Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind

Al Ries · Jack Trout

Jan 2001 · McGraw Hill Professional

About this ebook

The first book to deal with the problems of communicating to a skeptical, media-blitzed public, Positioning describes a revolutionary approach to creating a "position" in a prospective customer's mind-one that reflects a company's own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of its competitors. Writing in their trademark witty, fast-paced style, advertising gurus Ries and Trout explain how to:

• Make and position an industry leader so that its name and message wheedles its way into the collective subconscious of your market-and stays there
• Position a follower so that it can occupy a niche not claimed by the leader
• Avoid letting a second product ride on the coattails of an established one.

Positioning also shows you how to:

• Use leading ad agency techniques to capture the biggest market share and become a household name
• Build your strategy around your competition's weaknesses
• Reposition a strong competitor and create a weak spot
• Use your present position to its best advantage
• Choose the best name for your product
• Determine when-and why-less is more
• Analyze recent trends that affect your positioning.

Ries and Trout provide many valuable case histories and penetrating analyses of some of the most phenomenal successes and failures in advertising history. Revised to reflect significant developments in the five years since its original publication, Positioning is required reading for anyone in business today.

Ratings and reviews

This book is filled with knowledge about branding/positioning, that is still applicable today. It sets the foundation for learning how to position yourself, your products or your company. This opened my eyes to what unique positioning really is and I'm now looking at it in an entirely new way now thanks to this book. The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because the examples are quite old, so I'm anxious to read Jack Trout's updated book, "RePositioning!

Great book that I would recommend for anyone trying to get into advertising. While some of the references are a bit dated, the principles they are based on are largely true. If you're trying to get into planning, strategy or are responsible in managing a brand - this book would be a good place to start.

Great read. Examples are a bit dated but understandable....

About the author

Al Ries is Chairman of Ries & Ries, Focusing Consultants. Jack Trout is Chairman of Trout & Partners. Al Ries and Jack Trout are undoubtedly the world's best-known marketing strategists.