Ricky’s Online Business Blog

Yes I admit I’m a blue ocean strategy fan.  My PC desktop is an ocean viewing.  I even tend to look at everything through the lense of blue ocean vs. red ocean.

The problem is, we just can’t ignore competing in the red ocean, whether now or in future.  Perhaps our industry is still red.  Perhaps a blue ocean will also turn red after some time.  Competitive strategies still have an important place in business and marketing.

I heard that a telecommunication company in Malaysia has two teams of people planning their business strategy, one called “Compete Today”, another called “Compete Tomorrow”.

As the names suggest, the “Compete Today” team plan strategies to outsmart their competitors in today’s market.  Whereas the “Compete Tomorrow” team brainstorm and explore new markets and plan strategies for the future.

So I’m learning not to just look up to anything “blue ocean” as good and look down on anything “red ocean” as bad.  A more holistic perspective is required.

The blue ocean strategy is more than just a business fad.  Now we can hear more and more people talking about it.  I can read more bloggers talk about “blue ocean” and “red ocean”.  Consultants and trainers are preaching about it.  Businesses, even non-profit organizations, are starting to adopt it.  One author even predicts that BOS (blue ocean strategy) will be prevalent for many years to come.

Some time ago I received an email from a Singaporean who just took a course in BOS at UCSI Blue Ocean Strategy Regional Centre, and commended how good the training had been.  I soon surfed to their web site and found it interesting.  But I didn’t notice their building was quietly being constructed right near my house until I passed by recently!

It is good news that more and more businesses are becoming aware of the dangers competing in red ocean, and the importance of creating their own market (blue ocean) by making the competitors irrelevant.  Easier said than done.  But it is achievable.  And there have been many success stories, both locally and abroad.

It is good for the businesses as they can transform their businesses and earn like never before.  They will no longer need to rely on competitive tactics, and even unethical ones, to outsmart one another.  It is good for the market as businesses truly listen and study what it needs, and even discover what it really needs.  It is good for the society as our lives can be improved through creativity and innovation in blue ocean strategy.

But what happens when everyone is doing BOS?  Not every BOS will be good BOS strategy.  Some can be BS strategy.  It will be interesting to see what happens in future when “blue ocean strategy” is as commonly understood and practiced as “differentiation”, “segmentation” and “branding”.

Are you not on the BOS bandwagon yet?

One day when I was driving, I saw an advertisement at the back of a taxi that reads “Business, Finance and More”.  It’s BFM, a new radio station on business news and programmes!

I turned on the radio and tuned to FM 89.9 immediately.  I was so delighted to have found such a channel that I have long yearned for

I’ve been the type of person who don’t listen to music while driving.   No, I was not like this when I was younger.  I spoilt my car audio speaker before for playing rock music too loudly in early years of driving.  It is also not that I don’t like music.  If you go karaoke singing with me, most likely I’ll sing more than you.  But as I grew older, I just became the kind of person who would not turn on car radio for music any more.

But apart from its normal programmes, BFM is music most of the time!  In order not to miss any good business programmes, now I keep the radio on while driving and listen to music after so many years!

The moral of this story is that, BFM turned me from a non-customer into a customer.  Just as Nintendo successfully turned non-customers such as adults to its Nintendo Wii video game console, BFM just successfully turned me into listening to music!

Instead of taking away existing customers from competitors in the market, this is defining a new market boundary by appealing to non-customers and turning them into customers.  A blue ocean strategy!