  A No-nonsense and Thoroughly Refreshing Marketing Book
"Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity." - William of Ockham, 14th century English Logician Nothing best describes the principal thought-process of the man who gave us the concept of positioning and the 22 immutable laws of marketing than the aforementioned principle, also famously known as Occam's Razor. For close to three decades now, Jack Trout has been at the helm of the marketing wheel. 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' and 'focus' 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. Trout's books, generally, draw the flak from creative and research folks as the latter are always his target for being at the center of many ill-conceived marketing programs. Jack Trout apparently got the inspiration for ''In search of the Obvious: The Antidote for today's Marketing mess' from another book called 'Obvious Adams: The Story of a Successful Businessman' written by Robert R. Updegraff* in year 1916. In addition to being a fitting tribute to Robert R. Updegraff's work, 'In Search of the Obvious' is also an apt supplement to Trout's previous books. Trout keeps things pretty simple and jargon-less in his latest book; something which has been his hallmark for years now. He 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 offshoots such as word-of-mouth and viral marketing. He in particular sounds upset at marketers for choosing 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 also takes into his cross-hairs the ad agencies. He literally blows the whistle on the role of ad agencies while asserting 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! * Trout's accolades for Robert R. Updegraff drove me to investigate more about him. And quite to my amusement, I found an online version of 'Obvious Adams'. You can read it here here | 
