Session Brief: Blue Ocean Strategy Canvas

Goal

Artifact: Strategy Canvas

Working Question

Which competitive factors can we reduce or eliminate, which can we raise or create, in order to build a distinct value curve?

Context

Industry definition and buyer group; known competitive factors of the industry (standard features, price level, service aspects); current strategy and investment focus; identified noncustomers and their reasons.

Setup

• Format: Method session
• Duration: 3-5 h workshop, possibly split into two sessions
• Mode: Workshop
• Participants: One moderator with strategy experience; three to six participants from strategy, product, marketing, and ideally one person with direct customer contact; one scribe.
• Owner: One moderator with strategy experience
• Participation mode: Team round, shared work and alignment
• Outcome logic: Finish artifact

Participation Logic

Use the session for shared understanding. Contributions are collected visibly, assumptions are aligned, and open differences remain traceable in the artifact.

Outcome Logic

The session works directly toward Strategy Canvas. After the session, the artifact should be shareable, reviewable, or reusable.

Input

Strategy canvas template as a line chart (X-axis: factors, Y-axis: investment level high/low); market research on the top 3 competitors; ERRC grid.

Preparation

Label the X-axis with 8-12 competitive factors, ordered from standard on the left to differentiation on the right. Use a 1-5 scale on the Y-axis. Prepare three colored value curves for us, top competitor A, and top competitor B. Place the ERRC grid next to it.

Agenda

1. Phase 1: As-is strategy canvas (45 min) Owner: Facilitator Action: List the industry's competitive factors, typically 8-12. Assign a value from 1 to 5 for each competitor and for our current position, then connect the points into a line. Add a data source for each point. Hint: If all lines are almost identical, the industry is in red-ocean competition. That is exactly the starting point for change. Output: Strategy Canvas

2. Phase 2: Identify noncustomers (30 min) Owner: Facilitator Action: Define three tiers of noncustomers: soon-to-switch, consciously rejecting, and unexplored. Name concrete example segments per tier and gather their reasons for not using the offer. Hint: Blue Ocean usually emerges from noncustomers, not from better competitor offerings. Anyone who only asks existing customers is optimizing the red ocean. Output: Value Curve

3. Phase 3: Fill the ERRC grid (60 min) Owner: Facilitator Action: Decide per factor: Eliminate, Reduce, Raise, or Create. Justify each decision with the expected customer effect and cost effect. Hint: If the grid contains only Raise and Create entries, the cost structure rises without enough differentiation. Reduce and Eliminate matter just as much as Raise and Create. Output: ERRC Actions

4. Phase 4: To-be value curve (45 min) Owner: Facilitator Action: Draw the new value curve on the canvas based on the ERRC decisions. Apply three tests: Focus, Divergence, and a compelling tagline in one sentence. Hint: If the tagline needs three clauses, Focus is missing. If the line looks like the competitor curve plus 10%, Divergence is missing. Output: Strategy Canvas

5. Phase 5: Consequences and cost structure (30 min) Owner: Owner Action: Estimate the cost-structure effect per ERRC decision as a rough value. Sketch a three-step realization path. Name the risks, especially for Eliminate decisions. Hint: Eliminate decisions consume political capital because existing customers or internal stakeholders defend what should disappear. Name risks concretely, not abstractly. Output: Value Curve

6. Publish artifact (10 min) Owner: Owner Action: Check the artifact for completeness, define location, set version or status, and name review recipients. Output: Strategy Canvas

Closeout

• Update result artifact: Strategy Canvas
• Define location, version, and review recipients.
• Define owner, next step, and review date.

Strategy Canvas: Blue Ocean Strategy Canvas

Working Question

Which competitive factors can we reduce or eliminate, which can we raise or create, in order to build a distinct value curve?

Context

Industry definition and buyer group; known competitive factors of the industry (standard features, price level, service aspects); current strategy and investment focus; identified noncustomers and their reasons.

Participants

• Owner: One moderator with strategy experience
• Participants: One moderator with strategy experience; three to six participants from strategy, product, marketing, and ideally one person with direct customer contact; one scribe.

Input

Strategy canvas template as a line chart (X-axis: factors, Y-axis: investment level high/low); market research on the top 3 competitors; ERRC grid.

Template

Blue Ocean Strategy Canvas Canvas

Context

What is this method used for?

Core question

Which question should be answered at the end?

Input

Which data, observations, or materials are available?

Working area

• Area 1:
• Area 2:
• Area 3:
• Relationships / patterns:

Output artifacts

• Strategy Canvas:
• Value Curve:
• ERRC Actions:

Open questions

• ...

Next step

Owner, date, success signal.

Completion Check

• Strategy Canvas is complete enough for review:
• Location:
• Version / status:
• Review by:
• Next step:

Next Step

• Review result
• Mark open questions
• Schedule review or decision