For the techniques toolkit, I recommend introducing both the strategy canvas and the 4 actions framework proposed in the book “Blue Ocean Strategy”. Similar to the business canvas, the strategy canvas looks to see how a company can capitalize on a market by creating blue oceans, or competing in open market space. The strategy canvas plots different elements of a company and how well they perform on those items. It then looks at which items can be reduced and which items should be emphasized.
The way the 4 actions framework works is to compete on aspects that your competitor is ignoring. The idea with this framework is to simultaneously differentiate the product while also lowering costs.
The How-To
Determine what aspects competitors in the market focus on to create value.
Determine what your target market wants from the product.
Find ways to create value by eliminating unnecessary factors, raise factors that the consumer values, reduce factors that are less important and create new factors that the industry doesn’t offer.
Plot your new strategy canvas on a model similar to the one shown above.