W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne argue for creating fresh demand rather than battling rivals on the same terms. It is useful when a founder can describe competitors but cannot explain why a customer would choose a different offer.
We rank it above #9 for its focus on shaping a market proposition, below #7 because day-to-day management is a more concrete next step. Compare what your offer changes for buyers, then test it. A clever position is a hypothesis, not evidence of sales; the customer work in #1 still matters.
Source: Blue Ocean Strategy · AI illustration: Topnilo · OpenAI. Created with OpenAI; resized/recompressed.