Customer Reviews

REPOSITIONING: Marketing in an Era of Competition, Change and Crisis

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I had hoped that this would build on the indispensable Positioning by Trout and Reis. No such luck. This is an abbreviated version of previous works by this author and also of works co-authored with Reis. If you've read Trout and Reis before, there's not much new material here. If you are thinking about this book and you have not read Trout and Reis before, get Positioning instead. Despite the age of that book, it is still the place to start. Despite the title of this book, it does not build on Positioning to present new insights.

Repositioning by Jack Trout is a follow-up to a book called Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, which Trout co-wrote with Al Ries 30 years prior.

Positioning is a competitive strategy, which Trout defines as "how you differentiate yourself in the mind of your prospect." Repositioning is about adjusting perceptions about you or about your competition. Trout stresses simplicity - you need one powerful differentiating idea, the more obvious the better.

Positioning is not an insular activity because it depends on what your prospects are thinking, as well as your competitors' strengths and weaknesses. Trout praised Alfred Sloan (chairman of General Motors from 1937 to 1956) who worked incognito as an assistant service manager in car dealerships from time to time, in order to stay in touch with customers. Trout compares that with GM executives in recent years who are so out of touch with car buyers, they ride to work in chauffeur-driven limousines rather than drive themselves.

Repositioning requires publicity. Trout describes the relationship of PR and advertising as linear. They need to be coordinated under a common strategy, but too often PR agencies and ad agencies are working against each other. He also criticizes the advertising industry for meaningless slogans.

Jack Trout has worked in advertising and marketing for four decades and he has written or co-written 15 books. I appreciate the author's pragmatic and sometimes irreverent views, although there is a significant amount of overlap in these books and he says as much in the introduction.

This book was written 30 years later, after the "Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind "- so great examples from modern life and recent event. Both books are great reading not just for marketing professionals, but regular readers as well.

"This turned out to be a difficult book to write because I've already written so much on the subject...Readers of my work might recognize some things I've mentioned in one of my 15 other books." So reads the opening lines of marketing maven Jack Trout's guide to repositioning. This defeatist introduction doesn't exactly promise much in the way of ingenuity or innovation. However, when you peruse this book, a follow-up to the business classic Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, it quickly becomes clear why Trout is in great demand as a speaker. The book reads like a marketing presentation. In a dynamic and engaging way, Trout, with the aid of marketing consultant Steve Rivkin, explains how repositioning can help you differentiate your brand from your competition, manage change and deal with crises. The book is filled with marketing war stories of successes and failures, with an occasional (if a tad egotistical) aside - such as, "If only they had taken my advice..." - thrown in. Although full of colorful real-life case studies, it is, at times, short on tactics and applicable advice. getAbstract recommends Trout's previous bestseller to those who are new to marketing and this sequel to anyone who desires a refresher course.

"Repositioning" is about adjusting perceptions about your product in the market and to your customers. I felt it was geared towards larger organizations, who had a lot of staff on board to handle the various marketing strategies involved, but highly recommend it for owners of any company to really get an understanding of differentiating your product or service, examining the competition to find ways to showcase your product's value and make it stand out from the competitor's, and how price might not be as critical as you think it is in relation to consumer's purchasing decisions.

In today's market, and when dealing with organizations on any level, it is so critical to understand how shifts in the economy might affect your business and the products offered, as well as how it might impact your ability to plan into the future. "Repositioning" discusses how to keep a product relevant in today's market, as well as moving forward into the future, and how to handle it if you are unable to plan long term. It is important to understand the competition and remain flexible and and able to recognize opportunities by keeping an open mind and focusing on the ground floor of your business, a place many CEO's of larger organizations lose sight of.

Adjusting people's perceptions in the market is not a quick process, nor should it be. "Repositioning" discusses the importance of public relations, how it affects advertising, and how critical consistency will be in your program, as well as how best to start a campaign to reposition your company all the while keeping it simple and understandable to the consumer.

I recommend "Repositioning" to any business that is involved with working with larger organizations as well as to owners of any business, to more thoroughly understand the importance of your organization and your service in the minds of customers. It would be even better if you read this book prior to starting your company, to get off on the right foot.

Thank you for reading my review!

~ Update on this review ~
I just 'upgraded' this review to 4 stars from 3 based on a comment posted on this review. Upon much reflection I see that if the reader has not read the original "Positioning" book by the author then this is actually an excellent book to teach the reader about positioning and repositioning a brand. For those who have read and live by the earlier work, however, the following review still stands.~

= Original review =
Jack Trout understands product positioning. He knows that a "position" is a place held inside the minds of consumers. He also understands that a brand cannot easily change its position inside peoples' brains once it has been established because those people have created a powerful shortcut from the brand identity or name to a singular point of distinction so they do not have to consciously think about what the brand means each and every time they consider or encounter it.

But does he understand repositioning?

Well, yes, but unfortunately the recipe is not worthy of a whole new book.

In a nutshell, you cannot change what your brand stands for inside the minds of your consumers once it has been established. The best you can hope to do is understand what is in their minds and shape that perception just a bit. You cannot radically change those associations or try to claim a new position. Once your brand has an established position you need to understand what position it holds and either make the decision that the position is acceptable to you and set out to tweak and shape that position a bit or, if unacceptable, consider killing your brand or creating a new one to take up residence in the desired, alternate position.

There is little new in this book and much of it is review of Trout's earlier work (and he readily admits that he is reviewing old material.)

If you never read Positioning, then get that book instead. If you have read Positioning and are looking to reposition an existing brand then re-read that book and then read my fourth paragraph above and then you can skip this book. This is a good book but there is very little new information.

~~Review by the author of the e-book, "How to Build and Manage Your Brand (in sickness and in health)."

I'm a big fan of the Ries and Trout team having picked up my first book by them perhaps 25 years ago. This volume seemed tired and rambling, lacking the crispness of earlier books. Perhaps everything to be said has been said, or Ries' counterbalance is missing, but this was a chore to read. Older volumes by Jack Trout, and Trout and Ries, are still very relevant although the examples are obviously dated. Two of my favorites are "Marketing Warfare" and "Bottom-Up Marketing", in addition to their classic "Positioning - The Battle for Your Mind". And their book "Horse Sense" is a must read for everyone considering their career and their options.

It's been about three decades ago since Jack Trout and Al Ries published what has become a classic bestseller, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. Since then, positioning has become the most powerful concept in marketing.

With his latest book, Repositioning, Trout's timing is remarkable.

Trout explains why it may be your answer for the three-headed monster looming over your marketing: competition, change and crisis. Competition is fierce, but you can reposition competitors to your advantage. Change is happening at warp speed, so capitalize to ride its momentum. Crisis is intimidating, but it's also an opportunity.

Repositioning, positioning's twin concept, delves into each of the three "C's" with characteristic Trout candor. He shares war stories that are engaging and relevant, and rounds them out with counsel delivered in the readable style we have come to expect.

Trout explains that positioning is how you differentiate yourself in the mind of your prospect and also includes a body of work about how the mind works. Repositioning is how you adjust perceptions, whether those perceptions are about you or about your competition often hanging a negative on the competition as a way to set up a positive.

As we celebrate the dawn of a new decade - and the hopes we all have for
prosperity - invite Trout into your thinking. Read Repositioning and see whether Trout once again has a remedy for your marketing headache. He's been right before. And I believe he's nailed it again.

after checking this out, im disappointed


ill demonstrate the concept straight from the lab

the "mind" can overload on incoming information

the "mind" categorizes this

id suggest books on logic