep, powerful, and largely unexplored market space that is free from competitors, as opposed to the red ocean, where businesses fiercely fight over a saturated market, turning the water bloody.

The strategy encourages innovation and the creation of value and demand so that competition becomes irrelevant.

STORY

Wii … Did It?

A classic example of the Blue Ocean Strategy in action is the launch of the Nintendo Wii in 2006.

At the time, the video game industry was dominated by Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox, competing in a "red ocean" scenario with a focus on more advanced graphics and performance targeted primarily at avid gamers.

Nintendo, rather than taking on these tech giants directly, shifted its focus and created a blue ocean.

They introduced the Wii, a console that, unlike its competitors, did not boast superior graphics or cater exclusively to the traditional gaming audience. Instead, Nintendo changed the playing field altogether.

The Wii featured a unique motion-sensitive controller that appealed to a broad demographic, including people who had never been interested in video games before, like seniors and families.

This strategic move paid off massively.

The Wii opened up an entirely new market, bringing video games to an unprecedentedly wide audience. Its approachable, family-friendly design and intuitive gameplay created a new kind of gaming experience that attracted people who were previously uninterested in video games.

As a result, Nintendo was able to capture a substantial portion of the market (over 100 million units sold!), leaving its competitors behind in the conventional gaming industry and creating a blue ocean of its own.