The New Positioning

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Summary: Spend Your Money on "22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" Instead
Review: "The New Positioning" is one of the biggest disappointments I have ever encountered. I had previously purchased "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" by Trout & Ries and found it *extremely* valuable. Took many notes and refer to it often. I did not take one single note on "The New Positioning," which is just a tired, uninspired rehash of Trout's original work, and not nearly as solid or concise. Before tossing it in the wastebasket, I want to alert others: Save your time and money for "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing." You'll be glad you did. Trout is, in effect, failing to take his own very good advice: He is engaging in a sort of "line extension" that will ultimately dilute his credibility with regard to anything else he ever writes.

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Summary: What's "New"?
Review: For someone who has not read any of the authors' (especially Trout's) other books, this has some value. For that reason, I rate it higher than do many other reviewers. However, it is inferior to the original Positioning (by Ries and Trout) and adds very little (if anything) that is "new" to the concepts and comments provided in that important book. The value of the original is increased substantially when read in combination with other works such as Levitt's The Marketing Imagination and Barker's Paradigms. Because effective positioning is (literally) a moving target, those involved must be both willing and able to modify that positioning in response to rapid, sometimes major changes in the competitive marketplace. That is to say, new positioning may be necessary. The authors of this book already have an excellent title. Now all they need is a text which is worthy of it.

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Summary: Good overall reflection on the present market place
Review: I found this book very easy to read, and well referenced to many easy to understand company situations. While I can't compare it to the previous book "Positioning", I would recommend this is as good value for money

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Summary: No new idea!
Review: It's just a direct "copy" of the marketing classics by the same authors "Positioning". Not many new idea there.

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Summary: A clear message quickly absorbed
Review: Some of those who read the original book, Positioning, found this sequel disappointingly short on new information. However, if you have not read the original, this book is worth reading, in part because it applies its own principles to communicate simply and briefly. Case studies are kept short and the central messages delivered efficiently then reinforced. Trout emphasizes the enormous amount of information and number of choices facing people and the consequent need for simplicity of message, and a clear position in the minds of consumers. Trout uniformly dislikes brand line extension, though he does not deal with counter-examples. The first section of the book, Understanding the Mind sets up the cognitive framework for the positioning approach. The second section, Dealing with Change, helps companies reposition themselves in consumers' minds. The third section, The Tricks of the Trade, goes into some specific strategies for penetrating the noise with your signal. There are deeper and newer books on the subject, but the clear message of this quickly-readable book is worth taking in.

Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended!
Review: You can achieve better brand recognition and sales if you understand how the mind works. Jack Trout (assisted by Steve Rifkin) emphasizes that the human mind is limited, hates confusion and easily loses focus. The authors cite companies that have succeeded in their brand strategy and advertising by following these principles, and a few who failed because they didn't. The book concludes with "tricks of the trade" that you can use. In keeping with these principles, the volume is simply and clearly written, brief, well organized and focused. However, since it was published about four years ago and talks about the beginning of the information age, some of the material already may sound familiar. But if you can ignore that sense of déjà vu, the book offers an excellent summary of the relationship between how the mind works and how best to use product positioning. We [...] recommend this book to marketing mavens with inquiring minds