Book review: In Search of the Obvious

I seem to do a lot of business book reading and especially about marketing. I guess it has to do with my own personal quest to finally get published in English and to spread the word outside of my lovely Sweden. Jack Trout is one of the most respected marketing analysts around. Trout picks apart some of the common marketing practices of today. For example, he says the point of advertising is not to be funny and win prizes, but to sell the product. That’s obviously, but often overlooked. Firms changes their messages, logos and slogans just for the sake of change. Keep doing what works. Define your product and just don’t ad on more and more options. It is easy to see why General Motors has declined. It is hard to understand why there must be so many variations of Coke. While most examples are from big business, there are many important messages for small business people like me: define your message, the form of your message and fine tune the way you reach out. Look for simple and obvious solutions.