Value Curve
A Value Curve is a diagram which can be used to show instantly where value is created within an organisation’s products or services, showing graphically how a company can create new market spaces and provide value to customers against competition.
The Value Curve, from Blue Ocean Strategy, has two purposes. Firstly, it shows the current competitive landscape in the marketplace as it exists today. This information allows you to see where competitors are heavily investing and how different products are being positioned to customers. Secondly, the Value Curve allows you to use this information to find market space, which does not compete with existing competitors.
When drawing a Value Curve the vertical axis represents the products available in the marketplace, or the offering available to the consumer. The horizontal axis represents the factors the industry competes on. You can also consider the horizontal axis to be the range of factors the industry invests in. A higher score represents the customer being offered more, hence we can say that the company invests more in this area.
We can now draw the value curve by plotting the relative values of the different offerings for each of the factors on the horizontal axis.