It's-a-me, Mario!
As a fuel retailer, you're looking to beat the competition by making your consumers volume (and margin) yours.?
The nature of the game is that any profit in their pocket is profit that is not in yours. It can be difficult to compete with bigger players, bigger brands and deeper pockets.?
But many do it anyway, operating in what is known as the red ocean. Without you even realising it, it could be seriously holding you back.
In the 80s and 90s, Nintendo dominated the video console industry. We've all heard of Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros.
But things took a turn for the worse in the early 2000s. Sony and Microsoft had built more advanced consoles and Nintendo was struggling to keep up.
Sony and Microsoft were focused on gamers, Amazing graphics and sounds, complex controllers and games that were feeling more and more lifelike. ??
Nintendo decided to go the other way.
Instead of focusing on gamers, they focused on nongamers. Better graphics and lifelike games are expensive to build.
Plus, they believed the complexity of the competitors' products was providing a barrier for many. Let’s face it, Mum and Dad were never likely to be into Grand Theft Auto 3.
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And thus arrived the Wii. A simple, interactive platform that the entire family could play, focused on the ‘non-customer’.
It outsold Sony and Microsoft consoles combined.
Fast forward to 2018, and their next console, the Nintendo Switch (a small console with simple games that can be used on the go or on the TV) became the fastest selling of all time in the US.
What Nintendo did is ‘switch’ (see what I did there) to operating in the blue ocean, and by employing blue ocean strategies.
They found an empty ocean of market opportunities driven by new thinking or innovation.
If we think about the future reduction in volumes, the retailers that find that blue ocean will no longer be focused on beating the competition for that extra volume.?
They’ll have discovered a way to engage with new customers or unlock new revenue streams that can exist within a well-located asset.
As Mario says - “Let’s a-go!" ??
Founder at BEMEIR, Ecommerce Expert & Consultant, Web Development, UI/UX, Chief Hype Officer, Podcast Host, Head of Household, Passionate Entrepreneur, ?? Awareness About Genetic Heart Disease, Ambassador at the HCMA
2 年It's a meeeeeee Exxon!
Helping innovators of medical device/SaMD/biotech/pharma products eliminate stress of quality & regulatory processes with cloud-based eQMS
2 年Great read! I didn't realize how successful the Wii console was. Interesting to think about what the 'blue ocean' opportunities could be for fuel retailers ??
Digital and Content Marketing
2 年A really interesting read this week - It's fascinating just how similar a situation this is to Nintendo in the 2000s. History doesn't repeat - but sometimes, it rhymes!