FreeNo sign-upYour notes stay on your computer
Blue Ocean Strategy Tool
Score the factors buyers weigh for you and your rivals on a strategy canvas, then decide what to eliminate, reduce, raise and create, until your new value curve crosses the leader's.
This tool also runs as a stage in a playbook, which takes you through several tools in order:
- Increase market share Stage 5 of 5: what exactly will you change in what you offer? Start at stage 1
Not following the playbook?
Who you compare with
Up to three rivals. Mark the one that leads the market: the new curve is checked against it.
Score each factor, 1 to 5
- The factors are what buyers weigh when they compare brands: price, how long it lasts, a dealer close by.
- Score how much of each a player offers: 1 means little or none, 5 means the most in the market. For price, a high score means a low price.
Your notes never leave your browser
Factors, rivals and the changes stay on your computer and in your progress file. To write the diagnosis, only the scores and actions are sent to our server, by place in your list. How it works
The four actions
Eliminate and reduce lower cost; raise and create lift value. Pay for what you raise with what you cut, until your curve crosses the leader's: above it where buyers care most, below it where they care less.
The strategy canvas
The four actions
Tracking share, and watching rivals
Early signs, every month
Share figures arrive slowly. Track what moves first, such as dealers won or warranties registered.
Share each quarter, and the rivals
Save your progress
Download your progress file to continue from this point any time, on any computer: choose it under "Coming back?" at the start of the tool. Each new file includes everything so far, including the earlier stages when they are connected, so keep the latest one. Your work stays in this browser only until you close it.
Not saved yet.
Take your results with you
A PDF of the strategy canvas, the four actions and the diagnosis. In the playbook, the full report of all five stages.
About the tool
Why it exists
Turn a position into specific changes, paid for by what you cut
Blue Ocean Strategy has two tools. The strategy canvas scores the factors buyers weigh for each player, and joins the scores into value curves. The four actions, often called the ERRC grid, decide what to eliminate, reduce, raise and create. A new curve that crosses the leader's, above it where buyers care most and below where they care less, is a different offer rather than a dearer copy.
This tool works on its own, and as stage 5 of our playbook for increasing market share, where the factors come from the buyer interviews of stage 1 and the position from Porter's Generic Strategies in stage 4. For the method, see our guide to Blue Ocean Strategy.
The method
How the tool works
The canvas. Each factor scored 1 to 5 for each rival and for you today, where 1 means little or none. The leader is the rival the new curve is checked against.
The four actions. Each factor is kept, eliminated, reduced or raised, and new factors can be created; each gets a score for the new offer. "Suggest the new offer's scores" fills only empty ones: keep at today's score, eliminate at 1, reduce by one, raise above today and the leader, create at 4.
The checks. A new curve above the leader's on every factor is the same strategy with a bigger budget; raises with nothing cut have no way to be paid for; an offer above the leader on nothing gives buyers no reason to switch. In the playbook, raises with nothing from stage 3 behind them are flagged as easy for rivals to copy.
What leaves your computer. Factors, rivals and the changes stay in your browser and your progress file. To write the diagnosis, the page sends our server only the scores and actions, by place in your list, and the server keeps nothing.