In Search of the Obvious: The Antidote for Today's Marketing Mess

This is the first book that states the obvious: Marketing is a mess. Marketing guru Jack Trout intends to make a lot of people, who made the mess, very uncomfortable:

Advertisers are criticized as people who look for the creative and edgy, not the obvious. They will not be happy.

Marketing people are criticized for getting hopelessly entangled in corporate egos and complicated projects. They will not be happy.

Research people are criticized for generating more confusion than clarity. They will not be happy.

Some big companies are criticized for their ill-fated marketing programs or lack of proper strategy. They will not be happy.

Wall Street is criticized for putting too much emphasis on growth that is unnecessary and can be destructive to a brand. They will just ignore this criticism and continue trying to make as much money as they can.

But this is a book not written to make people happy but to explain to marketers what their real problem is. Only then will they begin to look for the obvious solutions that will separate their products from their competitors -- in a way that is equally obvious to customers. All this comes with no jargon, no numbers, no complexity, and a great deal of common sense.

Receive Your Complimentary Book NOW!

"In Search of the Obvious - Free Book Summary"

Offered Free by: Summary.com

Marketing guru Jack Trout clears up the confusion that surrounds the marketing profession.

In this summary, marketing guru Jack Trout clears up the confusion that surrounds the marketing profession. Instead of focusing on segmentation or customer retention or search engine optimization, marketers should be searching for that simple, obvious differentiating idea.

You'll also receive Executive Book Alert, which keeps business executives up-to-date on the latest in business thinking. Their editors scour the book lists and catalogs, talk with business book publishers, and network with top business authors, to find the next best business books to summarize. As they do this, they will share the results of their research in this e-Newsletter.

Download In Search of the Obvious

Excerpt, PDF format.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1. In Search of the Obvious 1
This is the most important chapter in the book. It is simple, profound, and contains a secret that few know of . . . and someone else wrote most of it.

CHAPTER 2. What Gets in the Way of the Obvious 11
There are forces at play that don’t make the search easy or sometimes even possible. They tend to obstruct clear thinking. Some forces are external. Some are internal. They all are things of which you must be aware. Forewarned is forearmed.

CHAPTER 3. The Internet Can Be an Obvious Problem 25
Nothing in the marketing and business world has received so much hype. But be careful, it is not the ultimate solution. It’s about new ways to reach people with your obvious idea. It’s just another tool but it can confuse things.

CHAPTER 4. Advertising People Can Be an Obvious Problem 39
Unfortunately, most advertising people look for the creative, not the obvious. For them, the obvious is too simple and not clever enough. The old guard—Leo Burnett, David Ogilvy, and Bill Bernbach—understood this. The new guard, whomever they are, don’t.

CHAPTER 5. Marketing People Can Be an Obvious Problem 57
Marketing people often don’t appreciate what they should be focusing on. Most get hopelessly entangled in corporate egos and complicated projects. It’s no wonder that the job tenure of a chief marketing officer is less than two years.

CHAPTER 6. An Obvious Look at the Marketing Process 67
If marketing people are to do a better job, they have to have a clear understanding of the marketing process—what’s important and how to evaluate and operate the functions in which they are in charge.

CHAPTER 7. Some Help in That Search for the Obvious 93
The search should generally start with the competition. It’s not what you want to do. It’s what your competition will let you do. Also, you have to avoid making the kinds of mistakes often made. I’ll also share two of my favorite obvious strategies.

CHAPTER 8. You Must Be Aware of Some Obvious Ground Rules 129
In another book, I wrote about the laws of marketing. A number of these are very important in the search for the obvious. Ignore them at your own risk.

CHAPTER 9. Some Observations about Obvious Marketing Problems 151
This chapter outlines the obvious ideas that could be used to solve some highly publicized marketing problems. Some are observations. Several were searches for the obvious that I conducted.

CHAPTER 10. The Future Is Never Obvious 187
A search for the obvious is about today, not tomorrow. You cannot predict the future and you should never try. Today is today. Tomorrow is tomorrow.

CHAPTER 1
In Search of the Obvious
This is the most important chapter in the book. It is simple, profound, and contains a secret that few know of . . . and someone else wrote most of it.

Whenever I travel around the world, I’m often asked the same question: ‘‘What are your favorite books?’’ Well, I’m going to let you in on a secret. The best book that I have ever read on marketing is one that was written over 90 years ago in 1916. And here’s the good news. It is only 40 pages long, it contains no jargon or graphs or complex research. In fact, it’s more like a pamphlet. Now the bad news. It’s not easy to find and could be called a collector’s item. ...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jack Trout is President of Trout Partners, one of the most prestigious marketing firms in the United States, with offices in thirteen countries.

His client list includes Southwest Airlines, IBM, Merrill Lynch, Sears, and the U.S. State Department. He is the author of several marketing classics, including Differentiate or Die, Second Edition, from Wiley. For more information, please visit www.TroutandPartners.com.

Comments (0)

Name

Email

Comment

smaller | bigger

Add Comment