Customer Reviews

A Genie's Wisdom: A Fable of How a CEO Learned to Be a Marketing Genius

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The book has 10 chapters - in each chapter, Trout answers a marketing question. There is quite a bit of overlap in content with Trout's earlier books.

The questions (and summarized answers) are:

1. What is the essence of marketing?
Explaining simply why a product is different and why it should be bought instead of other competing products.

2. What's branding all about?
Establishing the product name and its differentiating idea in the mind of the prospective customer.

3. What should be my product strategy?
Be either #1 or #2 in a category; otherwise create a new category,

4. How do I get my pricing right?
Competitive price + delta for perceived differentiated value

5. Are there limits to growth?
Yes, do not stray from core competence and the differentiated idea established in cstomers' mind. Set realistic growth goals.

6. What is good research?
Avoid research / survey reports because what people say and what they do is often different. Useful to ask customers to rate competitors along various differentiated vectors on a range of 1-10. This tells which company owns which product feature.

7. How do I evaluate advertising?
Does the ad effectively communicate the differentiating idea to encourage a customer to buy?

8. How do I pick the right medium?
Words are more effective than pictures; spoken is more effective than printed.

9. How important are logos?
The brand's power lies in the name, not the symbol / visual.

10. What mistakes are made most often?
Underestimating competition
It's not about a better product, it's about a better perception
Ignoring reality, wishful thinking
Losing focus, brand extension

You will cut thru the marketing BS, and paradoxically, have a deeper appreciation for marketing.

Jack Trout is an owner of Trout & Partners, a consulting firm. He is one of the founders and pioneers of positioning theory, and also marketing warfare theory.

Positioning is creating an image or identity in the minds of the target market for the product, brand, or organization. It is the 'relative competitive comparison' the product occupies in a given market as perceived by the target market.

Marketing warfare strategies are a type of strategies, used in business and marketing, that try to draw parallels between business and warfare, and then apply the principles of military strategy to business situations, with competing firms considered as analogous to sides in a military conflict, and market share considered as analogous to the territory which is being fought over.

This book covers all basic aspects of marketing in a very friendly manner, with simple, easy to understand real-life examples. The author hates the meaningless buzzwords used by marketers.

The author has used a surprising concept of the Genie as a marketing advisor to a CEO of a big public company in a way that the marketing is taught using simple conversations, questions and answers, between the Genie and the CEO. The questions are: What Is the Essence or Marketing? What's Branding All About? What Should Be My Product Strategy? How Do I Get My Pricing Right? Are There Limits to Growth? What is Good Research? How Do I Evaluate Advertising? How Do 1 Pick the Right Medium? How important Are Logos? What Mistakes Are Made Most Often?

This concept of using Gene as a mentor is amazing, exciting and amusing. There is a lot of humor, liveliness and variety, as well as caustic satire in the case study analysis. The Genie teaches the marketing via the examples well known to the CEO, i.e. examples involving Bill Gates, Jack Welch, Michael Dell, and the other known persons.

I also recommend Peter Drucker's "Innovation and Entrepreneurship" in addition to this book. Although the Drucker's writing is on management, not marketing, but it would be a valuable addition to this book.

This is a book about common sense. Marketing has become a phenomena loaded with mystique and strange words, and it 's only right that someone helps managers see through all that.

Read this book and you'll be on the rise in your company!

While working on my Masters in B-School, I remember the enriching lessons from a Marketing Director of a Fortune 10 company. As I steer through the real world of business as a marketer and strategist, find it true to words.

His message was crisp (an MBA from Kellogg); that after learning a lot of theories and analytical tools, at the end of the day, marketing is all about SPTC (Segmentation, Positioning, Targeting and Commonsense) coupled with clear and effective communication. This book will deliver you these simple basics of marketing based on common sense. As one proceeds through the book, the basic factors of marketing will unveil from a layman's perspective. USP of this book is that you can refresh / understand the basics of marketing while flying from Philadelphia to Chicago (2.5hours).

However, this book won't put folks like us (Marketers/Strategists/Consultants) out of business. Rather, it would be a good idea to gift this book to your CEO/Director/Client to emphasize the need of a clear and simple marketing strategy which must be transmitted across the organization to achieve common goals.

Folks who want to make the next move in understanding the basics of marketing after reading this book might consider getting a hand on "Preface to Marketing Management" by Peter & Donnelly (9th edition). Another simple book but would call for a return flight between JFK and Heathrow.

This is what most business books should be. Brief, to the point, no wild theories, just good old common sense.
This book is broken up into the ten questions a new CEO, from finance, gets to ask the marketing genie. It explains the basics from segmentation, product strategy, advertising, distribution, price etc. Most of the information is pretty basic, but as explained in the book it is just what most people don't do.

P.S. If you have read some of Jack Trout's previous books, you will notice some overlap in the concepts explained here. However, it is still worth the short time it will take to read this book.

Let?s begin by introducing the author. Jack Trout is recognized as a guru in the field of marketing. He popularized the concept of ?positioning? in the customer?s mind and has written numerous books on various aspects of marketing. Without question, this is an expert you?d love to have on-call whenever you have a question about marketing.

Company owners and top executives outside the marketing field understand the vital need for effective marketing. However, when marketing mavens start babbling, it?s difficult to gain enough comprehension to make educated decisions. The topic can be very confusing, especially when people start spewing jargon that muddies the clarity needed to know what resources to allocate and what results to expect.

When the marketing stuff gets overwhelming, CEOs wish they had a genie who would pop out of an ancient lantern to answer all the questions and build an easier understanding of the field. In this deceivingly small volume, Jack Trout provides the genie to aid the CEO?and the reader. But, these are modern times, so the genie?s residence of choice is a laptop computer. Our Aladdin discovers a mysterious computer on his desk one morning and can?t resist turning it on. Poof! The genie appears and offers to answer ten questions about marketing for the CEO.

The remaining chapters each present a scenario a non-enlightened CEO (someone without marketing expertise) might face in the course of business. Seeking guidance, our CEO flips on the computer to gain knowledge from the genie. As we move through the book, insightful responses to the CEO?s questions help clarify what marketing is all about. This is not an in-depth treatise; note that the entire book is only 120 pages long.

The treatment is solid, yet light enough to be easy, enjoyable reading. The genie gives examples by talking about other CEOs as if he?d advised them in the past. In a delightful tongue-in-cheek, the genie even quotes Jack Trout on one occasion! Even with all my knowledge about marketing, I learned a lot?and got some stimulation to think more deeply about a few issues I?m working with in my own company.

A Genie?s Wisdom is easy to read on the plane (lightweight book) or in bed in the evening as you?re winding down. After you refer back to it a couple of times, you?ll probably pass it to a colleague or friend. It?s just that kind of book.

Are you mystified by marketing? If you are, fear not. Author and marketing authority Jack Trout ? the man who ?positioned? positioning in the minds of marketers ? has planted a genie in a mysterious computer (the new age version of a bottle on the beach) and given him the task of answering core marketing questions. In this fictional tale ? which attempts to emulate the success of fables such as Who Moved My Cheese and Fish, but falls short ? Trout takes readers through the very basics, from defining the product?s concept to what elements should be in a logo. Trout warns of seven marketing pitfalls to avoid. Using everyday language and the persistent but wealthy genie who explains it all, he breaks down the subject into small nuggets easily digested by even the least marketing-minded manager. While he does oversimplify, Trout contends that marketing is often made more complicated by the very people who profit from its complexity. Overall, we from getAbstract suggest this how-to book to business people who are unfamiliar with the marketing process.

Ive read most all of Trout's books. This one is sure different and gives a new approach on how we can train our CEO's to learn marketing. Funny too. I like the fable idea. Good fun gift.