when a company offers a leap in value, it rapidly earns brand buzz and a loyal following in the marketplace. Even large advertising budgets by an aggressive imitator rarely have the strength to overtake the brand buzz earned by the value innovator.

Shift from convergence to divergence

The cost and risk of developing an innovative idea are borne by the initiator, not the follower.

adopting a blue ocean creator’s business model is easier to imagine than to do. Because blue ocean creators immediately attract customers in large volumes, they are able to generate scale economies very rapidly, putting would-be imitators at an immediate and continuing cost disadvantage.

Attempts to imitate a blue ocean creator conflict with the imitator’s existing brand image.

Every blue ocean will eventually be imitated and turn red

When exceptional utility is combined with strategic pricing, imitation is discouraged.

Once a company creates a blue ocean and its powerful performance consequences are known, sooner or later imitators appear on the horizon.