RIM's BlackBerry

Company Snapshot

Research In Motion (RIM) is a standout Canadian business success story. Since the launch of its hugely
popular BlackBerry smart phone in 2001, the company has grown to achieve FY2009 sales of US
$11.065 billion and net income of $1.893 billion.

Blue Ocean Strategic Move

RIM's BlackBerry launch was a Blue Ocean strategic move because the company not only created
technology innovation, it created superior buyer value innovation as well. Breaking away from traditional
cell phone and pager competition, BlackBerry offered a new type of wireless handheld solution for
companies. It created a new market space focused on delivering secure company email access to
roaming employees. Companies that adopted BlackBerries saved time and money because their staff
could now get and send email practically anywhere and any time without having to make trips back to the
office. Also, there was no need to install remote client software because RIM offered a turnkey,
centralized Enterprise Server and software solution. Since BlackBerries were easy to use and had simple
user interfaces and a limited number of contextualized options to choose from, companies also saved
training and support costs.

Buyer value was increased because BlackBerries offered high reliability and long battery life, multiple
mailboxes at once, and web browsing capability. Traditional PDA functionality such as calendar, address
book, and the To Do list were also enhanced along with the included cell phone through smart software
that linked these tools and made them easy to use and navigate.

Most importantly, the BlackBerry created a highly secure offering for companies because all emails and
their contents could be protected behind their corporate firewalls. If a single device was lost or stolen, the
company could easily disable it from its central control server.

Success

The Blue Ocean that RIM created through its BlackBerry keeps growing year after year. Competition in
the wireless handheld market is intense, however, RIM continues to expand penetration in existing
markets and grow internationally as well. Ovr 50 million units have been sold worldwide. The company's
sales grew 84% in FY2009 to $11 billion compared to $6 billion 2008 and its earnings grew 46%.
Subscribers quadrupled from 2 million in 2004 to 8 million by April 2007 and tripled again in 2009 to about
25 million.

There are now over 100,000 installations of BlackBerry Enterprise Servers worldwide, and RIM is
aggressively partnering with wireless carriers to expand availability. It currently has agreements with
about 475 carriers and distribution channels in over 160 countries. The BlackBerry's success in the
corporate market and broad appeal has quickly spread over to the consumer market where RIM has had
significant growth as well.
Crocs, Inc.
Company Snapshot

Crocs is one of the shoe industry's star performers. It designs, manufactures and markets brightly
colored, comfortable branded footwear and accessories for women, men, and children.

Blue Ocean Strategic Move

Crocs, Inc. created a big new blue ocean market space in the shoe industry with its unique lightweight
clogs that combine comfort and fashion at a low price point. Crocs branded shoes have broad appeal
because they are a fun alternative to traditional sandals and casual shoes and come in a wide range of
funky bright colors. Combined with their bold new look featuring a crocodile logo, Crocs have also been a
big success because they offer a number of practical benefits that customers care about: ergonomic
comfort, lightweight, anti-skid, waterproof, and anti-microbial.