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Advertisers are criticized as people who look for the creative and edgy, not the obvious. They will not be happy.
Marketing people are criticized for getting hopelessly entangled in corporate egos and complicated projects. They will not be happy.
Research people are criticized for generating more confusion than clarity. They will not be happy.
Some big companies are criticized for their ill–fated marketing programs or lack of proper strategy. They will not be happy.
Wall Street is criticized for putting too much emphasis on growth that is unnecessary and can be destructive to a brand. They will just ignore this criticism and continue trying to make as much money as they can.
But this is a book not written to make people happy but to explain to marketers what their real problem is. Only then will they begin to look for the obvious solutions that will separate their products from their competitors –– in a way that is equally obvious to customers. All this comes with no jargon, no numbers, no complexity, and a great deal of common sense.
From the Inside Flap
The search for any marketing strategy is the search for the obvious.
We are in an era of killer competition. Category after category is perceived as a commodity. This fact is the central reason the critically important function of marketing is such a mess. It′s also why the average chief marketing officer barely lasts beyond two years in the job.
In this book, marketing guru Jack Trout clears up the confusion that surrounds the marketing profession. Instead of focusing on segmentation or customer retention or search engine optimization or data mining, marketers should be searching for that simple, obvious differentiating idea. Marketers not looking for the obvious had better have a very low price.
This search should begin with what Trout considers the best book ever written on marketing—even though it was published in 1916 and isn′t about marketing. Entitled Obvious Adams: The Story of a Successful Business Man, it lays out the five tests of an obvious idea that will lead you to the right marketing strategy for any product.
But In Search of the Obvious goes beyond the obvious by laying out what gets in the way of this search. Things like the Internet, advertising people, marketing people, Wall Street, research, even the future. These are all huge distractions that keep marketers from their most important task: differentiating their products.
To bring these principles for finding the obvious to life, Trout finds obvious solutions to today′s troubles for the likes of GM, Coke, Wal–Mart, newspapers, and the bewildering beer business. The fundamental problem is that effective marketing is both complicated and extremely simple—so simple that professional marketers overlook the most obvious and effective ideas entirely, in an attempt to be clever or creative. But if an idea is obvious to you, it will be obvious to your customers—which is why it will work.
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Customer Reviews
As he have done many times before he describes the essence of marketing in an obvious and understandable way, like few others can do. And he uses examples from his own experience to emphasizes his points.
And as always the text is fun to read.
First) Accept the validity of the obvious.
The search for any marketing strategy is the search for the obvious. When considering the dictionary definition of the word obvious: Easy to see or understand, plain, or evident; you understand why `obvious' is so important. When a marketing message is simple, easy to understand, and evident - it works really well. The author goes on to talk about people's hesitation with this concept, because of the misconception that the obvious is too simple and does not appeal to the imagination. Likewise, we often think a marketing message has to be very clever and intellectually stimulating to be successful. Trout takes the whole premise of his book from a book published in 1916: Obvious Adams. The Story of a Successful Businessman, written by Robert R. Updegraff. Here are the 5 guidelines from Updegraff's book:
a. This problem when solved will be simple.
b. Does it check with human nature?
c. Put it on paper.
d. Does it explode in people's minds?
e. Is the time ripe?
Second) Watch out for "stuff" that gets in the way of the obvious.
a. Wrong focus: CEOs are not focused on the right stuff. Legions of competitors, constantly changing technologies, faster change of pace, and a flood of information challenges the CEO's attention. The trick to surviving is to know where you are going.
b. Wall Street: Wall Street brokers pursue growth to ensure their reputations and to increase their take-home pay.
c. No time to think.
d. Flawed research: A flood of data should never be allowed to wash away your common sense and your own feeling for the market. You'll never see the obvious solution.
e. Communication. The Internet (plus email) brings more clutter. Word-of-mouth marketing is not the next big thing.
f. Advertising people. Theater, emotion, sloganeering, and creativity are their trap. How to fix this?
g. Marketing people. They just can't stop tinkering. They sit around and try to figure out how to improve things. What top management fails to understand is that the road to chaos is paved with improvements. Convergence and brand schizophrenia are often the result.
Third) Zero in on the proper marketing process.
a. Make sense in the context of the marketplace. What has the marketplace heard and registered from your competition?
b. Find the differentiating idea. Look for something that separates you from your competitors. This does not have to be product related.
c. Have the credentials. The demonstration of your differentiating idea is your credentials.
d. Communicate your difference. Better products don't win; better perceptions do.
Fourth) Know the essence of marketing.
a. It's marketing's responsibility to see that everyone is playing the same tune in unison.
b. It's marketing's assignment to turn that tune or differentiating idea into what we call a coherent marketing direction. A differentiating idea is a competitive mental angle.
Fifth) Beware of obvious blunders.
a. Me-Too mindset won't cut it.
b. Don't get cute or complex. Describe your product in a simple, understandable way.
c. Not understanding that marketing is a battle of perceptions.
d. Don't try to copy a competitor's word or position in the prospect's mind.
e. Guard against arrogance when becoming successful. You tend to become less objective; arrogance leads to failure.
f. Trying to be all things to all people.
g. Don't live exclusively by numbers. When you go down this path, it often leads to bad decisions.
h. Not being willing to attack your own business plan. i.e. Xerox with laser printing; Kodak with the digital camera.
Sixth) Beware of obvious ground rules.
a. Law of the Ear - your obvious strategy has to sound right.
b. Law of Division - Over time, a category will divide and become two or more categories.
c. Law of Perception - Marketing is not a battle of products, it's a battle of perceptions. The perception is the reality; hence, "obvious ideas exploding in the mind" - Robert Updegraff.
d. Law of Singularity - In search for the obvious, only one move will produce substantial results. History teaches that the only thing that works in marketing is the single, bold stroke. To find that singular idea or concept, marketing managers have to know what's happening in the marketplace. They have to be down at the frontlines. They have to know what's working and what isn't. They have to be involved.
e. Law of Duality - Every market becomes a two-horse race.
f. Law of Resources - Without adequate funding, an obvious idea won't get off the ground
The overall concept isn't clear or well explained.
To people interested in brand management I recommend his previous work.
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