Agent skill

Blue Ocean Strategy

by wondelai in wondelai/skills

Create uncontested market space using value innovation instead of competing head-to-head.

MITAuto-check passedProduct & Project Management

Install Blue Ocean Strategy

skills CLI
$ npx skills add wondelai/skills --skill blue-ocean-strategy -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install wondelai/skills blue-ocean-strategy --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/wondelai/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/blue-ocean-strategy .claude/skills/blue-ocean-strategy && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
blue-ocean-strategy
GitHub stars
2.4k
Token cost
~3.3k tokens
SKILL.md length
1,599 words
Files
9 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
62
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Create uncontested market space using value innovation instead of competing head-to-head.

  • Works in 7 steps: Red Ocean vs. Blue Ocean → Value Innovation → Strategy Canvas → …
  • The user mentions blue ocean
  • SKILL.md covers Core Principle, Scoring, Framework and Common Mistakes, plus 3 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Blue Ocean Strategy is an agent skill from wondelai/skills. Create uncontested market space using value innovation instead of competing head-to-head. Use when the user mentions "blue ocean", "red ocean", "strategy canvas", "ERRC framework", "value innovation", "non-customers", "buyer utility map", "the market is too crowded", "how do we stand out", or "escape the price war". Also trigger when exploring a new market category, or finding underserved or non-customers. Covers the Four Actions Framework, Six Paths, buyer utility map, and value-cost trade-offs. For real…

Its SKILL.md is about 3.3k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 9 other files, including reference files (for example `references/blue-ocean-examples.md`, `references/errc-grid.md` and `references/implementation.md`).

It sits in Product & Project Management, covering Product strategy. The repository describes itself as: Wondel.ai Agent Skills — Business, Marketing, UX & Coding Frameworks from Bestselling Books. 50 skills + 12 guided journeys for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor & other agentskills.io… The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • The user mentions blue ocean
  • Strategy canvas
  • Value innovation
  • Buyer utility map

Example prompts

  • “blue ocean”
  • “red ocean”
  • “strategy canvas”
  • “/blue-ocean-strategy”

Workflow steps

7 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Red Ocean vs. Blue Ocean
  2. Value Innovation
  3. Strategy Canvas
  4. Four Actions Framework (ERRC Grid)
  5. Six Paths Framework
  6. Three Tiers of Non-Customers
  7. Strategic Sequence: Utility → Price → Cost → Adoption

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit c172996. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

    • amazon.com

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Blue Ocean Strategy loads about 3.3k tokens when it runs, and up to ~41k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 178 tokens; SKILL.md has 1,599 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~178
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~3.3k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~41k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from wondelai/skills at commit c172996, republished under its MIT licence (© wondelai). 1,599 words, ~3,312 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/blue-ocean-strategy/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 8 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
blue-ocean-strategy
description
Create uncontested market space using value innovation instead of competing head-to-head. Use when the user mentions "blue ocean", "red ocean", "strategy canvas", "ERRC framework", "value innovation", "non-customers", "buyer utility map", "the market is too crowded", "how do we stand out", or "escape the price war". Also trigger when exploring a new market category, or finding underserved or non-customers. Covers the Four Actions Framework, Six Paths, buyer utility map, and value-cost trade-offs. For real strategy formulation and bad-strategy detection, see good-strategy-bad-strategy. For tech adoption strategy, see crossing-the-chasm. For product positioning, see obviously-awesome.
license
MIT
metadata.author
wondelai
metadata.version
1.4.1

Blue Ocean Strategy Framework

Strategic framework for creating uncontested market space that makes the competition irrelevant, based on the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost.

Core Principle

Don't compete in bloody red oceans. Create blue oceans of uncontested market space. Most companies fight for share in existing industries; winners create new market space where competition is irrelevant by delivering a leap in value for both buyers and themselves. Competition-based strategy is zero-sum — value innovation creates new demand and breaks the value-cost trade-off.

Scoring

Goal: 10/10. Score a strategy by how many of the five Quick Diagnostic rows it satisfies, mapped to the bands below:

  • 9-10 — divergent strategy-canvas curve, eliminates AND creates factors, breaks the value-cost trade-off, converts non-customers, and delivers a 10x utility leap (all 5 rows).
  • 7-8 — value innovation is real but one gate is weak (e.g. strong divergence and cost cuts, but still chasing existing customers rather than non-customers).
  • 5-6 — differentiation without cost cuts, or cost cuts without a value leap: better than rivals on the same factors, not yet value innovation (2-3 rows).
  • <=3 — competes on the same factors as rivals with a look-alike canvas curve: a red ocean (0-1 rows).

Report the current score, which diagnostic rows fail, and the specific ERRC/Six-Paths moves needed to reach 10/10.

Framework

1. Red Ocean vs. Blue Ocean

Core concept: Red oceans are existing market spaces where rivals fight over shrinking profits; blue oceans are new market spaces where the competition is irrelevant.

Red Ocean StrategyBlue Ocean Strategy
Compete in existing market spaceCreate uncontested market space
Beat the competitionMake competition irrelevant
Exploit existing demandCreate and capture new demand
Make the value-cost trade-offBreak the value-cost trade-off
Align with differentiation OR low costPursue differentiation AND low cost

Examples: Airlines competing on routes, amenities, and price are red ocean; Cirque du Soleil inventing a new entertainment form, Netflix replacing rental with streaming, and Nintendo Wii trading graphics power for accessible motion gaming are blue.

See references/blue-ocean-examples.md when you want a full worked case to model a move on — Cirque du Soleil, Netflix, Yellow Tail, and Nintendo Wii broken down factor by factor.

2. Value Innovation

Core concept: The cornerstone of blue ocean strategy — pursue differentiation and low cost simultaneously, creating a leap in value for buyers and the company. Eliminating and reducing over-served factors cuts cost at the same time raising and creating factors lifts buyer value, so value rises faster than cost and the trade-off competitors assume is fixed breaks.

Traditional ViewValue Innovation View
High value = high costHigh value CAN = low cost
Differentiate OR cut costsDifferentiate AND cut costs
Better performance on established factorsNew factors; eliminate old factors

Example — Cirque du Soleil: eliminated animal shows, star performers, multiple arenas (cost down); reduced thrill and humor; raised venue quality, artistic music and dance; created theme, refined environment, multiple productions. Outcome: priced above circus, costs below theater, a new market.

See references/value-innovation.md when testing whether an idea is genuine value innovation — the Utility x Price x Cost formula with all three terms and the test questions for each.

3. Strategy Canvas

Core concept: The diagnostic tool — plot the factors an industry competes on against the offering level for you and competitors. Red oceans show everyone's curve looking the same; a divergent curve signals a blue ocean.

How to use:

  1. List the industry's competing factors (wine: price, prestige, aging quality, vineyard legacy, complexity, range, marketing)
  2. Plot your curve and competitors' — expect near-identical curves in a red ocean
  3. Ask: which factors do buyers not actually care about? What could be eliminated, reduced, raised, or created? Where does the buyer experience hurt?

Example — Yellow Tail wine:

FactorIndustry AverageYellow Tail
Price, prestige, aging qualityMedium-HighLOW
Vineyard legacy, complexity, rangeHighLOW
Easy drinkingLowHIGH
Fun/adventure, accessibilityLowHIGH

Result: A different curve = blue ocean.

See references/strategy-canvas.md when plotting your own canvas — a blank template and step-by-step build instructions.

4. Four Actions Framework (ERRC Grid)

Core concept: Four questions that reconstruct buyer value — Eliminate and Reduce cut costs; Raise and Create lift value.

ActionQuestionExamplesEffect
EliminateWhich taken-for-granted factors add no buyer value?Cirque: animals, stars; Southwest: meals, seat assignments; IKEA: sales staff, assemblyCost down; friction removed
ReduceWhat can go well below industry standard?Yellow Tail: prestige, complexity; Salesforce v1: customizationCost down; over-serving stops
RaiseWhat should go well above industry standard?Cirque: artistic value; Dyson: suction, design; Apple: UXValue up; hard to match
CreateWhat has the industry never offered?Netflix: unlimited streaming, no late fees; Uber: live tracking, cashless paymentNew demand; attracts non-customers

Ethical boundary: Don't eliminate factors buyers truly value (especially safety or accessibility) — test assumptions before cutting.

See references/errc-grid.md when running the exercise with a team — a 3.5-hour workshop format, validation checklists, and fresh ERRC matrices for Zoom, IKEA, MinuteClinic, and Khan Academy.

5. Six Paths Framework

Core concept: Six systematic ways to look beyond existing industry boundaries and spot blue ocean opportunities.

PathLook acrossExampleHow to apply
1. Alternative industriesDifferent forms solving the same needNetJets: alternative to both airlines and jet ownershipMap alternatives → find unmet needs across them
2. Strategic groupsClusters pursuing similar strategiesLexus: luxury at accessible priceFind over/under-served needs → position between groups
3. Chain of buyersPurchasers vs. users vs. influencersNovo Nordisk insulin pens: shifted focus from doctors to patients; Bloomberg: traders, not IT purchasersIdentify every buyer in the chain → serve the overlooked one
4. Complementary offeringsWhat happens before, during, after useBabysitting complements movies → "date night" packagesMap the total experience → bundle away pain points
5. Functional ↔ emotional appealFlip the industry's basis of appealSwatch: watches as fashion; The Body Shop: cosmetics as ethicsIdentify current appeal → build the hybrid
6. TimeIrreversible trendsiPod/iTunes anticipating digital music; Tesla on EVsProject the trend's endpoint → build for it today

See references/six-paths.md when hunting for opportunities path by path — the prompting questions and a worked example for each of the six.

Show full SKILL.md (594 more words)Show less
6. Three Tiers of Non-Customers

Core concept: Blue oceans are created by converting non-customers, not by stealing competitors' customers — non-customers reveal the demand the industry is leaving on the table.

TierWho they areOpportunityExample
1. Soon-to-beEdge of your market, minimally using, ready to jump shipSmall shifts win them overPret A Manger: professionals who wanted fast AND healthy
2. RefusingConsidered the industry and consciously rejected itRemove the barrier behind the refusalJCDecaux: cities refused outdoor ads until bus shelters came free
3. UnexploredDistant markets that never considered you an optionReframe the offering for their needsCallaway Big Bertha: beginners and occasional golfers

Process: map all three tiers → find commonalities across tiers → identify what would unlock massive demand → build the offering to convert them.

See references/non-customers.md when sizing latent demand — how to map each of the three tiers and find the commonalities that unlock them.

7. Strategic Sequence: Utility → Price → Cost → Adoption

Core concept: Validate a blue ocean idea in strict order — exceptional buyer utility first, then accessible price, then profitable cost, then adoption hurdles. Failing any gate means rework before proceeding.

StepQuestionHow
1. Buyer utilityIs there exceptional utility?Check six levers (productivity, simplicity, convenience, risk reduction, fun/image, environmental friendliness) across the buyer experience cycle (purchase → delivery → use → supplements → maintenance → disposal); solve the biggest blocks
2. Strategic priceIs it accessible to the mass of buyers?Price against alternatives in other forms, not your costs or direct competitors — Cirque priced above circus, below theater
3. Target costCan we profit at that price?Strategic price − target margin = target cost; hit it via ERRC and partnering — never by sacrificing utility, never "later"
4. AdoptionWho will resist — employees, partners, public, regulators?Surface hurdles upfront: educate stakeholders, run pilots, engage partners early

Ethical boundary: Win adoption by genuinely addressing stakeholder concerns, not by steamrolling the employees and partners who bear the costs of the shift.

See references/sequence.md when validating an idea gate by gate — the buyer-utility map, strategic-pricing corridor, and target-costing worksheet. See references/implementation.md when moving from idea to rollout — overcoming the four organizational hurdles and aligning the team behind the shift.

Common Mistakes

MistakeWhy It FailsFix
Competing on the same factorsStuck in the red oceanUse ERRC to eliminate and create factors
Differentiation without cost focusNot value innovationEliminate/reduce while raising/creating
IncrementalismNo leap in valueAim for 10x improvement on key factors
Imitating competitorsRed ocean thinkingLook across the six paths for alternatives
Ignoring adoptionGreat idea, no executionPlan for adoption hurdles upfront

Quick Diagnostic

QuestionIf NoAction
Does the Strategy Canvas show a different curve?Still in the red oceanApply the ERRC framework
Are we eliminating AND creating?Not value innovationUse all four actions
Are we breaking the value-cost trade-off?Traditional competitionIdentify over-served factors to cut
Are we converting non-customers?Fighting for existing shareMap the three tiers of non-customers
Is there a leap in buyer utility?Incremental improvementAim for 10x on key utility levers

Further Reading

Based on Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne:

About the Authors

W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne are professors of strategy at INSEAD and co-directors of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute. Blue Ocean Strategy has sold over 4 million copies in 46 languages, making it one of the best-selling business books of all time.

© wondelai, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 8 other files (references) in blue-ocean-strategy of wondelai/skills.

  • SKILL.md
  • references/blue-ocean-examples.md
  • references/errc-grid.md
  • references/implementation.md
  • references/non-customers.md
  • references/sequence.md
  • references/six-paths.md
  • references/strategy-canvas.md
  • references/value-innovation.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit c172996

Compare with similar skills

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Blue Ocean Strategy compared with similar skills
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Product Competitive AnalysisFokkyp/claude-skills226—~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Competitor Gapsacogood/diffmode_free163—~2.9kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Hehe Business Modelhexiaofeier/hehe-industry-research-skill-pack306—~695Automated safety check: PassMIT
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Questions about Blue Ocean Strategy

What does Blue Ocean Strategy do?

Create uncontested market space using value innovation instead of competing head-to-head. Blue Ocean Strategy is an agent skill from wondelai/skills. Create uncontested market space using value innovation instead of competing head-to-head.

When should I use Blue Ocean Strategy?

Blue Ocean Strategy fits situations like: the user mentions blue ocean; strategy canvas; value innovation; buyer utility map.

How do I install Blue Ocean Strategy in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add wondelai/skills --skill blue-ocean-strategy -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (blue-ocean-strategy in wondelai/skills) into .claude/skills/blue-ocean-strategy in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Blue Ocean Strategy in Codex?

Run `npx skills add wondelai/skills --skill blue-ocean-strategy -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (blue-ocean-strategy in wondelai/skills) into .agents/skills/blue-ocean-strategy in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Blue Ocean Strategy in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add wondelai/skills --skill blue-ocean-strategy -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/blue-ocean-strategy, .gemini/skills/blue-ocean-strategy, .github/skills/blue-ocean-strategy and .opencode/skills/blue-ocean-strategy in your project.

What does Blue Ocean Strategy need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Blue Ocean Strategy is instructions for the agent only.

Does Blue Ocean Strategy access the network?

SKILL.md names 1 domain. As links in the text: amazon.com. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Blue Ocean Strategy safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Blue Ocean Strategy use?

Blue Ocean Strategy is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Blue Ocean Strategy use?

About 3.3k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 13k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 37k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Blue Ocean Strategy?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Blue Ocean Strategy: Organic Growth Path Advisor (deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills, 7.2k stars), Product Competitive Analysis (Fokkyp/claude-skills, 226 stars), Competitor Gaps (acogood/diffmode_free, 163 stars) and Hehe Business Model (hexiaofeier/hehe-industry-research-skill-pack, 306 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Blue Ocean Strategy?

wondelai (a GitHub organization) maintains it in wondelai/skills, which has 2,371 GitHub stars. The repository holds 62 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 10, 2026.

Source: wondelai/skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.