В поисках очевидного: как избавиться от хаоса в маркетинге и бизнес-стратегии

by Jack Trout, Джек Траут

Все смешалось в мире маркетинга. Бизнес переживает эру убийственной конкуренции. И в то время, когда функции маркетинга стали жизненно важны, в сфере маркетинга царит хаос. "Король позиционирования" Джек Траут поможет вернуть ясность восприятия и покажет перспективы, которые позволят сделать вашу компанию сверхприбыльной. Эта книга - попытка прояснить ситуацию и вернуться к тому, на что следует ориентироваться, решая любую маркетинговую проблему. В ней нет ни жаргонизмов, ни цифр, ни особой сложности. Приводится множество примеров из опыта таких компаний, как Coca-Cola, General Motors, Volkswagen, Intel, Procter & Gamble и других.

Издание будет полезно маркетологам, бренд-менеджерам, директорам по развитию, владельцам и управляющим компаниями.

Genres: Business

261 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

John Francis "Jack" Trout was an American advertising executive and an owner of Trout & Partners, a consulting firm. He was the founder and pioneer of positioning theory and also marketing warfare theory.

Reviews

[Panata Harianja · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pemimpin Coca-Cola Roberto Qoizueta pada tahun 1985 memprediksikan bahwa New Coke akan berubah menjadi "Perkembangan minuman ringan paling penting dalam sejarah perusahaan....Gerakan paling meyakinkan yang pernah ada." Yah, Roberto, yang terjadi adalah bom paling penting dalam sejarah Coke.

Begitu tulis Jack Trout di halaman 226 menggambarkan bagaimana begitu banyak pemasarn dan (apalagi) CEO perusahaan (hingga yang raksasa sekalipun) melakukan kesalahan dalam memahami perkembangan bisnis dan dinamika pasar. Seperti kita tahu, New Coke yang sempat diharapkan bisa menghancurkan Pepsi (karena rasanya telah lolos uji dan diakui lebih enak dari Pepsi) akhirnya malah hancur dengan sendirinya. Hancur tak lama setelah diluncurkan. Orang tetap saja lebih suka membeli Classic Coke (yang konon menurut riset secara blind test rasanya kalah enak dibanding Pepsi).

Kutipan diatas saya pilih juga untuk menggambarkan bagaimana Jack Trout (menurut bayangan saya) begitu kesal dan marah melihat kebodohan para CEO. Bukan cuma pada Roberto, Trout juga banyak memberi komen dengan menyebut nama para CEO hingga terasa begitu personal.

Buku ini bagus untuk tambahan referensi tentang bagaimana seorang pakar pemasaran melihat perkembangan terkini dari geliat brand-brand dunia.

In Search of The Obvious, judul yang sepertinya sengaja ia pilih untuk menjelaskan bagaimana kesalahan telah dilakukan oleh para pemasar dan CEO dalam mencari 'sebuah kejelasan'. Banyak dari mereka mencari kejelasan di luar core business-nya hingga tidak menyadari apa esensi dari bisnis perusahaan yang dipimpinnya. Banyak ilustrasi menarik yang diceritakan Trout. Misalnya tentang penggantian nama layanan pos di Inggris menjadi Consignia. Nama yang berkesan gagah, elegan, juga ningrat. Sayangnya, nama cantik ini tidak ada hubungan dan tautan dengan dunia per-pos-an. Setelah jadi bahan cerca, cela dan lelucon, 15 bulan kemudian nama itu dikembalikan ke nama aslinya; Royal Mail Group.

Bagi saya sebagai orang iklan, buku seperti ini penting dibaca. Sebagai orang kreatif kita bisa mudah terjebak untuk sekedar mencari keunikan, orisinalitas, kelucuan, kejutan dan lain sebagainya. Kita bisa lupa bahwa ada hidup sebuah brand yang sedang kita tentukan hidup-matinya.

Tapi buku ini seperti buku-buku terjemahan lainnya punya kelemahan mendasar, yaitu ketidak-tahuan sang penerjemah dan editor tentang konteks konten bukunya. Misalnya, jika penulis mengutip slogan/tagline dari sebuah brand ada baiknya jika dikutip saja versi aslinya (bahasa Inggris). Jika perlu boleh tambahkan terjemahannya. Karena jika langsung terjemahannya akan terasa ganjil. Misalnya, di halaman 79 terdapat kalimat; BMW, misalnya, telah menjadi "mesin berkendara terbaik"... Seingat saya, kata-kata "mesin berkendara terbaik" itu dimaksudkan sebagai terjemahan dari slogan BMW; "The ultimate driving machine". Ada rasa, konteks, dan bobot yang hilang jika main asal terjemahkan saja. Beruntung saya pernah baca/kenal/dengar slogan BMW itu. Bagaimana yang tidak paham konteks itu?

Buku ini ringan saja. Dibaca dalam waktu senggang pun akan cepat selesai. Sayang, buku ini tidak banyak memberikan pendalaman tentang apa yang dia maksud dengan "obvious". Menurut saya masih kurang obvious

[Dmitry · Rating 5 out of 5]

(The English review is placed beneath the Russian one)

Одна из лучших книг Джека Траута о маркетинге.

Несмотря на то, что данная книга Траута повторяет многие его тезисы, которые уже были рассмотрены в предыдущих книгах автора, всё же в этой книге все главные мысли Траута очень удачно вписались одна в другую, а также в главный посыл всей книги. Плюс, эта книга несёт всё тот же узнаваемый авторский стиль, который можно встретить в каждой его книге. Я даже больше скажу, книги Траута и Райса выделяются среди прочих книг других маркетологов непередаваемым и уникальным стилем, который присутствует во всех книгах этих двух авторов. И, разумеется, важным плюсом этой книги, как и всех других книг этих двух авторов, является простота, чёткость и ясность самого текста. Тут нет никаких сложных предложений или труднопонимаемых идей. В книге всё предельно ясно и понятно. Возможно, именно поэтому мне всегда так приятно читать книги этих авторов.

Я бы назвал эту книгу, высококачественной коллекцией статей автора написанных для различный профильных изданий. Читая книгу у меня было стойкое ощущение, что я читаю развёрнутую, большую статью из журнала AdAge. Это не в минус книге. Это тот случай, когда автору удалось написать книгу, которая лишь походит на собрание статей, но при этом сохраняет структуру классической бизнес книги. Т.е. книга впитала в себя все положительные стороны статей из профильных журналов и все положительные стороны типичных книг по бизнесу. Ведь авторы, в отличие от Котлера или Аакера, не претендуют на написание университетского учебника, а претендуют на качественную деловую классическую литературу, что у них и всегда великолепно получалось и что великолепно получилось и с этой книгой.

Что касается самой книги, то в ней автор рассматривает основные вопросы, с которыми столкнулся маркетинг и маркетологи в самом начале XXI века. К примеру, автор очень точно выражает обеспокоенность погоней за Интернетом, т.е. когда маркетологи рассматривают Интернет как решение ВСЕХ проблем. Как совершенно правильно замечает автор, Интернет является лишь ещё одни инструментом в арсенале маркетолога и не более того. Мне порой кажется, что многие люди занимающиеся бизнесом считают, что с помощью одного лишь Интернета с его социальными сетями они способны будут достигнуть таких же высот, каких достигли компании Microsoft, GE или BMW. Но это иллюзия. Без использования классического маркетинга, интернет-маркетинг будет лишь химерой, наваждением, иллюзией пути к успеху.

Второй важной темой, о которой пишет автор и которую мне хотелось бы здесь отметить, является излишняя креативность при создании рекламы. Увы, но людям может понравиться сама реклама, но не продукт, что она рекламирует. Или даже скажем так: рекламу запомнят, а о бренде даже не вспомнят. Такая реклама имеет свойство затенять рекламируемый товар.

В общем, за что я люблю книги Траута и Райса, так это за то, что они как были актуальными, как только вышли, так и остаются актуальными и посей день.

One of Jack Trout's best books on marketing.

Despite the fact that this book repeats many of his theses that have already been discussed in the author's previous books, in this book, all of Jack Trout's main thoughts are very well integrated into one another, as well as into the main message of the entire book. Plus, this book carries all the same recognizable authorial style that can be found in every one of his books. I will even say more, Jack Trout and Al Ries's books stand out among other books by other marketers because of the ineffable and unique style that is present in all of these two authors' books. And, of course, an important plus of this book, as of all the other books by these two authors, is the simplicity, clarity, and precision of the text itself. There are no complicated sentences or hard-to-understand ideas. Everything in the book is very clear and understandable. Perhaps that is why I always enjoy reading books by these authors.

I would call this book a high-quality collection of articles written by the author for various trade publications. As I read the book, I had the distinct feeling that I was reading an extended, large article from AdAge magazine. This is not to the book's disadvantage. This is a case where the author managed to write a book that only resembles a collection of articles, but retains the structure of a classic business book. That is, the book absorbed all the positive aspects of articles from trade journals and all the positive aspects of typical business books. After all, the authors, unlike Kotler or Aaker, do not pretend to write a university textbook but rather high-quality classic business literature, which they have always succeeded magnificently, and this book has also succeeded very well.

As for the book itself, the author addresses the major issues facing marketing and marketers at the very beginning of the 21st century. For example, the author very accurately expresses his concern about the pursuit of the Internet, i.e., when marketers see the Internet as the solution to ALL problems. As the author correctly points out, the Internet is just another tool in a marketer's arsenal and nothing more. I sometimes think that many people in business think that with just the Internet and its social networks, they will be able to reach the same heights as Microsoft, GE, or BMW. But that is an illusion. Without classical marketing, Internet marketing will only be a chimera, an obsession, an illusion of the road to success.

The second important theme the author writes about, which I would like to point out here, is overcreativity in the creation of advertising. Alas, people may like the ad itself, but not the product it advertises. Or even let's put it this way: they will remember the advertisement, but not the brand. Such advertising tends to obscure the advertised product.

In general, what I love about Jack Trout and Al Ries's books is that they were relevant as soon as they came out, and they are still relevant today.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining diagnosis of modern marketing – plus a cure

Veteran marketer Jack Trout successfully manages to inject new material while belaboring the obvious. To do well, he says, marketers must go back to the basics, even though it’s popular to chase trends and be cute. Marketers are concerned about fancy strategies, high-tech gadgets, quantitative research, entertaining ads and faddish consultants – all a waste of time. Trout says to go back to the core of marketing. Focus on the obvious. That’s what customers really want. What you really need to know is right in front of you, not at the bottom of the data mine. Although Trout pounds away at his thesis, getAbstract finds his book enjoyably informative. He may sometimes seem like a scolding grandfather, but he has clear advice for marketers: Modern society is too complex, and complexity does not help you sell. Instead, he says, marketers should try common sense. It couldn’t hurt.

[Shrutin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good insight into various aspects and pitfalls of marketing.
Jack Trout highlights 'simplicity', and 'the obvious', two keywords that I personally give a lot of importance to in business.
He chooses to differ from the herd, and gives you completely unbiased and hard-hitting facts about how many of the marketing folk have lost perspective, and their way, and how many advertisers too have moved from creating impactful ads for their clients, to making entertaining movies where the client and their brand is often forgotten.

[Marc Rocket · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Stars if you've read Differentiate or Die. After reading his other books, this one only brings us about 25 pages of new ideas. I wish he had the courage to just publish a 25 page book and sell for same price. That would be a differentiation in the market.
To make this easier to read scan pages for Coke, GM, IBM, and Apple. Skip these sections as they are rehashed stories from his previous books.
The book us worth the price, just not worth the time.

[James Christensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff, but then I'm a Jack Trout fan. To be perfectly honest I'm not sure if there are new things in this book. If you've read 21 laws, and positioning, you probably won't get anything new out of this one.

[Garin Hess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best book I've read so far about differentiating your business from the competition and how to communicate it. Essential reading for any serious business practitioner.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first marketing strategy book I ever read, and one that I still think about today.

[Avik Debnath · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice book to understand the marketing campaigns and strategies and the mess created by some of the big names in the industry. Overall a decent read......

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣]

Q:
He also discovered that many of these 301 statements are interchangeable. (Could it be that companies are knocking off other companies’ mission statements?)
Boeing wrote about ‘‘a fundamental goal of achieving 20 percent average annual return on stockholder’s equity.’’(That’s not realistic when you consider the success of Airbus. Boeing should be talking about the business, not the numbers.)
Even the government gets into the mission statement act.
The Air Force had one of the best of the bunch: ‘‘To defend the United States through control and exploitation of air and space.’’ (Kicking ass in the air is indeed what it’s about.)
The CIA had almost 200 words of motherhood and mush and not one mention about its basic problem of getting it right.
As best we can see, most of these mission statements have little positive impact on a company’s business. Levitz Furniture has a mission of ‘‘satisfying the needs and expectations of our customers with quality products and services.’’ (That wonderful mission statement didn’t keep it out of bankruptcy.) (c)
Q:

[Anil Swarup · Rating 3 out of 5]

"There is no objective reality. There are no facts. There are no best products. All that exists in the world marketing are perceptions" : This is the essence of the book that so eloquently advocates common sense, not charts, graphs or complex marketing analyses. He even lists out the dictionary definition of common sense: "native good judgement that is free from emotional bias or intellectual subtlety". Trout advocate precisely this. The author quotes copiously from well known personalities to drive home this point. He mentions Thomas Friedman, who wrote, "If you convey to the people that you really want them to succeed, they will take any criticism you dish out". In author's view "you cannot be everything to everybody". Hence, you have to take your pick and then drive that. Trout come up with brilliant one-liners like "While people love underdogs, they buy overdogs". How true.

[Srikanth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first few pages is full of gyan. And he introduces us to a 90 yr old book. And gives out a few snippets of that book, its actually good. And makes you think that wisdom be it yesterdays or today will always hold good, if its got common sense. Before i start of let me ask you a few questions.

• Ideas for life.
• Shift.

Most of these are words that accompany a companies Trade mark. Well few u might but the rest u might not. So all that he says is please stick to the obvious. For eg What is the point in a Bank having something like " We are more than a Bank". ya that is true a bank has to be a bank.Anything else it aint there in the business.


Even the ads he says that they lean more towards entertainement rather than selling the idea.So eventually we the customers remember the Ad and forget the product.Seems pretty simple right, we wish it were. If it were so then the world would have reverted back to logical advertising.But somehow it hasnt till now.


Common sense and stating the obvious are the main things that the author keeps harping about.He includes lots of stories of how people have gone wrong etc.


Now for the boring part. In many pages of the book he keeps reminding us that he has written lot of books and keeps including them in between, well that was pretty obvious isnt it. And jack makes it looks like marketing aint that simple but not that difficult also.But just one thing jack, whatever you write and whatever you wont you just cannot pinpoint anything.


There are a number of books on marketing and there will be many more, its a never ending story.But each book in order to sell keep a few interesting titbits in between. one such thing in as follows







" A picture is equal to a thousand words" by Confucius


that is what we thought right. No it turns out to be something else in chinese after all.


" A picture is equal to a thousand gold ". So words are worth more than pictures. Wasnt that obvious folks.

[Bhavana Vadodariya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little bit negative kind of book, yeah Jack said already it won’t make so many happy faces. But commenting on people’s job is easy, Jack should have given big effective ideas instead of commenting on already said and tested and failed tasks.

[Şenol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Güzel bir kitaptı, açıklayıcı öğretici... sıkılmazsanız okuyabilirsiniz

[Rich Krafsig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, worth reading.

[Damla Kaan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trout says that marketing isn't complicated thing. Marketers, advertisers make marketing so difficult. If you don't love marketing you should read it....

[Saranga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, to the point but comes with a very strong message of how sometimes the obvious is not so obvious especially in organizations' communications strategy.