How durable is the advantage associated with a blue ocean strategy and what is the process for defending it?

How durable is the advantage associated with a blue ocean strategy and what is the process for defending it?

Creating blue oceans is not a static achievement but a dynamic process. Once a company creates a blue ocean and its powerful performance consequences are known, sooner or later imitators appear on the horizon. However, a blue ocean strategy brings with it considerable barriers to imitation. Some of these are cognitive, and others are operational.

The first barrier is often cognitive. Competitors are often blocked from imitating because of brand image conflicts, or the blue ocean strategy just does not fit conventional strategic logic. For many years CNN, for example, was ridiculed by the industry as chicken noodle news by established players. The second barrier is organizational. Because imitation often requires companies to make substantial changes to their existing business practices, politics often kick in, delaying for years a company’s commitment to imitate a blue ocean strategy. The third level includes the economic forces of blue oceans. The high volume generated by a value innovation leads to rapid cost advantages, placing potential imitators at an ongoing cost disadvantage.

By heightening these barriers to imitation, companies can defend the blue oceans they created for some time. However, it should be noted that creating a blue ocean is not a static strategy process, but a dynamic one.