Time to Reposition?
I listened to a podcast with Jack Trout of Positioning fame – indisputably one of the greats – a day or two ago. He has a new book, Repositioning: Marketing in an Era of Competition, Change and Crisis. The question set me to wondering whether –given the impact of economic, climatic, social and political concerns in the last 18 months – we aren’t all facing the challenge to reposition.
Asked why his original 1987 book is still a must-read (probably by someone who hadn’t read it), he politely pointed out that the subtitle says it all: The Battle for Your Mind. He went on to clarify yet again that marketing takes place in the mind of the prospect.
It’s remarkable to me that so many marketers – some highly paid – still don’t get that point. The 12 bloggers in this recent eBook - including yours truly – implore marketers to learn to tune into the mindset of their customers in 2010. This is still a necessary reminder after all these years??? Trout jokes in the podcast that even now, when he’s brought in to ‘fix’ a brand [one assumes for significant fees], many on the marketing team are obviously counting the minutes till he leaves, when they go back to doing exactly as they were doing before he got there
There’s little doubt that prospects’ worlds have shifted significantly in the last 18 months. The question of repositioning certainly seems warranted. How might each of us serve those new mindsets?
Another imperative to Reposition came across my screen same day, in a new article in Strategy and Business
We already know that companies with an articulated purpose that goes beyond simply the expediency of “making more money” have fared much better in the downturn. They will also fare better in the recovery.
I’m off to buy the book.
Filed under Brand promise, Changing Economic patterns, Resilient Enterprises | Comment (0)Leave a Reply
