In 2005, Professors W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne published the book entitled Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant. The concepts discussed in this book have never been more important to the printing industry than they are today. Too many companies are swimming in the "red ocean" of bloody competition, where there is limited room for real growth. The authors assert that a "blue ocean" strategy is about creating uncontested market space. The image of the vast blue ocean conveys the infinite possibilities for profitable growth that exist with this strategy.

The authors also point out that value innovation is a strategic move that enables a company to create a blue ocean. Companies in the red ocean typically pursue incremental improvements for customers through either low cost or differentiation. Value innovation helps companies make giant leaps in the value provided to customers through the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost.

Exceptional value and innovation should be inseparable - there doesn't need to be a tradeoff between one or the other. If print service providers offer buyers a huge leap in value, this will give rise to new markets. It is time to change the competitive landscape through value and innovation.