Hero
Outlines the mistakes companies and CEOs make when marketing and designing their products, discussing differentiation, line extension, categorization, truth versus perception, marketing research, and arrogance. Why do some seemingly solid brands suddenly start to falter on their shiny-high pedestals? How did Firestone, Levi’s and Xerox lose their grip on their massive market share? Trout delves into the blunders behind the brands and comes up with a series of lessons for future brand practitioners. In summation he covers the areas that can go wrong leaving no element unblamed from the essentially useless consultants to the disengaged, disinterested board to the preoccupation with growth at any cost to the dictatorial leadership It wasn't long ago that Levi-Strauss, Xerox, Crest, AT&T, Firestone, and Digital Equipment dominated their respective markets. What happened to undermine their standings and of those of other superbrands? Are their declines simply the inevitable consequence of change and the birth of new competition? In this important predecessor to the classic Differentiate or Die, "the king of positioning," Jack Trout answers that question with a resounding "No!" Writing in his signature, straight-from-the-hip style he reveals the disastrous marketing and strategy blunders that led to the dissolution of the most recognized superbrands. He clearly shows how those mistakes could have been avoided. With the help of in-depth case studies chronicling the events leading up to the falls from grace of Sears, Miller Brewing, Xerox, Crest, Burger King, and other past market leaders, he identifies the ten most common mistakes that big brands make, and he develops a set of expert guidelines for marketing managers and executives on how to build, protect, manage, and expand their companies' brands and avoid brand-killing blunders. Big Brands, Big Trouble is a no-holds-barred look at the greatest brand marketing errors of the last three decades in the United States...
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