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Differentiate
or Die
By
Jack Trout
John Wiley & Sons, 2000 - 240 pages
Differentiate
or Die by Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin is an excellent
read for those learning how and why businesses succeed
in the LONG-TERM. This
book is another excellent marketing book by one of the
authors. Jack
Trout first came to popularity with his seminal book
“Positioning,” which he co-wrote with Al Ries.
For those interested in marketing books The 22
Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout is
another truly great book by one of the authors.
Differentiation
is the key element to long-term success and profits and
is a key element in any corporate strategy class and is
frankly the biggest and most important thing I learned
while getting my MBA a few years ago.
Some excellent
tidbits from the book include:
- It's
not simply about what you or your product can do;
it's about what you do differently from everyone
else. Very
similar to concepts introduced in Positioning, one
of the co-authors other books
- In
today's global marketplace there are more products
than ever. Products
compete globally rather than locally or nationally
as they did in the past.
- In
today’s lightning-fast rate of change it is
critical to be first to market with an invention but
it is MORE IMPORTANT to be first to market to
position yourself in the marketplace via advertising/marketing to capture customer MINDSHARE.
- It
is tougher than ever to get customer’s to change
their minds as they increasingly have less time to
shop on discretionary products or plan vacations due
to the increasing reliance on double income
households.
- Trout
concentrates on illustrating ideas that will
differente you from the pack: Being first (and
staying there), owning a discernible attribute,
having a heritage, becoming the preference of a
particular consumer group, or even being the most
recent arrival in a product arena are just some of
these useful differentiates he presents.
Conclusion:
Buy the book.
It is well worth the time and money.
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About the Authors:
JACK TROUT is
President of Trout & Partners Ltd. (troutandpartners.com),
one of the most prestigious marketing firms in the
United States, with offices in 13 countries and a
client list that includes AT&T, IBM, Merrill
Lynch, Sears, and other Fortune 500 companies.
Recognized as one of the influential gurus of
marketing, Trout was the first to popularize the
idea of "positioning" products and ideas
in the minds of consumers. A sought-after speaker,
he is the author of numerous marketing classics
including the bestselling Positioning: The Battle
for Your Mind, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing,
and The Power of Simplicity.
STEVE RIVKIN is
coauthor of The New Positioning and The Power of
Simplicity and head of a communications consulting
firm whose clients include Kraft Foods, Olin
Corp., and Horizon Health System. He is based in
Glen Rock, New Jersey.
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