Jack Trout 

 


Jack Trout is recognized as the world's foremost marketing strategist. For close to three decades now, Trout has enlightened the business world with his simple yet effective ideas on marketing.


Trout's different from others in his approach towards solving marketing problems. His books clearly depict his painstaking emphasis on keeping things simple and maintaining the focus on the obvious. Together with Al Ries, Jack Trout co-authored the most seminal book on marketing and advertising ever written:"Positioning - The Battle for your Mind"." Other not-to-be-missed Trout books include "Big Brands, Big Trouble', "Differentiate or Die" (written with Steve Rivkin) and "The 22 immutable laws of marketing"(with Al Ries).

In Search of the Obvious 

"The aspects of things that are most important to us are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity." - Ludwig Wittgenstein


Nothing best describes the thinking of the man who gave us the concept of positioning and the 22 immutable laws of marketing than the Wittgenstein's quote. For close to three decades now, Jack Trout has been at the helm of the marketing wheel. He is not your average rent-a-guru type. Ever since the first 'Positioning' article was published in 'The Industrial Age' magazine in 70s, Trout's counsel to the marketers has pretty much remained consistent. His invariable emphasis on the importance of 'perceptions' in the world of marketing is well- recognized now. In addition, he has always been a great advocate of 'simple and obvious' ideas as well. Pick up any previous book of his - 'Strategy', 'Differentiate of die', 'The power of simplicity', 'Positioning' - and you are guaranteed to find at least one chapter dedicated to the power the obvious ideas command in this over-communicated world. The only problem, however, is that marketers around the world still seem to be a bit too creativity-bound and  much of it at the expense of common sense. For his new book, Trout will certainly draw the flak from ad agency and research guys as he jumps all over them for being at the center of many ill-conceived marketing programs.


Trout's latest book 'In search of the Obvious: The Antidote for today's Marketing mess' is a gripping supplement to his previous books.Trout apparently got the inspiration for this book from an old book called 'Obvious Adams: The Story of a Successful Businessman' written by Robert R. Updegraff in year 1916.   It's a hard-hitting account of prevailing chaos in the world of marketing. Trout keeps things pretty simple and jargon-less, something which has been his hallmark for years now.  Trout hits the ground running and delineates the CEO's role as that of a brand custodian. He asserts that unlike old times when CEOs/CMOs would always pass under the radar, these days they are the first to be sent to the guillotine. He also advises executives to resist information overload and leverage their commonsense, instead. Trout uses a number of case-studies from his consulting career to drive home the point that marketing battles are still being fought in the minds, quite contrary to what many red-blooded marketers tend to think. He warns brands against donning too many hats and asks executives for devising a coherent, long-term marketing direction.


Trout also takes umbrage to the level of significance placed by marketers on Internet and its off-shoots such as word-of-mouth and viral marketing. He in particular sounds upset at marketers for using Internet rather than traditional media to launch new brands. He underlines the role of Internet as that of a great enabler and advises executives to look at Internet as a mere tool  not as the ultimate wherewithal. Trout then takes into his cross-hairs the ad agencies. He literally blows the whistle on the role of ad agencies. He says that many agencies have forgotten their core business, i.e. selling and have rather chosen to indulge in fun, gimmicks and enjoyment. He dismisses the notion of engaging customers in order to turn them into buyers as a wrong one. I decided to examine this allegation of Trout. I observed over 30 different commercials closely and much to my surprise, over four-fifths of these ads had humor, fun and sex element in them. And over two-thirds, in my opinion, completely failed to put across a reason to buy. Whatever happened to positioning!


Status quo is not always bad and Trout breaks it down when he discusses an age old, inherent problem with marketing people. It's the addiction of tinkering with well-established brands or their respective positionings. Come to think of it, he is bang-on here, too. Take Coca-Cola, Trout's favorite case-study, for example. It wasn't as if Coke was doing badly when the top brass decided to change its positioning from 'The Real Thing' to something frivolous. It's just that the new line of Chief marketing officers couldn't resist the temptation of dismantling the status quo.  


Before I finish this review, I would like to clear some air for those who criticize Trout's books for being repetitive. Yes, his books carry quite a few examples and case-studies from his earlier books, but then, the whole objective is to let people learn from history. Trout himself affirms that he wants young marketing people to study the past and avoid thinking that the world is any different. Human condition is still the same.

Finally, I found 'In Search of the Obvious' a thoroughly refreshing read just like all the previous books of Trout. His counsel might be sliced with repetitions and admonishments, however, his indefatigable conviction originates from his experience. Don't believe me? Well, fate of most of the brands discussed in his books provides for his vindication. I recommend this book to everyone in the business world!