Introduction. The Mess That Marketing Is In. Chapter One. In Search
of The Obvious.
This is the most important chapter in the book. It is simple,
profound, and a secret because few know of it. And someone else
wrote most of it.
Chapter Two. What gets in the way of the ?Obvious?.
There are forces in play that don't make the search easy or
sometimes even possible. They tend to obstruct clear thinking. Some
forces are external. Some are internal. They all are things of
which you must be aware. Forewarned is forearmed.
Chapter Three. The Internet Can Be An ?Obvious? Problem.
Nothing in the marketing and business world has received so much
hype. But be careful, it is not the be all and end all. All it's
about are new ways to reach people with your obvious idea. It's
just another tool but it can confuse things.
Chapter Four. Advertising People Can Be An ?Obvious? Problem.
Unfortunately, most advertising people look for the creative, not
the obvious. For them, the obvious is too simple and not clever
enough. The old guard of Leo Burnett, David Ogilvy and Bill
Bernbach understood this. The new guard, whomever they are,
don't.
Chapter Five. Marketing People Can Be An ?Obvious? Problem.
I'm afraid that marketing people often don't appreciate on what
they should be focusing. Most get hopelessly entangled in corporate
egos and complicated projects. It's no wonder that the job tenure
of a chief marketing officer is less than two years.
Chapter Six. An ?Obvious? Look At The Marketing Process.
If marketing people are to do a better job, they have to have a
clear understanding of the marketing process. What's important and
how to evaluate and operate the functions in which they are in
charge.
Chapter Seven. Some Help In That Search For The ?Obvious?.
The search should generally start with the competition. It's not
what you want to do. It's what your competition will let you do.
Also, you have to avoid making the kinds of mistakes often made.
I'll also let you in on two of my favorite obvious strategies.
Chapter Eight. Some ?Obvious? Ground Rules Of Which You Must Be
Aware.
Long ago I wrote about the laws of marketing.* A number of these
are very important in the search for the obvious. As we wrote,
ignore them at your risk.
Chapter Nine. Some Observations About ?Obvious? Marketing
Problems.
To make this interesting, this section outlines the obvious ideas
that could be used to solve some highly publicized marketing
problems. Some are observations. Several were searches for the
obvious that I conducted.
Chapter Ten. The Future Is Never ?Obvious?.
A search for the obvious is about today, not tomorrow. You cannot
predict the future and you should never try. Today is today.
Tomorrow is tomorrow.
Jack Trout is President of Trout Partners, one of the most prestigious marketing firms in the United States, with offices in thirteen countries. His client list includes Southwest Airlines, IBM, Merrill Lynch, Sears, and the U.S. State Department. He is the author of several marketing classics, including Differentiate or Die, Second Edition, from Wiley. For more information, please visit www.TroutandPartners.com.
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