The New Positioning: The Latest on the World's #1 Business Strategy

I like the notion that "...to penetrate this noise, the marketing communicator must present a very simple, straightforward message in a way that is attractive to the customer or potential customer. Two approaches that have worked effectively are by presenting the information as "news" or as a "slice of life story."Somehow feeling inspired and refreshed.Recommend it.

Trout has a half a dozen bestsellers to his name. He has been a consultant for major lending corporations. Rivkin worked with Trout then branched out on his own. Together these two have put together a great book for positioning your company in today's market. Examples are take from their personal experience with companies. The first part of the book covers the latest psychology of how the mind of a prospect is influenced. It covers how the mind characterizes different types of incoming data. Part 2 goes into the repositioning of your company to correspond and take advantage of these natural laws. Trout covers the basic pitfalls in this area as well. This book is well titled (positioned)! Five Stars

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.

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

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