Marketing Mistakes and Successes [Paperback]

Robert F. Hartley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471743216 | ISBN-13: 978-0471743217 | Publication Date: November 4, 2005 | Edition: 10

We all can learn from past mistakes...

It's just more fun when they're not your own.

Even corporate giants make mistakes. Now you can learn from the best of them with this behind-the-scenes look at some of today's most notable marketing mistakes and successes. With the Tenth Edition of this fascinating casebook, you'll learn how to make better decisions, implement strategies, navigate competitive uncertainties, avoid pitfalls, and seize opportunities.

In a lively conversational style, Robert Hartley provides play-by-play analyses of actual decisions and practices that led to major marketing wars, comebacks, crises, and triumphs in top corporations. Hand's-on exercises and debates invite you to immerse yourself in various situations. These real-life war stories are packed with practical tips and learning experiences that can serve you throughout your career.

This Tenth Edition adds these seven new cases:
* The Kmart/Sears Merger of Faltering Firms
* Hewlett-Packard Under Carly Fiorina
* Toys "R" Us: Trying to Defend Against Wal-Mart
* Gateway Computer's Efforts to Stay Alive
* Merck's Vioxx Catastrophe
* Boston Beer--Is Greater Growth Possible?
* Office Max--To the End

Editorial Reviews

Review

Teacher's Manual available. -- The publisher, John Wiley & Sons --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Learning from our successes as well as from our mistakes is the basic concept of this text. Offering practical, easy-to-read cases, this seventh edition includes a number of marketing errors and successes. Update information boxes and issues boxes are provided in each chapter. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 10 edition (November 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471743216
• ISBN-13: 978-0471743217
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #374,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bold Retailers and Innovative Products spiral in flaming, December 5, 2001

By 

Stefan Jones (Suburbs of Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Marketing Mistakes (Paperback)

I took a few technology marketing courses in grad school, and became moderately interested in the process. When I saw "Marketing Mistakes" (1976) for sale at a thrift shop, I snapped it up.

This is actually interesting stuff for anyone interested in the growth and death of businesses, not just for marketing majors.

The eleven case studies describe how a retailer (e.g., Montgomery Ward, which finally augered in last year, and Korvette, a discount chain I barely recollect), product (Du Pont's Corfam, an artificial leather), or grand old toy company (A.C. Gilbert) became moribund or outright crashed and burned.

There was a lot of nostalgia value in these for me. The names and histories evoked memories of advertising campaigns and jingles. Particularly poignant: The terrible last years of A.C. Gilbert, the august maker of chemistry sets and erector sets. They diluted the company name and ruined its reputation by expanding into girl's toys, infant's toys, and cheap discount-market items. Their decline was amazingly swift.

There are lots of lessons here for budding business folk, and for others an opportunity to understand why your favorite stores and products sometimes disappear.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good textbook, but not for professionals, January 4, 2007

By 

ServantofGod - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marketing Mistakes and Successes (Paperback)

If I were a Professor in Marketing, I would pick this as a textbook, or at least a reference book for cases studies, because of its 1) extensive covering of 22 real life big name cases on six major topics (wars between giants, change/crises, competitive uncertainties, management mistakes, notable successes, and entrepreneurship) 2) sufficient details and figures on individual cases 3) intelligent questions and exercises in the end of each case/chapter 4)analytical "What can be learnt?" sections in the end of each case/chapter, and a whole independent chapter in the end of the book.

However, as a professional who had read countless marketing books, I must say that there are some better alternatives, insight and writing skill wise, that help readers to learn more from other people's mistakes. In that respect, I would like to recommend "In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High-Tech Marketing Disasters by Merrill Rick Chapman" and "Will Your Next Mistake Be Fatal?: Avoiding the Chain of Mistakes That Can Destroy Your Organization by Robert Mittelstaedt".

Remark: This book is at least 85% identical with the author's another work "Management Mistakes and Successes" and so you only should pick either one or them.

5.0 out of 5 stars Marketing Mistakes and Successes, November 17, 2008

By 

L. Santos (Monrovia, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Marketing Mistakes and Successes (Paperback)

This book is a great read. Very interesting articles about different famous companies. I recommend it even if you're not a student.