In Search of the Obvious: The Antidote for Today’s Marketing Mess By Jack Trout
John Wiley & SonsInc. ©2008, 208 pages,$27.95
About the book: “In Search of the Obvious” launches from Jack Trout’s realization that marketing is turning into a complex science of data mining, number slicing, niche segmenting and more, all of which translates into a confusing mess. Trout suggests marketers steer clear of all the distractions and refocus on that simple, obvious differentiating idea.
The author: Jack Trout started his business career in the advertising department of General Electric. He was a divisional advertising manager at Uniroyal before he joined Al Ries in the advertising agency and marketing strategy firm where they worked together for more than 26 years. He published his first best-selling book in 1980 with Ries, “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind.” Trout, author of several marketing classics, is president of Trout & Partners, a prestigious marketing firm headquartered in Connecticut. For more information, visit www.troutandpartners.com.
Why you should read it: Jack Trouthas been writing about this topic for years in his books, articles and Forbes.com columns. As an expert, he convincingly encourages readers to get back to thinking in simple, commonsense and obvious terms and also sets a path that can lead to the right marketing strategy.
Why it’s different: “In Search of the Obvious” offers some thoughts about what’s wrong with marketing today and some thoughts about how to approach it differently. It revisits the importance of customer perception; why a customer should prefer your product, how to dramatize a strategy to better involve the prospects and the need to get back to creating ads that help clients get more business rather than merely serve as entertainment.
Can’t miss: The first chapter outlines the five tests of obviousness, which Trout credits Robert Updegraff with writing in 1916. The rest of the book supports that they are still meaningful.
To share or not to share: As soon as we heard that Jack Trout had written another book, we stalked it. Yes, share it because it’s a Jack Trout book and though you may feel you already know the things he’s talking about, it’s not a bad idea to revisit them in today’s light.