Example of First Move, Disruptive Innovation, Blue Ocean Strategy and Bricolage

The main competitive moves we see are as following

Being a first-mover – In any industry the leaders become the first mover by introducing something brand new. Like Apple introduced iPad, tablet computer was a new concept. Even the smartphone with no keyboard and a big screen was something new to the market. A lot of research and development goes behind being the first to introduce something for the first time in the market. And the rate of failure is high. The first example comes to my mind is Segway. The company wanted to introduce an alternative to urban commuters, but the product never took off.

Disruptive Innovation – When Apple introduced iPads personal computers and laptop market got disrupted. Netflix disrupted CD/DVD rental industry. DVD rental industry was serving its customers well. And they had a lot of area scoop of improvement. Netflix saw the opportunity, understood the frustration of customers and the people who were not being served by the DHD rental industry, and provided them a better solution. As a result Blockbuster went bankrupt.

Foothold strategy – Often while an overseas expansion companies decide to open the store at one location and then create brand awareness and understand the market before they decide to expand. IKEA, the Swedish furniture seller usually follows this strategy. Another way companies create foothold is takeover or accusation of aa local company. Creating foothold is an expensive way to gain competitive advantage. And it takes time to understand a market in this foothold method.

Blue Ocean strategy – This strategy is about winning battles without fighting them. Producing product or service where there is no competition. Ike Nintendo has admitted they expand in categories where there is no competition. I believe this Blue Ocean strategy can bring in first-mover advantage. Like Apple got by introducing the iPad. But, I think with time competitors can come in.

Bricolage – In this method, the company goes ahead with existing resources and creates a competitive advantage with existing technology or other resources. Some might argue that the first personal computer by Apple was not an original. Most of the new technologies used on it were invented before. Bricolage is more about an idea to repurpose existing resources and monetizing those.

I think Blue ocean strategy is the best one. Mostly because in this strategy there is no competition. The business finds a niche and starts serving there. So, they do not have any real competition. And moreover, they expand the product category. Customers get more options to choose from. In 2005, Professors W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne launched a revolution in business strategies by introducing the concept of the “Blue Ocean Strategy” (Edwards,2018). According to Kim companies need blue ocean strategy especially when supply exceeds demand.

A good example is Amazon. Amazon introduced Prime when nobody has anything like that in the market. You get a membership for a yearly fee, you get 2-day shipping and many more. People saw value in that. As they were paying for Netflix and paying for shipping too. The value proposition was simply great. Prime members shop more frequently and spend more money on the platform. They actually contributed to 57% of Amazon’s revenue in North America in 2015 ( Borison, 2016).

Another of my favorite example is The whole Foods Market. If you are into the special diet, or you want to eat just clean organic food, The Foods Store is your one-stop destination. They have differentiated themselves with their product offering. And it was a blue ocean strategy. Now almost all grocery stores are offering organic foods, but I have never been to another grocery store in the USA ( maybe Sprouts came closer) that was like Whole Foods Market. Now that Amazon has taken it over, as a prime member you score discounts on products in-store.