Sometimes “new” market space becomes apparent by simply studying the past. The remarkable surge of Scott Brown to win the Massachusetts Senate race, shows us the important lesson of looking backwards to understand some fundamental truths before moving forward.  This is the TV spot now credited with shifting non-Brown voters (Democrats and independents) into pro-Brown voters.  By continuing the story that favorite son John F. Kennedy began in 1961, Brown captured voters attention with three powerful points:

1.  I will benefit the economy by placing money in the hands of consumers and businesses.

2.  This will create new jobs and new salaries, which will have a multiplier effect of creating more new jobs and salaries.

3.  This means more customers and growth for America.

Everybody could understand this. Of course, the symbolic morphing from JFK to Brown was a stroke of marketing genius. But, Brown’s “lower taxes = more jobs” message echoed the positive JFK message and stayed away from his opponents “slash and burn” negative messages.  From a Blue Ocean Strategy point of view (even in politics), it takes uncommon sense to understand that you will find success by studying the past as a prelude to the future.