Marketing Warfare

View other editions of Marketing Warfare.
View books by Al Ries, Jack Trout.

Based on a false mindset - Rated
Business is not war. In war (like in sports) there is just one winner, all the rest are losers. In business, however, there can be multiple winners. The examples in the book are often lax with no clear cause and effect relationship in the arguments.

Try something that deals with the application of game theory in business. That will give you a revolutionary new mindset (there are some easy-to-read books available).

A must read - Rated
The authors give examples of "marketing battles" over the last 100 years and explain moves of "companies' troops" using military principles given by the famous Karl von Clausewitz. Though there are some paradoxes in the book "Marketing Warfare" is still a-must-read for marketing managers and definitely for CEOs. It gives the chance to look at the ways of conducting business from the point of view which has not been used much - after all war is not a PC thing. I would not recommend "Marketing Warfare" as a compulsory reading for students but I would definitely recommend it to people who want to make their marketing victories come true.

The Markertplace is a Battlefield.. a great easy read - Rated
The book looks at Marketing from a military perspective. The book was largely influenced by the book "On War" by the retired Prussian general Karl von Clausewitz.

It basically outlines 4 broad Marketing Strategies which depend on your market position, the nature of your product and on the competition; viz, Offense, Defense, Flanking and guerrilla warfare.

"Marketing promises should be as vague as political ones. Otherwise you will erode the effectiveness of your forces", "Marketing battles are fought inside the mind. Inside your own mind and inside the mind of your prospects every day of the week.", "keep the forces concentrated in an overpowering mass. The fundamental idea. Always to be aimed at before all and as far as possible.", "The more helpless the situation, the more everything presses toward one single, desperate blow.", "Strategy and Timing are the Himalayas of Marketing. Everything else is the Catskills.", et cetera.

Gripping Insightful Read, In need of updated case studies. - Rated
This is the first marketing book for some time to grip me like a Tom Clancy novel (and I read LOTS of marketing books). It has an easy style, provokes genuine consideration of the truth or otherwise of its message, and is unusually cheap!

The case studies are in need of update as many of them have moved on since publication and this gives a great opportunity for the authors to explain how their theories worked (or didn't). I would also have liked to see a summary of the rules of marketing warfare in an easy referenced table, rather than have to wade back through the text.

Overall, I recommend you read it!

Excellent marketing book - Rated
This is a simple direct and prescriptive book which ignores MBA speak, and gives straightforward advice to the marketeer. Well worth reading, and as it is short and easy to read, it can fitted into the busiest of schedules.