Blue ocean strategy: Analyzing red ocean frameworks and market repositioning

¶ … Red & Blue Ocean' Industries

Red and Blue Ocean Industries: Quick Service Restaurant Industry

Location, location, location. This is the mantra of retailers who depend highly on getting the best location as the key to increasing the presence (both physical and perceived presence) of the business, brand, and product or service to the consumer's psyche. This is especially applicable in the case of the fast food or quick service restaurant industry. Food is a universal need and commodity, and differences among consumers depend on their taste preference, perception of the brand, and value for money, among many others. But location is a very critical component for consumers, and a brand or store's presence in a trade area most often becomes the primary basis for patronizing the brand or store. If the store is not present in the consumer's location, then the store has just lost an important share of the quick service restaurant market, losing out to the competition.

With hundreds of brands existing today, quick service restaurants are fighting not only for market and brand space, but also physical space, to increase consumer awareness of the brand. Quick service industry gave birth to numerous other industries as well, which includes the development of store and brand awareness through online media. Delivery services through phones and delivery websites have made it possible for fast food stores to compete for online space, but first, brands have to be salient in the minds of customers. This only becomes possible if customers can physically see a store near their house, place of work, or in transit areas they usually frequent to. While the QSR industry has flourished, other alternative industries have thrived as well, giving new niche or markets for fine-dining restaurants, delicatessen or specialty restaurants, and mobile restaurants.

Within the QSR industry, strategic industries that have thrived and survived are: (i) real estate brokerage groups that provide consultancy services on available real estate as potential store locations; and (ii) firms offering Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software products and services as an alternative to consultancy services, providing a more illustrative and automated updating of critical economic and financial information about potential store locations and corresponding consumer demographics. These strategic industries address the challenge of creating an effective, time-sensitive and efficient location intelligence analysis and system. These industries serve all retailers and business owners who want to make their brands, products and services known to QSR target markets. At present, these industries could also be consumers among themselves: GIS firms could service real estate consultancy firms, and conversely, real estate consultancy firms could provide intelligence data to GIS firms who do not have this sensitive data on a specific industry (in this case, QSR industry).