Rating: 
Summary: Comparison of traditional and contemporary practices.
Review: "Companies often fail to recognize that their marketplace changes every few years...Last year's winning strategy may become today's losing strategy. As someone observed, there are two kinds of companies: those who change and those who disappear...Today's economic landscape is being shaped by two powerful forces- 'technology' and 'globalization.' The technological landscape today is dotted with new products...Technology is the ultimate shaper not only of the material substructure of society, but also of human thought patterns...Technology drives the second major force, globalization...Besides technology and globalization, other forces are reshaping the economy. 'Deregulation' is occurring in many economies. Protected companies, often monopolies, suddenly confront new competitors...Another strong force is 'privatization', where former publicly held companies and agencies have been turned over to private ownership and management, in the belief that they would be better managed and more efficient...Yogi Berra, the legendary Yankee catcher, summed it up when he said, 'The future ain't what it used to be.' He might have added: 'Do you feel your company is being chased by wild animals. If not, you should!' Markets are pitiless. Jack Welch would start his management meetings with the admonishment, 'Change or die.' Richard Love of Hewlett-Packard observes: 'The pace of change is so rapid that the ability to change has now become a competitive advantage.' The ability to change requires an ability to learn. Peter Senge and others have popularized the notion of a 'learning organization.' Not surprisingly, companies such as Coca-Cola, General Electric, and Skandia have appointed vice presidents of knowledge, or learning or intellectual capital. Those vice presidents have the task of designing 'knowledge management systems' to enable rapid company learning about trends and developments affecing consumers, competitors, distributors, and suppliers" (pp.3-5).In this context, in Chapter 1, after saying as the pace of change accelerates, companies can no longer rely on their former business practices to sustain prosperity, Philip Kotler compares busines assumptions and practices that were practiced 'then' with the ones being increasingly practiced 'now' as following: I- 'Then' 1. Make everything inside the company. 2. Improve on one's own. 3. Go it alone. 4. Operate with functional departments. 5. Focus domestically. 6. Be product-centered. 7. Make a standard product. 8. Focus on the product. 9. Practice mass marketing. 10. Find a sustainable competitive advantage. 11. Develop new products slowly and carefully. 12. Use many suppliers. 13. Manage from the top. 14. Operate in the marketplace. II- 'Now' 1. Buy more things outside (outsource). 2. Improve by benchmarking others. 3. Network with other firms, collabotate. 4. Manage business processes with multidiscipline teams. 5. Focus globally and locally. 6. Be market-and customer-centered. 7. Make adopted/or customized products. 8. Focus on the value chain. 9. Practice target marketing. 10. Keep inventing new advantages. 11. Speed up the new product development process cycle. 12. Use few suppliers. 13. Manage up and down and across. 14. Operate in the marketspace. Finally, he writes that those in the 'now' list are viewed as more effective contemporary approaches to profitability. Your company can almost tell how much it has adopted contemporary business practices by placing a check in each list on either the 'then' or the 'now'. If most of the checks are on the 'then', your company is locked in traditional practices. Strongly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Appetizer
Review: A concise overview on modern marketing principles is provided by the book. Despite the condensed nature of its content, many illustrative examples are given throughout the chapters. It serves well as a great appetizer for readers who are new to marketing principles.
Rating: 
Summary: Booooooooring...
Review: Absolutely nothing new on this book. Looks like Mr. Kotler did some copy & paste from his previous works. Furthermore, he shows a complete lack of knowledge about e-commerce and marketing in the Internet age.
Rating:
Summary: Welcome departure from the old Kotler style
Review: An evocative book. Certainly a welcome departure from the pedantic, "blind-em-with- science" approach of Kotler's other works. This latest "must-read" contribution to marketing strategy has a far better chance of being used by the business world rather than students. The Questions to Consider, featured at the end of each chapter, give a useful introspection to most companies, which should not be complacent with their satus quo. Kotler's refreshing perspective and absorbing interpretation of latest trends are a useful contribution. Hopefully we will see a sequel in the not-too-distant future ...
Rating:
Summary: Welcome departure from the old Kotler style
Review: An evocative book. Certainly a welcome departure from the pedantic, "blind-em-with- science" approach of Kotler's other works. This latest "must-read" contribution to marketing strategy has a far better chance of being used by the business world rather than students. The Questions to Consider, featured at the end of each chapter, give a useful introspection to most companies, which should not be complacent with their satus quo. Kotler's refreshing perspective and absorbing interpretation of latest trends are a useful contribution. Hopefully we will see a sequel in the not-too-distant future ...
Rating:
Summary: Crash course reminder
Review: Ditto all the praise included before. I'm using the book this summer (2000) as a one week read in my marketing communication management capstone seminar here at FSU. I should add that when I first discovered the book I found it useful as a refresher to hone my own marketing acumen. Despite keeping active in the real world via consulting, it's nice to sit back and reflect on the basics. I recommend it for veterans who need a quick refocus. As my students say, "Kotler is the bomb!"
Rating: 
Summary: A bore and poorly written
Review: Do not buy this book. When I bought this book, I had just finished The Ten Day MBA and was eager to build upon my marketing knowledge. After 100 pages, I am totally bored by the lack of insightful points and the mediocre writing. I may not even read further because I am sure there are better marketing books for sale. The book seems almost "pasted" together with excerpts from other books.
Rating:
Summary: An eye opener
Review: From the beginning to the end, you are just kept impressed by the common-sense but refreshing view of marketing concepts. I also liked the way Professor Kotler illustrated his views using various real-life examples practiced by many quality companies.
Rating:
Summary: An eye opener
Review: From the beginning to the end, you are just kept impressed by the common-sense but refreshing view of marketing concepts. I also liked the way Professor Kotler illustrated his views using various real-life examples practiced by many quality companies.
Rating:
Summary: A Great and Thorough Overview of Marketing Management
Review: I have known Professor Kotler for a long time and I have admired his work in marketing. It is a subject that has been downplayed by a lot of top business schools in this country.
This particular Kotler book was brought to my attention by a friend of mine who is a top marketing strategist on Madison Avenue. He heard that I was interested in reading something about marketing management so he gave the book to me as a gift.
It is amazing how practical and clear the book is. It gives a vivid picture of marketing in a corporation and insights about how to improve one's marketing department. It is also a great book for beginners in marketing for it offers thorough overview of marketing management(something that can be applied to life and business).
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